Results 17,221-17,240 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport Fares (9 Jul 2019)

Shane Ross: My understanding on this is quite clear. I am open to correction because the Deputy knows the area very well. All Bus Éireann routes qualify for the "Kids Go Free" scheme, apart from the commercial operation, Bus Éireann Expressway. I do not know if the routes the Deputy was quoting are Bus Éireann's. If they are, perhaps the individuals he is talking about did not have...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport Fares (9 Jul 2019)

Shane Ross: The Deputy is referring to commercial bus routes. He will understand that I cannot force any commercial route to do anything in this situation. It is a commercial decision for them to decide as it is for Expressway to decide if it is a promotion that is worthwhile. Bus Éireann and the others have decided it is worth promoting. They are PSO routes. The NTA has decided it is worth...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Safety Authority (9 Jul 2019)

Shane Ross: Pretty soon. I am optimistic that it will not be too long. There has not been an improvement in the number of disqualified drivers surrendering their licences to the Road Safety Authority during the first two quarters of 2019. Of the drivers with a court disqualification, the surrender rate is between 18% and 20%. Of the number of drivers with penalty point disqualifications, the...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Safety Authority (9 Jul 2019)

Shane Ross: I accept what the Deputy says; the figures are pretty awful. There is room for improvement and that is coming pretty rapidly. It is taking longer than I would have hoped to get all the information together so that the Garda can have immediate access to this information but I think it is coming very shortly. Drivers who are disqualified are required to return their licences to the RSA. That...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Safety Authority (9 Jul 2019)

Shane Ross: I agree with the Deputy about that. I, too, want to see the devices working as soon as possible because I do not want to have to come before the House again and produce figures of that sort. I do not take direct responsibility for the figures but I am unhappy to have to give them to the House, although I will do so whenever Deputies want them. The figures indicate that drivers who do not...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Dublin Bus Fleet (9 Jul 2019)

Shane Ross: Public transport - bus, rail and taxi - accounts for a little over 1% of Ireland’s overall non-emissions trading scheme carbon emissions and less than one 20th of the emissions from the transport sector. Accordingly, the impact on reducing national CO2 emissions of converting public transport to lower emitting fleets will be limited, though positive and important. Nevertheless, I...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Dublin Bus Fleet (9 Jul 2019)

Shane Ross: I reiterate what I said to the Deputy because I do not know whether he heard me. The trials will be reported on soon. Low emission bus trials have been undertaken and we will get a report on the findings soon. I will share the findings with the Deputy but I cannot do so until I receive the report and it would be premature for me to do so. 6 o’clock When I get the report I do not...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Dublin Bus Fleet (9 Jul 2019)

Shane Ross: We expect that by 2023, half of the vehicles will be low-emission varieties and by 2030, diesel vehicles will be gone completely. Buses will be replaced when they reach the end of their optimal life. For the double-deck fleet this is approximately 12 years and on this basis a steady state annual replacement need for Dublin Bus is 80 to 85 vehicles and for Bus Éireann this is 20 to 30....

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Network (9 Jul 2019)

Shane Ross: I thank Deputy Munster for her question. The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of the relevant county or city council in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on those roads are funded from the councils' own resources, supplemented by State road grants. Prior to the financial crisis, applications for...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Network (9 Jul 2019)

Shane Ross: My Department will liaise with Meath County Council on the appraisal. I have taken note of what the Deputy has to say and I hope she has noted also what I have to say and considers it in that light.

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Network (9 Jul 2019)

Shane Ross: I will take the Deputy's comments to Transport Infrastructure Ireland and my departmental officials.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Noise Pollution (9 Jul 2019)

Shane Ross: I am delighted to see the Deputy is interested in this matter. I fully appreciate the effect that excessive aircraft noise has on communities. As the Deputy may be aware, the Aircraft Noise (Dublin Airport) Regulation Act was signed into law on 22 May 2019. The main purpose of that Act is to manage noise at Dublin Airport and to give applicability to EU Regulation No. 598/2014, which sets...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Noise Pollution (9 Jul 2019)

Shane Ross: I thank the Deputy for those totally and utterly irrelevant remarks, although they make much more sense than some of the things that he has said in the past. I will respond in the spirit that it is meant and take to heart everything he has said today and treat them with equal seriousness.

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Trans European Transport Network Programme (9 Jul 2019)

Shane Ross: Under the Programme for Partnership Government, the Government committed to applying to the European Commission for the revision of the TEN-T Core Network, including in relation to the Western Arc. A submission is currently being prepared in this regard, which would seek to facilitate consideration of transport-related project proposals for funding under the Connecting Europe Facility for...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Network (9 Jul 2019)

Shane Ross: Firstly, I would like to explain that, as Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in relation to the national roads programme.  However, under the Roads Acts 1993-2015, the planning, development and construction of individual national road projects is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Projects Status (9 Jul 2019)

Shane Ross: Firstly, I would like to explain that, as Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in relation to the national roads programme.  Under the Roads Acts 1993-2015, the planning, design, construction and development stages of individual road projects is a matter for (a)  the relevant road authority (i.e....

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Rural Transport Services (9 Jul 2019)

Shane Ross: As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. I do not have responsibility for the day-to-day operations of public transport services.  The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally. It also has...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Football Association of Ireland (9 Jul 2019)

Shane Ross: I welcome the recent publication of the Report of the Governance Review Group, which was established by the Football Association of Ireland and Sport Ireland to develop reform proposals for the FAI.  I would like to recall that this Group had five members, three of whom were independent corporate governance experts appointed by Sport Ireland, including...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Light Rail Projects (9 Jul 2019)

Shane Ross: As the Deputy is aware the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) have statutory responsibilities to develop and deliver MetroLink.  In March this year, the NTA and Transport  Infrastructure  Ireland  (TII) launched a public consultation on what is called the “Preferred Route” for MetroLink. This...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Public Transport Initiatives (9 Jul 2019)

Shane Ross: I propose to take Questions Nos. 70 and 78 together. As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport.  The NTA has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public transport services by way of Public Services Obligation (PSO) contracts in respect of services that are socially...