Results 4,921-4,940 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Services Provision (19 Sep 2018)

Shane Ross: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 53 together. As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport I have responsibility for policy and overall funding relating to public transport. I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. The operation of Iarnród Éireann services, including the new DART timetables, is a matter for the company with oversight by the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Services Provision (19 Sep 2018)

Shane Ross: As I mentioned in my response to Deputy Troy, the DART expansion programme is a key feature of Dublin's future transport infrastructure that is proposed in the NTA's transport strategy for the greater Dublin area for 2016 to 2035. The DART expansion programme is a series of projects that will create a full metropolitan area DART network for Dublin with all the lines linked and connected....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Services Provision (19 Sep 2018)

Shane Ross: I am glad that the Deputy acknowledges that I am not expected to micromanage every railway route in the country, which is something I cannot do. I think it is the first such acknowledgement I have had in this House from anybody. What I can do, and I obviously do, is monitor new projects of this sort very closely when they are introduced to see if they are successful, and to see if...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Services Provision (19 Sep 2018)

Shane Ross: I told the Deputy the answer to his question, but maybe he was not happy with the answers. The procurement process for additional DART fleet is expected to commence this year, with the contract for approximately 300 new rail carriages expected to be awarded in the second half of 2019. Some 28 refurbished carriages are to re-enter service in 2019, and this will add capacity to a number of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Services Provision (19 Sep 2018)

Shane Ross: Iarnród Eireann and the NTA are assessing the availability of additional fleet that could be introduced to passenger services on the rail network across Ireland in the short term. That is a considerable commitment to provide new carriages in the coming years, which I hope will satisfy the Deputy. Deputy Clare Daly mentioned the number of new houses being built in Portmarnock. She is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Airport Policy (19 Sep 2018)

Shane Ross: The problem here is that Shannon Airport is a different creature from Dublin Airport, which has a monopoly. The latter must have a regulator for that reason. The Commission for Aviation Regulation regulates all elements of the activities at Dublin Airport very strictly. The regulation in Shannon Airport is much restricted, as I said in my opening remarks, to terminals and other groups....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cycling Facilities Funding (19 Sep 2018)

Shane Ross: I thank the Deputy for the very topical and important question. Over recent years, data published from various sources show an increase in the number of people commuting by bicycle. Recent data published by Dublin City Council and the National Transport Authority, NTA, in the annual canal cordon report show an upward trend of cyclists crossing the canal which continued between 2016 and 2017,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cycling Facilities Funding (19 Sep 2018)

Shane Ross: I accept what the Deputy says. It is indisputably true that the safer the roads are for cyclists, the more cyclists there will be. Perhaps because I did not finish my first reply, I did not spell out some of the other intentions we have for cycling and the commitments we have made. The €110 million is a trebling of the amount to be spent on walking and cycling. The Deputy is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cycling Facilities Funding (19 Sep 2018)

Shane Ross: I will respond to that in as far as I can. I cannot and will not give the Deputy a percentage commitment for the allocation to cycling but I will give her the figure of €110 million, which is a trebling of what we had before. It is a very large and significant step change in a commitment to cycling which was not there in recent years. I fully concede that this is necessary. We must...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Driver Licence Applications (19 Sep 2018)

Shane Ross: I am very eager to expedite this. I have responded to the Department of Justice and Equality on this issue. It recognises that it is an issue. I acknowledge that other countries do not necessarily have the same problems and have already granted this particular avenue. I will ask my officials to engage urgently with the Department of Justice and Equality on this matter with a view to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Airport Policy (19 Sep 2018)

Shane Ross: I thank Deputy Harty for his question. Shannon Airport is subject to very limited regulation by the Commission for Aviation Regulation, which sets charges for access to certain terminal facilities in compliance with an EU directive on ground-handling services. Unlike Dublin Airport, it is not subject to economic regulation. In the case of Dublin Airport, the regulator sets the maximum...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Airport Policy (19 Sep 2018)

Shane Ross: The Deputy is right when he says that this aid is restricted to safety and security. My understanding - the Deputy can correct me if I am wrong - is that the real problem at Shannon Airport is that concerns have been identified about capital expenditure which is required for the mandatory upgrading of equipment to comply with the revised hold baggage screening standards. This expenditure,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Road Network (19 Sep 2018)

Shane Ross: I understand Deputy Munster's need for this road and she has in fact made a very good case for it. It does seem strange to me that no application was received by my Department from Louth County Council with regard to port access on the northern cross road. It is odd as it would have been logical for this to have been one of their priorities and it should have come to my desk at the earliest...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Road Network (19 Sep 2018)

Shane Ross: I do not think that this application will come to me so I am afraid that I cannot give this commitment. The urban regeneration and redevelopment fund is under the aegis of the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. This fund was launched as part of Project Ireland 2040 to support the regeneration of five cities and large towns and will operate on a competitive bid and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Road Network (19 Sep 2018)

Shane Ross: It will not come to my desk. It will be going to the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Road Network (19 Sep 2018)

Shane Ross: -----so perhaps then, it should make that application to him. My Department understands that Louth County Council submitted an application under the local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF, and that the estimated cost of the project was of the order of €7 million with proposed funding of €5.4 million. We understand that the northern cross route was not among the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Driver Licence Applications (19 Sep 2018)

Shane Ross: As the Deputy will be aware, historically Ireland has not issued driving licences to asylum seekers. The court ruling earlier this year stating that asylum seekers may work while awaiting the outcome of their asylum applications has little or no direct relevance to driver licensing law. The two issues are legally quite distinct, and the Court ruling does not change the position. I...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Driver Licence Applications (19 Sep 2018)

Shane Ross: I do not want to give the Deputy a very firm date because this is quite a complicated legal issue. Identity verification is difficult. I am as enthusiastic as he is to resolve this problem and see that there will be no overriding obstacle to asylum seekers getting driving licences. The key difficulty in issuing driving licences to asylum seekers, however, is identity verification. Ireland...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rail Services (19 Sep 2018)

Shane Ross: I thank Deputy Troy. I do not believe the Deputy would expect me to intervene specifically in relation to the Mullingar route. Indeed, he might be the first to criticise me if I did so. If the Deputy has a particular problem with that route, and it appears he has, the appropriate place to go is elsewhere, and he knows that. It would be wrong for me to step in and say that Deputy Troy has...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rail Services (19 Sep 2018)

Shane Ross: The Deputy is aware that despite his prognosis and prophesies of doom passenger journeys on Irish Rail increased by 6% in 2017. The DART and commuter rail services, to which he referred, carried almost 33 million passengers in the Dublin region in 2017, which is also an increase of 6%. It is booming. In answer to the Deputy's question about procurement, the procurement process for...