Results 41-60 of 29,417 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Bus Éireann (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I thank the Deputy for highlighting one of the biggest ongoing challenges facing the public transport sector. I confirm that my Department continues to engage extensively with the NTA and operators on this issue. Unfortunately, it is the case that many operators, both public and private, continue to experience difficulties in recruiting new drivers. In its attempts to attract new...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Bus Éireann (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I will make a wider point that Bus Éireann has a real challenge, as all our bus companies do, in getting drivers. This is across public and private services in every part of the country. Bus Éireann, however, is proving to be incredibly successful at present. I remember meeting Mr. Kent a year or two ago, when he said we might get up to 100 million passenger journeys last year....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Bus Éireann (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I agree with Deputy O'Sullivan. I will add that it is not just about a driver shortage. We are also short of mechanics. In Cork, there are ten or 12 vacancies in mechanic positions at present. If the bus is not maintained, then it cannot run. Irish passengers value and are attracted to their bus services. Passenger numbers on Bus Éireann PSO services went up by 27% last year. That...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Bus Éireann (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: We will look at that in detail.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Network (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I fully support the commitment in the programme for Government to maintain the existing road network to a high standard and to fund safety improvements. That being said, in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act 1993, each local authority has statutory responsibility for the improvement and maintenance of its regional and local road network. Works on regional and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Regional Development (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I will give the Deputy one example, because she talks about big projects. From memory, the Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge road, not by act of nature, is a single carriageway of approximately 35 km. It is costing the guts of half a billion euro and pretty much a doubling of the previous contract, which, unfortunately, was not able to be concluded because the contractor went out of business. If...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Park-and-Ride Facilities (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. The NTA is leading the development and roll-out of strategic park and ride nationwide through its park and ride development office. The NTA established the park and ride development office in February 2020 and it has been included in the climate action plan since 2019. The...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Park-and-Ride Facilities (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I will go into some of the detail that I have been informed of by the NTA on those three sites. First, in regard to the N6 at junction 19, a 550-space site, the site selection process has led to two emerging site options at this junction. It looks now likely that a compulsory purchase order may be required irrespective of which site is selected. Following a finalisation of the site...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Park-and-Ride Facilities (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I am sorry about this. I will finish, if I can. On site 3, the one the Deputy specifically asks about, the discussions are ongoing with Galway City Council in relation to a potential site along the Cappagh Road on the western side of the city. It is understood that lands in public ownership may be available in the vicinity of this location. Discussions are advancing to investigate the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Park-and-Ride Facilities (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: First, I agree with the Deputy. I have a concern that the waiting for a Galway outer bypass may have seen the authorities not put push the delivery of the public transport and active travel solutions which, I believe, will be critical to turning around Galway's transport difficulties and providing a system that works. The site the Deputy mentions in the west is, to my mind, a particular...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Network (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I will try to give Deputies Martin Kenny and Ó Cuív the same clarity I gave to Deputy Harkin earlier. The rail review does not propose the reintroduction of the line to Collooney. I believe in those contexts it is better to keep the line as a greenway. This is a 30-year investment timeline. To answer Deputy Ó Cuív's question about the inflation aspect, we must think...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Regional Development (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I assure the Deputy that the Government is committed to improving transport infrastructure throughout the country, but most especially in the northern and western region. That commitment is evidenced by actual delivery of projects on the ground. The index referred to by the Deputy measures a much wider range of indicators than just infrastructure and, on the basis of the complete index,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Regional Development (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: First, there was a huge expansion in our capital ambition, in particular in regard to investments in transport for which I have responsibility in the NDP. We got an allocation of €35 billion which I think actually exceeds the allocation for housing. Two Departments were prioritised by the Government. One was housing and the other, on the capital side, was the transport sector....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Regional Development (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: -----we are going full steam ahead with the TEN-T projects. They include the road from Lifford to Letterkenny, the Manorcunningham to Letterkenny road and the bypass of Stranorlar and Ballybofey. What I said to the councillors I met last week, who are interested in the project, is that we will do everything to advance that project as fast as we can because it is an example of the projects...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I do not have the details of that stop, so I will have to come back to the Deputy directly on that. I do not have information about the plans for that stop. On the wider issue the Deputy raised about enhancing the ability to get drivers and mechanics, I am open to all initiatives and suggestions. Bus Éireann has looked at a variety of different ways. We have looked at moving some of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Network (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I will not read out the written response because it is very similar to what Deputy Marian Harkin would have heard only a few minutes ago.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Network (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: It will be available to the Deputy in written format in any case. If I can answer his question directly, the strategic rail review has been very public for over a year and a half. We had to go to a strategic environmental assessment. We decided that, in advance of the Assembly returning in the North, we would publish it because we had to go into that public consultation, so the details are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Network (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I agree with the Deputy fully. I would add the environmental issue to his list of common-sense considerations we have to take into account. The opponents of investing in rail freight argue that it is not economic and does not make sense, but they do not answer the question of how they intend to decarbonise our haulage system and do not take that into account as a key strategic objective...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I am very aware of the ongoing issues with the 103 Bus Éireann service in Meath, which was particularly bad in September and October last year, and the negative impact that was having on the travelling public. Unfortunately, these issues were exacerbated by ongoing challenges the public transport sector is facing in the recruitment of both mechanics and drivers. However, I am pleased...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I agree with the Deputy. It is not acceptable for passengers to be left waiting at the side of the road for the next bus. That is deeply frustrating, and it is not good enough. We have to make sure, through the NTA, that Bus Éireann is pushed so that the services improve. There are various ways we can do that. As I said, the first key issue is with mechanics and drivers. There has...