Results 9,781-9,800 of 20,796 for speaker:Alan Kelly

Topical Issue Debate: Road Safety (24 Jan 2018)

Alan Kelly: I thank the Minister, Deputy Ross, for coming to the Chamber to answer my questions. In fairness to him, we do not always see eye to eye but he always comes in to deal with the issues I raise and I acknowledge that. I want to raise two issues regarding our road network that I feel are absolute priorities and I have raised them previously. I raised some of these issues at the Committee...

Topical Issue Debate: Road Safety (24 Jan 2018)

Alan Kelly: I thank the Minister. I have no doubt of his sincerity but we need more than hope. I do not want to be in a situation where in years to come or after a short space of time I will be playing back this video to the Minister and others. If there is not serious consideration of the manner in which the on-off ramps in Roscrea and Moneygall work, as well as an examination of what is happening in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Network: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (24 Jan 2018)

Alan Kelly: Let Mr. Nolan answer the questions and I will ask mine afterwards.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Network: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (24 Jan 2018)

Alan Kelly: I have four questions. For the Chairman's information, representatives of the TII appeared before the Committee of Public Accounts a few months ago. I cannot remember the date although I am sure they remember. We released a report yesterday on that engagement. When we met in the other committee, I spoke in detail about the criteria used for capital projects. There was a commitment...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Network: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (24 Jan 2018)

Alan Kelly: Sorry, I have not finished. I know what-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Network: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (24 Jan 2018)

Alan Kelly: With regard to national roads, the criteria for the provision of funding should be better set out. The detail with regard to the criteria needs to be provided to this committee and to the Committee of Public Accounts. It needs to be provided in a very defined way with regard to weighting, the interaction with the national planning framework, which has to be gutted anyway, climate change...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Network: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (24 Jan 2018)

Alan Kelly: I will conclude. In addition to getting the criteria beforehand, I will be delighted if, subsequent to the announcement of the capital plan, I can tick all the boxes as regards the criteria. As politicians, we often get accused of reacting to things afterwards. If it does not happen, I will replay what I have said here after the announcement of the capital plan. The days of political...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Network: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (24 Jan 2018)

Alan Kelly: That goes across all politics.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Network: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (24 Jan 2018)

Alan Kelly: That goes across all politics. The Chairman has a track record, to be fair to him. My second issue relates to something that all Deputies should be very sensitive towards, which is the very good, honest and direct evidence that Mr. Nolan gave in the other committee. I want to get an update on it because it is genuinely concerning. Everybody will be concerned about it. In the TII...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Network: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (24 Jan 2018)

Alan Kelly: Yes, the Obama Plaza.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Network: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (24 Jan 2018)

Alan Kelly: I am also talking about Roscrea. I have seen near misses with trucks and cars coming out. I ask Transport Infrastructure Ireland to look at this again. There have been a number of tragedies at Birdhill, including one recently involving a person I knew. There is an issue which I cannot define. It took a long time to create Birdhill because it was built on a swamp and the road dips but...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Network: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (24 Jan 2018)

Alan Kelly: There is the solution.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Network: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (24 Jan 2018)

Alan Kelly: Very well.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Network: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (24 Jan 2018)

Alan Kelly: That is a very important road.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Network: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (24 Jan 2018)

Alan Kelly: What Mr. Nolan considers detailed and what I consider detailed are obviously totally different.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Network: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (24 Jan 2018)

Alan Kelly: I will make a suggestion on that. The criteria, the weightings, they way in which weightings are set up, the review periods relating to the criteria and weightings, and the interaction documented with regard to all other Government strategies, some of which I have listed, all need to be in this document.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Network: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (24 Jan 2018)

Alan Kelly: It is all good stuff.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Network: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (24 Jan 2018)

Alan Kelly: I welcome all that. I am not trying to catch Mr. Nolan out. I share something with the Chair. My issue is that what was brought forward was fine but, for me, it was not comprehensive. For TII to protect itself, dare I say it, its whole interaction with Government policies, it should state how that fits into the criteria and the individual weightings for every one of them, and it should...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Network: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (24 Jan 2018)

Alan Kelly: Some. It needs to come into the weighting and criteria. The weighting process for all projects needs to be shown in tabular form.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Network: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (24 Jan 2018)

Alan Kelly: There need to be links to define why and how projects exist. If they change at any juncture, it should be stated why they changed, what influenced that and what policy changed that, including policies relating to population, infrastructure, the national planning framework, decisions on climate change policy, TII's interaction with the Road Safety Authority, or anything else. That is fine...