Results 8,341-8,360 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (10 Nov 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I will go back to Deputy Smith's first comment that a lot of people are proposing a separate transport police. It is important that we address whether that is key, one way or the other. I recently visited a new control centre being built by Iarnród Éireann. It is an amazing facility behind Heuston Station. There we are seeing co-location of An Garda Síochána services...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (10 Nov 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I disagree with Deputy Smith on one point. I agree that we do not need a separate policing service but from my long experience on the Luas, I believe that company's system, which is often about fare evasion as much as is policing, provides a welcome and secure presence. Those workers and that company do a good job in that regard. I do not believe gardaí will check for fares and so on....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Bus Services (10 Nov 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 23 together. I am acutely aware of the service issues currently being experienced across the public transport network in Dublin and the negative impact it is having on the travelling public. I reassure the House that I and my officials have met with senior management from the National Transport Authority in relation to these service issues and we...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Park-and-Ride Facilities (10 Nov 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The NTA has long recognised the importance of high-capacity park-and-ride facilities at designated public transport interchanges and has been providing these facilities as part of the ongoing investment in public transport. To support the timely delivery of park-and-ride sites and a cohesive overall programme, the NTA established the park and ride development office, PRDO, in February 2020....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Park-and-Ride Facilities (10 Nov 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I do not disagree with the Deputy, and never have, on the need for a variety of public transport services in the greater Galway area, in particular Galway city, whose acute problems are, as everyone knows, probably worse than any other city's. The specific locations of the park-and-ride sites, the details of which I presume have been shared with Galway City Council, are at the likes of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Park-and-Ride Facilities (10 Nov 2022)

Eamon Ryan: Again, I do not disagree with the Deputy. I believe in the cross-city link. There is an opportunity for us to show that we can develop alternative public transport systems that work for the people of the city more than anyone else. Visitors are also critical, of course. We need public transport services, active travel and other measures that allow us to meet the climate change targets....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cycling Facilities (10 Nov 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I agree with the Deputy that the Dublin Bikes scheme was transformative. Dublin City Council led it out and the public loved it. I also agree that we now need to look at the next stage. I am speaking about Dublin and the supply to other cities to make sure bike schemes expand into other areas. It is confined and relatively restricted at the moment. I am interested in having that concept...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cycling Facilities (10 Nov 2022)

Eamon Ryan: This is just one element to it because what we do will have to be quite extensive. I mentioned an example in Finglas where Dublin City Council had installed and facilities for e-car and e-bike charging. That was attractive and it could be an opportunity to provide access to a variety of different providers. I am looking at the climate fund to see if we could support such infrastructure...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (10 Nov 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The Deputy is absolutely right on the taxi fleet. That is one area where we can make significant changes. Because taxis are used extensively, as well as the vehicles themselves if they switch over, the kilometres they do as a percentage of our overall kilometres is significant. In that regard there are encouraging signs showing we can change. We introduced very generous grants for the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (10 Nov 2022)

Eamon Ryan: This was discussed in an earlier question. The OECD report, commissioned by the Climate Change Advisory Council, provides the model for how we do this and it requires systemic change. Central to that is the reallocation of road space to provide the priority bus lanes which get efficiency. The more frequent services we have, the more people will use it. That also benefits the taxi fleet...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cycling Facilities (10 Nov 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I will again refer to the OECD report I just mentioned, which sets out a requirement for large behavioural change in the direction of sustainable modes, travel reductions and shared mobility. Along with road space reallocation and communication efforts to address car-centric mindsets, it identifies the mainstreaming of on-demand shared services as one of the policy areas with a high...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Network (10 Nov 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I understand that Louth County Council has indicated that redevelopment is planned for the Bush Post Primary School. The council is awaiting clarity on the detail of the public road interface. It will be a matter for the council to seek funding under the appropriate grant programme in that regard, should it wish to do so. It seems that the right thing to do would be to try to manage the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (10 Nov 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I thank the Deputy. Enhancing and decarbonising our public transport systems forms a key pillar of the Government's climate action strategy. Investment in public transport has increased in line with Government policy to encourage modal shift and planned capital expenditure under the national development plan favours new public transport schemes over road projects on a 2:1 ratio. The...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Change Policy (10 Nov 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I do not disagree with the Deputy. There is huge potential in the services he mentioned. The allocation of those ICR carriages is a matter which Iarnród Éireann is going to have to decide on an operational basis. It is best placed to see where the growth is. What is interesting, and what I hear from the company, is that since we as a Government introduced a 50% reduction in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Change Policy (10 Nov 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I am intervening in putting the funding into public transport, reducing fares and in encouraging the development of Cork, Galway, Waterford, Limerick, in particular, as our priorities for investment in transport.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Network (10 Nov 2022)

Eamon Ryan: Local authorities are the statutory road authorities responsible for the maintenance and improvement of regional and local roads, together with traffic management, within their functional area. My Department provides grant assistance to local authorities under the regional and local road grant programme for a range of targeted programmes, including the safety improvement programme....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Network (10 Nov 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, and I were there recently at a good Coast Guard event. I know the character of the road. I see the need for measures to be taken. Just to provide details which might be useful for the Deputy in his own work on this issue, there are a number of grant headings under the safety improvement programme. One is for works costing less than €200,000...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Change Policy (10 Nov 2022)

Eamon Ryan: It is clear that the scale of the challenge we face in decarbonising transport, as highlighted in this OECD report, will require a transformative level of behavioural and systems change. I was pleased to participate at the Climate Change Advisory Council's and OECD team's launch event on 5 October, alongside the new environmental director at the OECD and the chair of the advisory council....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Change Policy (10 Nov 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I agree with the Deputy that part of this transformation has to be the development of rail services in our cities of Cork, Galway, Waterford and Limerick to be counterbalances to the excessive reliance on development on the east coast and in the Dublin region. It is important that we invest in the rail services of those cities so that they have centres of scale that can be counterweights to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Transport (10 Nov 2022)

Eamon Ryan: BusConnects Cork is the NTA's plan for the development and delivery of a sustainable, high-quality bus system for the Cork metropolitan area. The NTA is developing plans to introduce 12 new sustainable transport corridors, which will encompass 93 km of bus lanes and 112 km of cycle lanes across the city. Investing in a sustainable future for Cork is vital for supporting the city's growth...