Results 14,021-14,040 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Communications
Vote 31 - Transport (29 Sep 2021)

Eamon Ryan: Does the Deputy want me to reply to that question now?

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Communications
Vote 31 - Transport (29 Sep 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The officials have pointed out these are mid-term Estimates and we are not at the conclusion of the year. Often certain expenditure items could be either under or over the allocation but by the end of the year there will be a Supplementary Estimate or a reallocation for other Departments. Typically, in the case of the roads budget, much of the local roads maintenance is done regularly. It...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Communications
Vote 31 - Transport (29 Sep 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I would make two points. The Deputy is correct. The Limerick road is a good example of where there are various conditions in the contract whereby, for example, if another bridge was built across the River Shannon, the contractor would have to be compensated That is an example of a contract with compensation measures. Regarding the toll system and revenues for those projects, the revenue...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Communications
Vote 31 - Transport (29 Sep 2021)

Eamon Ryan: TII administers and manages the budget.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Communications
Vote 31 - Transport (29 Sep 2021)

Eamon Ryan: It would, but it manages the day-to-day collection and----

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Communications
Vote 31 - Transport (29 Sep 2021)

Eamon Ryan: Yes.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Communications
Vote 31 - Transport (29 Sep 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I do not have the data here. We will have to contact TII and ask for it specifically. We are dealing with the mid-term but it should be able to provide it.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Communications
Vote 31 - Transport (29 Sep 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The MetroLink, along with the other mega transport projects in Dublin, is on track, and we can talk about the other cities separately. Nevertheless, they have to go through that gate process. We have all seen - we can take the children's hospital as one example - that if we do not get the planning and the procurement process right in the early stages, there may be significant overspend at...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Communications
Vote 31 - Transport (29 Sep 2021)

Eamon Ryan: If I could just finish my point, I might come to the Deputy's question. We have to bring in both international experts and the Department of Finance to examine that business case before it goes to the Government. As I said earlier, I expect that then to go to a Government decision to get through this gate level, that is, the critical Government approval in principle. That will then allow...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Communications
Vote 31 - Transport (29 Sep 2021)

Eamon Ryan: No, there will not be. It is not a question just of how long it takes to go through planning but also of whether there are revisions to the proposed outline of the project, which could in themselves affect the timeline of the construction of the project.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Communications
Vote 31 - Transport (29 Sep 2021)

Eamon Ryan: We will have that date when we get through the planning system because we will then have much greater certainty in respect of what the project involves. To give a date in advance of that, when we do not know the final design of the project, might be nice and, politically, it would be lovely to announce a date but it would not be honest or straight-----

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Communications
Vote 31 - Transport (29 Sep 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I would not like to state that the project's completion date is 2034-----

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Communications
Vote 31 - Transport (29 Sep 2021)

Eamon Ryan: Yes, but that media reporting is not necessarily accurate or based on anything other than-----

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Communications
Vote 31 - Transport (29 Sep 2021)

Eamon Ryan: There is an evolution and it is coming from looking at large-scale projects-----

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Communications
Vote 31 - Transport (29 Sep 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The broad public procurement process system has changed, particularly for mega projects worth more than €1 billion. We have learned lessons-----

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Communications
Vote 31 - Transport (29 Sep 2021)

Eamon Ryan: In 2019, the public spending code changed for all large public projects. That was after the publication of the previous NDP.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Communications
Vote 31 - Transport (29 Sep 2021)

Eamon Ryan: No, the opposite is true. It is going to greater detail at earlier stages in order that we will avoid finding, in the middle of a construction process, that matters keep changing. The new public spending code seeks to bring forward much of the assessment that might previously not have been done. In some ways, that could be frustrating because it takes time, but the public is better served...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Communications
Vote 31 - Transport (29 Sep 2021)

Eamon Ryan: On the public transport side, a team of three international experts is examining each of these mega projects and running the rule over them. We have also brought in international consultants, connected very much with the European funding and with expertise in the area, to similarly assess the business case and advise the Department. This gate process we are going through in respect of...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Communications
Vote 31 - Transport (29 Sep 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I can understand that, but the public would also be deeply frustrated if we did not learn lessons from large public projects of the past that resulted in massive overruns and delays in construction. A timeline could have been given for the delivery of the national children's hospital, for example, but it keeps being delayed. An exact start time could have been announced three or four years...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Communications
Vote 31 - Transport (29 Sep 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I would much rather spend the entire budget but Covid, in particular, has had a significant effect on the likes of the NBP, where we have had difficulty, as in many other areas, bringing in key contractors, along with other elements that delayed it. In the area of sustainable travel, we took a conservative approach. Certain projects did not proceed through the first quarter of the year...