Results 13,381-13,400 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I think we can.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I slightly disagree on delivery. Our agents, particularly TII, have become very good at delivering road projects. They are much more expensive than they used to be but that is because construction costs have skyrocketed. Do they deliver on time and in budget? They pretty much do.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I was citing roads but I will give an example in public transport. The cross-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Eamon Ryan: There is always room for improvement but we delivered the cross-city Luas on time and within budget. I believe it is possible for us to deliver. We are always looking for ways of improving but the advantage we have at present, in my experience, is that the National Transport Authority, NTA, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and Irish Rail are the three big public transport delivery...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Eamon Ryan: On the first point, I am in direct contact with the Attorney General. That work will have to be concluded within the year and the Deputy is absolutely right; other stakeholders need to be involved in it. My understanding is that the board of TII is meeting next week. I presume that after that meeting, it will outline what the broad allocations are and the approach it is taking within the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I will look into it. I will make a broader point. I went into the mathematics earlier of how we have €35 billion and how we will spend it. There is roughly €6 billion for new roads investment in this decade. In that figure, and I believe the Chairman and other members may have been aware of this, the first half of the decade will be a much smaller allocation than the second...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I agree. That is why it is vital that we get the money for Connecting Ireland, the new rural bus systems we are going to put in place. It is also vital we put the first-up money from the European Regional Development Fund into Cork rail. We also need to get Dublin working, however. It is not Dublin versus Cork, Dublin versus Limerick or Cork versus Limerick. I am going on memory now; I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Eamon Ryan: That is why I said at the start we have to be careful on it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I could not agree more. The Chairman is correct; I should cap it at the very start.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I could not agree more. It is just to make the point that we cannot let Dublin gridlock because that would have knock-on consequences for the whole country.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I agree with the Chairman fully and investing in Limerick, Cork, Galway and Waterford would be my first priority. The key question is what will see Galway, Cork, Waterford or Limerick thrive. My position is that it will be if they position themselves as green cities of the future with compact low-carbon development and high-quality public transport.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Eamon Ryan: No, it is separate. Can I make a point about balanced regional development?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Eamon Ryan: One must be careful because the Chairman must remember that vast majority of the maintenance will go to roads as well.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Eamon Ryan: That was set out in the programme for Government. There is a broader strategic point about where we are going. What do we make and sell? We make and sell very high-quality medical devices, biopharma, IT and financial services. That is what we make and sell. This is not necessarily shipped on heavy haulage. Most of the haulage we do is in importing goods. If we look at Limerick as a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The problem I have with that is that if we rely on that strategy in terms of where we prioritise investment, you will hit Blackpool in north Cork. While we could then build a northern distributor route in Cork so it gets around to Dunkettle, you basically would hit what we have already hit in Dublin. You hit an M50 syndrome, where the roads are at maximum capacity and you cannot get any...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Eamon Ryan: While I agree with the Chairman about the requirement for road safety, if we look at a lot of motorways we have built, we have built for inter-urban journeys. We have built capacity for about 80,000 vehicles per day and even as we speak, on the inter-points from Waterford to Dublin, there are probably only about 5,000 to 10,000 journeys per day so we have actually provided eight or ten times...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Eamon Ryan: It is not. We heard from Senator Craughwell. When there will be other areas where the public transport capacity is bursting at the seams, which will happen because people flock to it as soon as we build it, that will become a question of whether we provide something that is ten times the demand or meet it where we already know the demand is at full capacity.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Eamon Ryan: Agreed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I agree. That would fit in very well with the Connecting Ireland public consultation at the moment about how we create those hubs and connections. That is what it is all about. It is about improving connectivity relating to public transport in rural Ireland. I must leave by 4.30 p.m.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Eamon Ryan: We are going to continue to invest in roads and there is a significant budget in repair and maintenance of existing roads and new roads. Without prejudging what TII's perspective on it is, the likes of the Slane bypass, which does meet that NSO objective of supporting compact development and dealing with traffic in the centre of a very historic village, fits in with what the NDP is saying,...