Results 6,981-7,000 of 7,789 for speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: DART Underground and Expansion Projects: National Transport Authority (5 Nov 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: When?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: DART Underground and Expansion Projects: National Transport Authority (5 Nov 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: When will that happen?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: DART Underground and Expansion Projects: National Transport Authority (5 Nov 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: The Government is finishing in a few months' time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: DART Underground and Expansion Projects: National Transport Authority (5 Nov 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Does Mr. Creegan know when this will be built?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: DART Underground and Expansion Projects: National Transport Authority (5 Nov 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: When we were speaking earlier about engaging a project, Mr. Creegan spoke about the importance of assessing the need for that project as against the value of it, etc. If it transpires when an assessment is done three or four years from now that the relevant ratio is 1:1.5, as opposed to the ratio of 1:5 that was mentioned earlier, will the project be abandoned then?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: DART Underground and Expansion Projects: National Transport Authority (5 Nov 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: It seems to me as I listen to what the witnesses are talking about today that everything is based around Dublin. Does the NTA have any plans for rural Ireland to lift it up a bit and give it better services?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: DART Underground and Expansion Projects: National Transport Authority (5 Nov 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I know that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: DART Underground and Expansion Projects: National Transport Authority (5 Nov 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Does the NTA cover all the bus routes?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: DART Underground and Expansion Projects: National Transport Authority (5 Nov 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Does the NTA have a vision for those rural areas where services have been cut in the past few years? There are many parts of rural Ireland that need services, including small towns. While there is a rural service and I acknowledge that it is a help, there is a need in the different aspects of life in rural Ireland. We have the rural bus link, which is good. It has worked well in Sligo and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: DART Underground and Expansion Projects: National Transport Authority (5 Nov 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: In talking to the 17 offices which I acknowledge are making progress I ask the NTA not to focus completely on the larger towns. There may be five or six small communities or small towns in a rural area and everyone is whipped out of them on a Friday and brought to the larger town where there is a Lidl and a Tesco store. However, it is the small trader in the small town to whom the NTA...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: DART Underground and Expansion Projects: National Transport Authority (5 Nov 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Does the NTA ever talk to the HSE? Some hospitals provide concentrated services in areas, including cancer services and so on. Does the NTA liaise in any way to ensure people from County Leitrim can have their appointments in Galway later in the day because its services might be run in that way? Is there any joined-up thinking? Does the NTA ever sit down with people to ensure the right...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: DART Underground and Expansion Projects: National Transport Authority (5 Nov 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Can the NTA drive it to a greater extent?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: DART Underground and Expansion Projects: National Transport Authority (5 Nov 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I wish to back up the Chairman. What is happening is that in a lot of cases there are byroads and at one time the bus pulled in at each one along the way. Now the local authority states, "You cannot park there. It is not safe". However, that is where they get their business. It is safety gone mad. A solution must be found, even if it involves bringing in a digger to make a corner in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: DART Underground and Expansion Projects: National Transport Authority (5 Nov 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Ms Graham is saying the NTA gives the licence, but the local authorities decide whether the stops can or cannot be used. They are stating the stops where the buses have picked people up for the past 50 years cannot be used. Basically, they are stating people can walk. To be honest, one is nearly obliged to walk from Tuam to Galway in view of the local authorities stating one cannot pull in...

Finance Bill 2015: Second Stage (Resumed) (5 Nov 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: New ideas may be required to deal with the housing crisis. Third level colleges have a lot of land, especially those around Dublin, on which they could be well able to build proper accommodation, be it apartments or whatever else. This could act as a money stream for them and alleviate the problems and pressure of the housing crisis. We may have to think outside the box, as the usual way...

Finance Bill 2015: Second Stage (4 Nov 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I have been actively involved over the past few months in something that was contained in the budget, which is the cutting of the tax on vehicles, and I acknowledge this measure on behalf of the haulage industry. For the past two to three years, the haulage industry has been haemorrhaging jobs. Northern Ireland had a tax rate of €900 for a lorry. The equivalent in this country was...

Finance Bill 2015: Second Stage (4 Nov 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I so move.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Grid Link Project: EirGrid (4 Nov 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I thank the EirGrid deputation for their presentation. I wish to clarify a point on Grid West. The representatives from EirGrid have said it is dead in the water at the moment. Is that for good? I want to know that clearly. One thing EirGrid might consider is the position around Carrick-on-Shannon. I was down there where all the networks come together and it is like a spider with ten...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Grid Link Project: EirGrid (4 Nov 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: If there were 40 km underground, could the line be upgraded without putting anything else in the overhead part of it? There is a line in at the moment. Mr. Slye said there was 40 km in the difference

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Grid Link Project: EirGrid (4 Nov 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Yes.