Results 3,821-3,840 of 6,802 for speaker:Darren O'Rourke

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority (28 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: There should be sufficient funding.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority (28 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: Talk me through that process. We have had our consultation and the project is now in the draft document. This is to be adopted. What decision-making gate does the project go through? If my interest is to try to support this to move as quickly as possible, what are the next steps? Does the NTA make a decision? Does Irish Rail? Does it fall to the Department or the Minister? How will it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority (28 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: When will that decision be made?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority (28 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: Okay.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority (28 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: That is welcome. I am seeking a short update on another big issue. I note that a Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting supported a proposition for fare parity between Balbriggan, Gormanston, Laytown and Drogheda. Where are we in that regard, particularly in the context of the broader fare review on which I am keeping a close eye?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority (28 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: I heard it reported on LMFM. That is what we go for.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority (28 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: I will move on to the issue of taxis, the late-night economy and public transport availability during the night, particularly at weekends but also more generally. I saw the NTA respond to some of those issues on RTÉ's "Prime Time" last week. There are a couple of specific issues I wish to raise. The NTA has done this review of maximum fares, which will kick in during August. Ms...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority (28 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: I will come in again later but for now I will finish on these points on the ten-year rule. In my opinion, 2011 was a different time. Vehicles will still have to be tested for suitability and their standard maintained. Many of these vehicles have been off the road for an extended period because of the Covid pandemic. The price of second-hand vehicles in 2022 is very different from what it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority (28 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: I thank the witnesses for their responses. Following on from that last question and regarding the modelling being undertaken, is that being done in the context of the 20% fare reduction built in or is it based on a situation where that reduction is not carried on?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority (28 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: Both scenarios are being modelled. That is fine. Turning to a few things that have come up, and again concerning the modelling, is there any decent study or information of which Ms Graham is aware that explores the relationship between service frequency and demand? If a service runs more regularly, does that increase the demand for it? Is that something the NTA sees?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority (28 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: Just as a rule of thumb, is there information that indicates this type of situation occurs or does it depend on the context?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority (28 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: I refer to that information not existing. I would have presumed in the context of Ms Graham's response that it is all relative. My question should not really depend on how many people live in an area. If my question is about whether there is a correlation between an increase in frequency and an increase in demand, then there could be a smaller increase in demand relatively speaking. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority (28 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: It might be a useful exercise to collate work done on this topic in the past to see if there are patterns in respect of demand versus service.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority (28 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: Mr. Creegan mentioned the propensity to shift towards bicycles or e-bikes. If the models do not adequately factor in human behaviour, we could underestimate or overestimate. The big risk is to underestimate the modal shift opportunity that is there. Returning to the late-night economy, taxis and public transport, the situation every weekend, particularly in Dublin, is not satisfactory....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority (28 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: In defence of Deputy Lahart-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority (28 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: What timeline does the NRA envisage for the public transport piece and the taxi piece? Regarding the notion that the system is working or is not broken, people are waiting an hour and a half for a taxi or are unable to get a taxi. Then there is the idea that it is just four hours at the weekend. It is like the Dublin Airport Authority appearing before the committee and saying the system is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority (28 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: The system is either working or not working. It is not working for those people, and there are thousands of them. They are on social media and will contact public representatives, particularly in this city. It is not a satisfactory or acceptable position. I firmly hold that view. With due respect, it is the NTA, the Department and the Minister who have responsibility to ensure that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority (28 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: Yes, the NTA regulates the system and it is up to people-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority (28 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: Yes, of their own volition.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority (28 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: Does the NTA, as the regulator, have a sense of what is an appropriate number of taxis for the Dublin area that it is aiming for and hopes to have in place by mid-July, the end of July and by the end of summer? To follow up on that, if the NTA takes these measures, and I see it is limited in the levers it has to the fare structure piece and the recruitment campaign piece, and we end up in a...