Results 6,161-6,180 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised) (18 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: They will be here.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised) (18 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: Three hundred have been ordered to start in 2022. They will be here.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised) (18 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: I do not know whether all 300 will be, but the intention is to start that programme in 2022.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised) (18 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: Deputy O'Keeffe asked about exceptional funding for local roads. The situation is that virtually every local authority is in a similar situation to the one referred to by Deputy O'Keeffe. As a result of Storm Emma and Storm Ophelia, they are feeling the pinch.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised) (18 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: I am quite happy to take the Deputy's question now.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised) (18 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: A new drainage grant of €10 million has been given by the Department, which should address the problems the Deputy is talking about. To answer Deputy O'Keeffe, and in anticipation of what everybody else may quite rightly and understandably ask about as a result of the problems in their local areas brought about by the storms, everybody received their allocation at the end of...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised) (18 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: Let me take the figure. I think Deputy Troy is working with the €3 million figure. I have actually allocated €8 million for 2018. The figure is massively increased because we recognise the importance of this.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised) (18 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: That is correct, absolutely and the Deputy should not doubt the commitment to cycling. It is taking a huge step forward, not just in this but in greenways and in other areas as well. The Deputy has seen the Stayin' Alive at 1.5 campaign and has been a great supporter of it. It is important that it is recognised that the Government is behind cycling infrastructure, safety for cyclists and...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised) (18 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: The plan will be published at the end of May. The Deputy referred to the detailed pinch points but that is a matter for the NTA. It is an operational matter and not one in which the Minister can get involved.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised) (18 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: Of course it will, but funding is given to the NTA and it has discretion on various things like that.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised) (18 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: It will probably come out of its general funding. Surely the Deputy does not expect me to say "do this, that, there, everywhere" -----

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised) (18 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: -----on a daily basis and I am not going to be doing that. It is the job of the NTA, TII and others to identify and remedy the pinch points. The Deputy is absolutely right that the longer trams were delayed but they will all be in operation by the end of May of this year. The Deputy is also absolutely right about the overcrowding issue. The overcrowding was very bad on the Luas for a...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised) (18 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: Yes.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised) (18 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: We fed into the spatial strategy. If I had not published any long-term strategy, the Deputy would have been asking me why it was so delayed.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised) (18 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: I thought the intention was to breathe into the spatial strategy, which is what we did.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised) (18 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: Deputy Imelda Munster asked about value for money. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has commissioned a review which will probably be published at the end of the year. In referring to outside the public transport network I take it the Deputy is again talking about privatisation. We have made clear what we have done in putting routes out to tender and have the results. As far...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised) (18 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: It is in its infancy. I am not delaying it. The NTA has looked for expressions of interest which are coming in. It will take a couple of months more before it happens. It is not something on which we are delaying or procrastinating. We will go ahead with it. It is a promise I made and we are doing it.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised) (18 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: No. There is a budget attached to it and the NTA is progressing it. It has not been stalled.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised) (18 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: The intent is to bring them in as soon as possible. That is why we are running them in parallel with what is happening. Neither is contingent on the other. Rural isolation is a problem which I fully acknowledge fully and is so independent of what the Deputy calls "draconian laws". It is a problem we want to acknowledge and we will go along with both measures in parallel, if necessary....

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised) (18 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: The only reason the public transport forum has not taken place is that there have been continuous industrial problems. There is a ballot today. If it is successful in bringing the sides together or getting agreement, there will not be any industrial dispute. It is my intention, the moment we have that window, to have the letters to go out. We have had them ready several times. We will...