Results 1,121-1,140 of 6,340 for speaker:James Lawless

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Regional Airports (23 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: As the Deputy will be aware the regional airports in Cork and Shannon are State-owned airports. Both have a commercial mandate and are expected to rely on their own resources, without recourse to the Exchequer, which they had done prior to COVID-19. However, since 2020 unprecedented Exchequer funding totalling over €92m was provided to these regional State airports, supporting...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Driver Licences (23 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: I propose to take Questions Nos. 63 and 64 together. Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority has statutory responsibility for the National Driver Licence Service, which handles all driving licence enquiries. Ireland has a licence exchange agreement with New Zealand for the exchange of licence categories A, A1, B, AM and W and currently does not exchange C...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Driver Test (23 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for the National Driver Testing Service, this includes all application and scheduling matters. Given the RSA's responsibility in this matter, I have referred the Deputy's question to the RSA for direct full reply. Please contact my private office if a response is not received within ten days

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Regional Airports (22 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: I propose to take Questions Nos. 159 and 214 together. I first wish to clarify to the Deputy that there is more than one Public Service Obligation (PSO) air service funded by the Irish Exchequer, but only one which is operated under contract by my Department. As the Deputy is aware, this PSO service between Donegal and Dublin is the only PSO route operating to Dublin Airport. This...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Traffic Management (22 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: The Road Traffic Act 2024 makes changes to default speed limits on three classes of road, in line with the Speed Limit Review which my Department published last year. These changes mean that default speed limits for national secondary roads will come down from 100km/h to 80km/h, those for local roads will come down from 80km/h to 60km/h, and those for roads in built-up areas from 50km/h to...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Regional Airports (22 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: I wish to assure the Deputy that I am fully in favour of increasing the capacity of Dublin Airport, the development of which is in line with the National Aviation Policy. This Policy recognises the strategic importance of Dublin Airport to meeting national social and economic policy goals and includes an objective to develop Dublin Airport as a secondary hub airport. The cap on...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Electric Vehicles (22 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: E-scooters which comply with the relevant regulations and technical specifications have been legal to use on Irish public roads since May this year. Technical and usage requirements for e-scooters may be found at www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/5e95b-e-bikes-e-mopeds-and-e-scooter s/. My Department will consider a review in 2025 of e-scooter use and legislation, with a view to examining technical...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Airport Policy (22 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: As the Deputy will be aware, increasing capacity at Dublin Airport is in line with the National Aviation Policy (“NAP”) which recognises the strategic importance of Dublin Airport to meeting national social and economic policy goals. The NAP includes an objective to develop Dublin Airport as a secondary hub airport. It is important to stress that the passenger cap at Dublin...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Car Test (22 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the operation of the National Car Testing Service is the statutory responsibility of the Road Safety Authority. I have therefore referred the question to the Authority for direct, detailed reply. I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response has not been received within ten days.

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Driver Licences (22 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: The Road Safety Authority (RSA) is responsible for the National Driving Licence Service (NDLS), and all applications for a driving licence must be made through the NDLS. Where Ireland has a licence exchange agreement with a non-EEA country, a driving licence from that country can be exchanged in most cases, once the holder is resident in Ireland. Vigilance is needed when processing a...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Driver Licences (22 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: In general, there is no waiting time to receive an appointment with the NDLS front offices. The current average processing time for the NDLS to exchange a third country licence is approximately 30 days.

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Military Aircraft (22 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: Under the Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous Goods) Orders 1973 and 1989, the carriage of munitions of war by civil aircraft in Irish sovereign territory and by Irish-registered civil aircraft, wherever they are operating, is prohibited, unless an exemption from this prohibition is granted by the Minister for Transport. Over a number of weeks, media reports...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Regional Airports (22 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: I am pleased to advise the Deputy that Ireland West Airport received almost €47m in Exchequer funding from my Department over the period 2011 to 2023. Over €44m was allocated under the Regional Airports Programme. This Programme provides support towards safety and security related projects and activities at Ireland’s smallest regional airports, those that provide...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Driver Test (22 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for the National Driver Testing Service and the information requested is held by that organisation. I have therefore referred the Deputy's question to the RSA for direct reply. Please contact my office if a response is not received within ten days. To address the issue of increased testing...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Regional Airports (22 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: I wish to confirm to the Deputy that if your query is in relation to the development proposal submitted by Waterford Airport, my Department has recognised both digital documents and physical documents alike and has made no formal distinction between either.

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Signage (22 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: All traffic signs on public roads must be provided in accordance with the Traffic Signs Manual, which constitutes a Ministerial Direction to road authorities under section 95(16) of the Road Traffic Act 1961. This direction is given to road authorities for the provision and use of traffic signs. Road signs such as STOP are internationally recognised and it is important for road safety...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Departmental Bodies (22 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: I propose to take Questions Nos. 216 and 217 together. The Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Task Force was established in December 2023, to bring together stakeholders, to contribute to the development of a national SAF Policy Roadmap. To date, it has held four meetings, with another expected to take place in Q4 of 2024. The membership of the Task Force can be found in the Terms of...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Air Services (22 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: I understand that my colleague, Catherine Martin, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport, and Media will also be answering this same question, with reference to the Regional Cooperative Marketing Fund. Therefore, I will focus more broadly on the issue of connectivity and provide some detail in relation to passenger numbers at our State and regional airports. ...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Driver Licences (22 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: I am informed by the Road Safety Authority that its technical team is currently reviewing Nova Scotia's driving test standards against Irish driving test standards. The review has not yet been completed.

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Driver Licences (22 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: In order to drive here, people with a non-exchangeable licence who come to reside in Ireland must obtain an Irish licence. A person with a full but non-exchangeable licence must go through the normal driver learning process but can avail of the shorter Essential Driver Training of 6 lessons, instead of the usual 12, and they do not have to be a learner for the usual minimum of 6 months before...