Results 11,381-11,400 of 20,088 for speaker:Brian Stanley

Public Accounts Committee: Transport Infrastructure Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (3 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: The county council management, the council members and the joint policing committee that I sit on are all in favour. There has also been some serious road accidents in the Derrycloney area, as one goes into Mountmellick. I do not want to be too local because it is local details I am talking about. Mr. Walsh might come back to me with a little bit more information. I know exactly where it...

Public Accounts Committee: Transport Infrastructure Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (3 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: There is a chance of a relatively quick win because the project is not a circular route around the town but will cut across a short enough route. The TII might wrap up the project because there is huge local concern about it. Also, the commercial status of the centre of the town of Mountmellick is not good. If we got the HGVs out of the centre, we might get more people walking and cycling...

Public Accounts Committee: Transport Infrastructure Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (3 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: There is for some of the routes.

Public Accounts Committee: Transport Infrastructure Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (3 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: When these roads were built at the end of the 2000s, traffic volumes were increasing and were projected to keep going that way. With the exception of Covid, which we hope is a once in a 100 year event, there has not been any reduction and it is unlikely there will be because we are moving freight and goods along those routes. Is if fair to say the risk been talked up a bit too much in terms...

Public Accounts Committee: Transport Infrastructure Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (3 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: Where there is a claimed reduction in traffic volumes, does the TII monitor the volume of traffic?

Public Accounts Committee: Transport Infrastructure Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (3 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: It is not just the company.

Public Accounts Committee: Transport Infrastructure Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (3 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: On page 18 of the TII document it is stated that the Portlaoise-Cullahill PPP scheme cost €300 million, excluding VAT. I do not expect Mr. Walsh to have figures on this but perhaps he could come back to me on how much has been collected in tolls to date? I presume the amount paid to the construction company was 85% of the €300 million plus VAT. hat is my understanding of it.

Public Accounts Committee: Transport Infrastructure Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (3 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: I am conscious of the time and do not expect Mr. Masterson to have the details because I seek a few figures.

Public Accounts Committee: Transport Infrastructure Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (3 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: I ask for a note on the amount collected in tolls, the amount paid, the total annual operational payment, and there were any extra payments in terms of variations or anything like that. It has been said that nothing was paid in terms of the drop in traffic during Covid.

Public Accounts Committee: Transport Infrastructure Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (3 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: Mr. Walsh might come back to me confirming that. When we get to 2037, which is the expiry date for the contract, is there a bullet payment, which is how it is sometimes referred to, or a completion payment before the asset is handed back to the State?

Public Accounts Committee: Transport Infrastructure Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (3 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: Perhaps I could get a note on the condition in which a project has to come back. I am trying to get a picture of all of the finances for the overall project from the beginning to the end. I mean in terms of tolls for motorists, the cost to the taxpayer through the amount collected in tolls, the construction costs paid to the company, the operational costs every year, any variables and any...

Public Accounts Committee: Transport Infrastructure Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (3 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: We will move on to Deputy Devlin. A couple more hands have gone up.

Public Accounts Committee: Transport Infrastructure Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (3 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: The next member to speak is Deputy Verona Murphy.

Public Accounts Committee: Transport Infrastructure Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (3 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: I call Deputy Munster.

Public Accounts Committee: Transport Infrastructure Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (3 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: I will revert to the N7 and M8 for a moment and mention the Newlands Cross flyover. When that project was announced, I thought it would cause chaos. I was not long elected at the time. A commitment was given on day one that six lanes of traffic would be kept open, except at night-time when that would be reduced to one or two lanes. I acknowledge that work was difficult to do during busy...

Public Accounts Committee: Transport Infrastructure Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (3 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: It is difficult because when they attempt to retrofit, contractors try to use the lanes that are there already. It means taking them out of use. Contractors try to work around it by using middle aisles and all that sort of stuff. I thought this was a terrible gap in the planning at the time. While the bypass solved the problem by getting the traffic out of Naas town, which was good, there...

Public Accounts Committee: Transport Infrastructure Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (3 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: Yes. Will Mr. Walsh remind us of the opening year and when the retrofit was actually completed?

Public Accounts Committee: Transport Infrastructure Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (3 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: Yes, the first time.

Public Accounts Committee: Transport Infrastructure Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (3 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: That is the third question. What did it cost at the time and what would it have cost to provide an extra lane? The bridges were left wide enough, thank God, so space was left to do it. From the point of view of cost-benefit at the time, it would have been a hell of a lot better if three lanes had been provided in both directions from day one. I acknowledge that magical work was done to...

Public Accounts Committee: Transport Infrastructure Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (3 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: It was excellent. The manager of the site and the foremen and workers did great work. I thank the Comptroller and Auditor General for attending. I thank the witnesses and staff from the Department for the work involved in preparing for the meeting. Is it agreed to request that the clerk to the committee seek any follow-up information and carry out any actions arising from the meeting?...