Results 4,381-4,400 of 6,541 for speaker:Ruairí Ó Murchú

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Urban Area Speed Limits and Road Safety Strategy: Discussion (1 Mar 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I refer again to the example of Dundalk, where an element of this happened. Many of us who were councillors at the time had difficulties in relation to it and thought that there would be problems with clogging and so on. I am not saying that there have not been issues, but they were not the issues that we thought. It was not Armageddon.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Urban Area Speed Limits and Road Safety Strategy: Discussion (1 Mar 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: There is a moral argument about school gates. One can look at Louth or any other county. I will use the example of Sheelagh school in north County Louth. There have been attempts to have speed-limiting ramps or such installed, or to have the speed limit changed. The difficulty is that it is a rural road. It is along the road from a junction with a relatively major arterial route. If it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Urban Area Speed Limits and Road Safety Strategy: Discussion (1 Mar 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I understand Mr. Waide's argument that we should start from a moral point of view. This makes complete sense from the point of view of children's safety. We could just make it happen and work with the current rules. It means that parents and schools will not have obstacles thrown in their way. I realise that my questions were all for Mr. Waide. Do any other witnesses wish to speak?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Urban Area Speed Limits and Road Safety Strategy: Discussion (1 Mar 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: Cultural transformation is possible, which is the big thing here. Active travel will allow for a greater amount of public transport. We can also deal with the issue of e-scooters, e-bikes etc. I noticed commentary online a second ago. When I spoke about the time-limited speed limits around schools, I was speaking as a devil's advocate. Sometimes, planners do not necessarily want limits...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Urban Area Speed Limits and Road Safety Strategy: Discussion (1 Mar 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: The witnesses spoke earlier about design. The difficulty still around a lot of urban settings is that we just do not have the space on the roads. We do not have the pavement width or what we would like to have to be able to deliver proper, active living and travel. The difficulty is in how we make the best of what we have. The RSA's argument will be that the first step is the 30 km/h...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Urban Area Speed Limits and Road Safety Strategy: Discussion (1 Mar 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: On some level, both speakers are right in the sense that it is an action plan from the working group. Is the working group to report in the fourth quarter of this year?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Urban Area Speed Limits and Road Safety Strategy: Discussion (1 Mar 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I imagine it would be very difficult to get what Deputy Matthews or anybody else is looking for without that. It is a vital piece of work. I was taken with a point Dr. D'Arcy made earlier about seeking short-term fixes and that mitigations occurred. I remember on the county council that people would look for ramps, which were necessary at times, especially for reasons of child safety in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Urban Area Speed Limits and Road Safety Strategy: Discussion (1 Mar 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: We spoke about the difficulties and that we do not necessarily have the network we would like. Many would say we are starting from the wrong place. What can be done regarding planning to build in improvements in the system that would facilitate this in the future? Are there any game-changer pieces that need to be done in that regard?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Urban Area Speed Limits and Road Safety Strategy: Discussion (1 Mar 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: Most things have been covered and I think I have dealt sufficiently with the RSA. As I said, we have an elongated process and difficulties with road safety and speed limits, whether dealing with TII or the local authority. In the course of the witnesses' work have they come across any wants or needs that would need to be changed in that regard to get us to a better place, excepting the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Urban Area Speed Limits and Road Safety Strategy: Discussion (1 Mar 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I get that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Urban Area Speed Limits and Road Safety Strategy: Discussion (1 Mar 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: Yes, and that would fit into the other part of the question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Urban Area Speed Limits and Road Safety Strategy: Discussion (1 Mar 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: The question I should have asked was about the entire planning process and what could be done across the board that the witnesses would have considered to enable this. We had a discussion earlier about the road network, pavement size etc. None of this is perfect. We have to build it into the planning process. Do the witnesses have a view on any of that? In fairness, Ms Swift's answer was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Urban Area Speed Limits and Road Safety Strategy: Discussion (1 Mar 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: It is an element for the working group as well in terms of best practice. Would Dr. D'Arcy like to comment?

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Energy Policy (24 Feb 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: It was probably remiss of me not to state we have already started chasing this up with Energia, which is the gas supplier.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Energy Policy (24 Feb 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I appreciate the Minister of State's response and will follow up with the Minister on the matter. We all accept the benefits of district heating systems when they use overflow heat, which would otherwise be waste, but that is not the case here. From an environmental point of view, they are a complete disaster in the sense that they must use 100 units to get 50 units of heat. That is not...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Energy Policy (24 Feb 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I thank the Minister of State for taking this topical issue so late in the evening. I would have much preferred that the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, took this on the basis that I spoke to him previously in relation to it this week. I have sent information on to him. He was also involved in launching this scheme once upon a time in 2007. At...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cybersecurity Policy (24 Feb 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: Will the Minister give an update on the information the NCSC gave to critical infrastructure companies in the past while? Given the difficulties that exist at this-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cybersecurity Policy (24 Feb 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I am not sure it is. I ask the Minister for an update in that regard, given this morning's events involving the Russian invasion. Beyond that, a task force on telephone scams and hacking is meeting at this time. Does he have any update on how it is operating?

Security Situation in Europe: Statements (23 Feb 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I also welcome the Ukrainian ambassador to the Chamber. I think it is only right that she is here today as we discuss this issue. We have to state plainly that Vladimir Putin is in breach of international law. I see him, in a straightforward way, as the equivalent of the local drug dealer who gets away with burning down people’s houses as leverage. The question is whether he is...

Security Situation in Europe: Statements (23 Feb 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: In fairness all we need is a solution on this. Up to 14,000 Ukrainians have died since 2014. We need to do everything to avoid a war but Vladimir Putin is the guy who is in the wrong and we need to stand up to him. There is complete support here if we can come up with a motion that will just state that this State stands solidly and soundly with the Ukrainian people and against what is...