Results 2,161-2,180 of 9,116 for speaker:Jack Chambers

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Projects (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: When it comes to the national development plan, the Government decided to include this as a key road.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Projects (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: I again thank both Deputies for their advocacy for this road and for reflecting the concerns of the local community, which I heard myself when I visited Sligo County Council. I can only emphasise that this road is being included in the national development plan. The allocations for all roads are made annually at the end of the year to allow for continuity of funding. The allocation will be...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Projects (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: It is something that will be discussed in the context of my role with responsibility for road safety.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Projects (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: We must make sure that we take into account any concerns relating to road safety in the context of roads investment.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Network (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 53 together. As the Deputies may be aware, the all-island strategic rail review is being undertaken in co-operation with the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland. The results of the review will inform the development of the railway sector on the island of Ireland over the coming decades to 2050, in line with net carbon-zero targets in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Network (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: In response to Deputy Shanahan, we support rebalancing and providing opportunities for our regional ports. Rail freight would be an important component of that. Given the overall growth trajectory of the economy and the connection between port capacity and growth in GDP, it is likely that all our ports, including Dublin Port, will have a growth requirement. It is important we look at the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Safety (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: I agree. That has been one of the main issues identified by the Road Safety Authority in the context of the worrying trend whereby we have seen road fatalities increase in three of the last four years. Unfortunately, that trend has continued into 2023. As of 20 June, there have been 83 fatalities on Irish roads, an increase of eight compared with the same day last year. These include 20...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Safety (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: On Deputy Ó Cuív's point, significant data have been compiled by the Road Safety Authority on many of the fatalities and the trends across fatalities. Speed and excess speed are key factors in urban areas in cases where pedestrians or cyclists have lost their lives. The wider review of speed limits is also examining the huge inconsistency between speed limits, as well as excessive...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Projects (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: As I have said previously, once funding arrangements have been put in place with Transport Infrastructure Ireland under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015, and in line with the national development plan, the planning, design, improvement and upgrading of individual national roads is a matter for TII, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. TII ultimately delivers the national roads...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Road Projects (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: I thank Deputy Fitzmaurice. Once funding arrangements have been put in place with Transport Infrastructure Ireland under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015, and in line with the national development plan, NDP, the planning, design, improvement and upgrading of individual national roads is a matter for TII, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. TII ultimately delivers the national...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Road Projects (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: The only decision made has been to allocate funding for 2023. No decision has been made for 2024. That decision will be made later in the year for every national road in the national development plan. I want to give clarity on that. Having met with the council, I know there is a poor safety record on the N17. The Deputy is also correct that this road is important for healthcare, regional...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Road Projects (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: There are a number of roads around Letterkenny listed in the national development plan, as part of the overall TEN-T network. This proposed project will remove through traffic from a number of towns and villages, which will have positive social and environmental impacts on local residents. Road users will benefit from improved journey time certainty. The project also provides the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Safety (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: As part of action 6 of the Government’s road safety strategy, a review is under way to examine the framework for setting speed limits, including specific consideration of the introduction of a 30 km/h default speed limit in urban areas. The group was established in late 2021 and comprised representatives of the Department of Transport, NTA, TII, local authorities, the RSA and An Garda...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rail Network (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: Thankfully, because of the management of the economy and the fact that we are running budgetary surpluses, we have the opportunity to invest in line with our enormous ambition for capital investment in rail infrastructure and other areas. We are ambitious. We have to do that in a strategic way. The rail review will provide an opportunity for that. A significant milestone in the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Transport Authority (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: This question may have been submitted prior to last week's public meeting at which it was agreed, as we can now confirm, that funding of €280,000 is being provided to Tipperary County Council to allow this project to proceed to the next stage of development, which is known as phase 3 - preliminary design. I know the Deputy will welcome that decision. I thank him and other local...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Transport Authority (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: I thank the Deputy. As he has said, there is a long history to this. Having been down there last week - the Deputy was there as well - I understand it is important from a road safety perspective that we see progress on the preliminary design work and hopefully a planning application after it. It is in the interests of providing safe active travel for the community in Ardfinnan that there...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Transport Authority (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: We are at a point in progress that was not there two weeks ago, as the Deputy is aware. Thanks to the strong advocacy of all public representatives and the community council, we are now in a position to develop that preliminary design. There has to be a process around design and planning for every aspect of public infrastructure. I am sure the NTA and the council will be able to provide...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rail Network (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: Two things are happening, as I said in the previous response. The draft all-island rail review will be published in July for the purposes of environmental assessment and is to be finalised in the autumn. Separately, we will be commencing a review of our national ports policy. We will be publishing an issues paper on that in the coming weeks which will set out the trajectory on capacity for...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rail Network (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: The draft review will be published for environmental assessment in the coming weeks. We will welcome everyone's engagement on it. There is a lot of commentary about Dublin Port and being able to move it at the flick of a switch or turn it into a strategic zone for housing. It plays a hugely important role in our economy. Given the trade and logistics network that has evolved over decades,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rail Network (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: There is a huge range of activity occurring across the rail network to improve rail transport for passengers with a variety of projects set for delivery over the next few years. In the short term we will see a new station opening at Kishogue on the Kildare line late this year; new rail carriages entering into service next year through the addition of 41 new carriages to the intercity fleet;...