Results 14,841-14,860 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport (30 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: No, it will not be. They are not, as I said, akin to other road vehicles which require mandatory insurance.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport (30 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I attended the oral hearing on the widening of the M50 because I was interested in transport campaigning before I got involved in politics. In the past 30 or 40 years we have seen a significant improvement in road safety, as I said earlier. Much of that is down to legislative provisions on drink-driving, safety belts, airbags and a range of different measures which have helped us to reduce...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport (30 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: It does. The same rules of the road apply to pedestrians, to cyclists and to motorists. Those rules apply to everyone.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport (30 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I will pass that question over to Mr. O'Leary to go into the details.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport (30 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I will again hand over to Mr. O'Leary to address this question because he has the widest knowledge of the existing legal arrangements.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport (30 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I will take that away from the committee and share it with Government colleagues but without committing. As I said, we deliberately did not decide on specifics and decided instead to give time for that, and that can be part of the consideration in the coming days. I will take that away. I very much appreciate the questioning and commentary on the legislation, and I hope we can progress it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport (30 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I am reluctant to speak for NPHET so I might just leave that. As the Chairman said, we have had a good discussion. I think NPHET will have to answer that question rather than I.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport (30 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The Senator is right that it was those sorts of political decisions by those like the former Minister, Seamus Brennan, God rest his soul, and others that have seen such huge progress. There is provision in law for average speeds, as the Senator said, and it applies in the port tunnel. My understanding is the Road Safety Authority is keen and we will be looking at further applications of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport (30 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: No, there is not. There will be a lot of management of traffic in our urban areas. BusConnects projects will, by their nature, restrict car traffic capacity somewhat on each route and corridor, and that will have an effect on Dublin in particular. As I said, the M50 and the approaches to it are at full capacity, and that traffic coming into the city will be constrained because of the Bus...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport (30 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: Clearly, we should obey the rules of the road. There is much ongoing work on the use of cameras. The issue is complex because of data protection, and the Data Protection Commissioner will have a key role. We have seen with the use of CCTV cameras for the likes of litter pollution that it is difficult to enforce the regulations. As the Data Protection Commissioner has rightly noted, we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport (30 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I might hand over to Mr. O'Leary, who will be better placed to give details on where we are with the backlog.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport (30 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: Existing by-laws, for bicycles and other vehicles, will be able to be applied to regulate scooters. The bike hire schemes, in many cases, are contracted through the councils and the contract conditions may allow for regulation. There will be further regulatory systems as the schemes develop and evolve. One issue relates to the lifespan of the devices. We are increasingly moving to a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport (30 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport (30 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: We have been doing that. The first focus is on getting the digital Covid certificates in place and dealing with a variety of different issues, but the answer is "Yes".

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport (30 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The matter of medical fitness to drive is an element of the Bill which has not got attention and it is important. Our existing regulations pre-date our entry to the EU. This is an important modernisation. We are expecting to increase the age at which a medical certificate is required, from 70 to 75 years, which will affect many people, and it is hoped that is positive. I was distracted...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport (30 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: If the Senator could. Our response to Covid has worked because it has been collective. I would be concerned if someone was not availing of the ability which exists in regulations to provide exemptions for people with specific disabilities. If the Senator can send me those details, I will pass them on to the relevant authorities.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport (30 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: We are straying now.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport (30 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: It is a political system. We have the NCSC review and will act on it quickly. It is comprehensive, informative and useful. I expect to be able to act on it quickly. There are confidentiality issues with some of it but we have it now and are starting to act on it. I will similarly pass on the issue of the theory test and cancellations when talking to the Department.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport (30 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I agree with the Senator. I was involved in the opening of that bus corridor back in the day. It transformed public transport at a relatively low cost and with significant benefit to the people of Dublin. I think BusConnects will be the same. The legislation contains largely technical provisions. The NTA had some concerns about the definitions of carriageway and how it could get...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport (30 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: Yes, I think so.