Results 681-700 of 3,630 for speaker:Martin Kenny

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Ports Policy (16 May 2023)

Martin Kenny: 258. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he is aware of the leasing of 14 hectares of space within the port of Dublin in order to service previously expected Brexit-related traffic; if he will provide details on the cost of leasing this land; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23191/23]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann (16 May 2023)

Martin Kenny: 259. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide details of penalties and deductions for Bus Éireann service disruption by county between 2017 and 2022, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23192/23]

Planning and Rural Housing: Motion [Private Members] (10 May 2023)

Martin Kenny: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. I also live in rural Ireland in a rural area. I hear this debate about urban Ireland and rural Ireland, one-off housing and so on. I often hear people say it is unsustainable for people to live in rural areas, as if they were building a house hundreds of miles from anywhere. We have a network of roads and we build houses along those...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Ports Development: Discussion (10 May 2023)

Martin Kenny: I thank all the witnesses for coming in and for their presentations. I have a couple of a questions. One of the themes running through it all is development. All of the ports require more development. Outside of Dublin, which has specific issues and has a master plan in place, all the other ports have mentioned how the work of the offshore wind industry will be facilitated, maintained...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Ports Development: Discussion (10 May 2023)

Martin Kenny: That is four years away.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Ports Development: Discussion (10 May 2023)

Martin Kenny: What change is required to move us from four or five years behind to one or two years behind? What is the prescription required?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Ports Development: Discussion (10 May 2023)

Martin Kenny: Following on from that, it was mentioned that Scotland had a big auction for floating wind. The particular advantage we have in Ireland is that the west and south coasts have huge potential due to high wind speeds. They also have very rough seas. Has the technology reached the stage to enable putting floating offshore in the types of waters we have? We have been hearing up until recently...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Ports Development: Discussion (10 May 2023)

Martin Kenny: I thank Mr. Keating. Coming back to the use of rail for the carriage of freight, my understanding is from speaking to somebody recently who told me he had expertise in these matters, but who can know, that one of the issues was that a great deal of the containers that come into Ireland are widely distributed. Containers come in off a ship, and if we were to put them on a train, it would not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Ports Development: Discussion (10 May 2023)

Martin Kenny: The electric trains will do that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Ports Development: Discussion (10 May 2023)

Martin Kenny: Mr. Kenny did not get in at all yet. He is listening intently. I am conscious that many of the freight terminals were closed in the past ten years. In fact, nearly all of them were closed. Are there plans to reopen them?

Transport Support Schemes for People with Disabilities: Motion [Private Members] (4 May 2023)

Martin Kenny: I commend the Regional Group on introducing this motion. It is now ten years since the mobility grant was taken away. Successive Governments have continued to promise that it will be replaced and that something would be done, but nothing has happened. I welcome the Minister's reference to ambition to deliver on this, but unfortunately ambition has been very lacking among his predecessors....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Transport (4 May 2023)

Martin Kenny: The situation in west Tallaght is an example of the kind of problems we have. Many people depend on having a proper public transport system to be able to get to work and do their normal day-to-day business. We are encouraging people, especially those who live in urban areas, to use public transport but we find it often arrives late. Buses, in particular, have huge problems with delays. It...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Transport (4 May 2023)

Martin Kenny: Another aspect of this is the retention of staff. It is a problem. There is a shortage of drivers across the country and across the world, especially for public transport utilities. The issue for many is that they do not particularly want to drive a bus, tram, Luas or whatever where they will be attacked or abused by people on a regular basis. Alternative employment is available to them....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Transport (4 May 2023)

Martin Kenny: 3. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide an update on safety measures for staff and passengers on board public transport. [20790/23]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Transport (4 May 2023)

Martin Kenny: I wish to hear the Minister of State's views regarding safety measures, particularly for passengers and staff using public transport. For some time, in my previous role, I called for the establishment of a Garda transport division to protect people on public transport and the staff who run it. In many cases, there have been serious incidents of what is sometimes described as antisocial...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Ports Policy (4 May 2023)

Martin Kenny: 1. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide an update on development plans for the ports. [20789/23]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Ports Policy (4 May 2023)

Martin Kenny: I wish to ask the Minister of State about the plans the Government has for the upgrading of our port system across the country. There are two aspects of this that we need to get to grips with. The first is the opportunities there are for wind energy at sea and the issues around infrastructure given that many of our ports, particularly those on the west and south coasts, do not have the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Ports Policy (4 May 2023)

Martin Kenny: I thank the Minister of State. It is remarkable that a recent report said that Belfast Port is the only port on the island that has the infrastructure in place to facilitate the construction and maintenance of offshore wind energy generation. For a long time in this House we have talked about the opportunities that lie off our coast, and particularly the west and south coasts, for the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Ports Policy (4 May 2023)

Martin Kenny: The whole issue of putting this infrastructure in place and the development of the capacity we need is completely beyond the ambition of this Government, which seems to be really lagging behind in developing the ports system in the State. It is one of the great disappointments that this opportunity exists and yet the Government is talking about publishing plans, doing reports and getting...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Ports Policy (4 May 2023)

Martin Kenny: Is the Minister on board with that?