Results 1,681-1,700 of 14,090 for speaker:Marc MacSharry
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)
Marc MacSharry: The office will cost €1.5 million and have seven staff. Are these staff exclusively dedicated to Dublin, as anecdotal evidence suggests?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)
Marc MacSharry: Are they on the agency side?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)
Marc MacSharry: Are these staff on the agency side? Ms Graham will know this issue came up last week at a meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)
Marc MacSharry: In real terms, would it be accurate to say the workers in the national cycling office in the NTA are not public servants? They are contracted in.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)
Marc MacSharry: In that case, we do not really have a national cycling office.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)
Marc MacSharry: Is it fair to say that we had design people before this announcement?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)
Marc MacSharry: No, I am referring to contractors for the schemes that have managed to get through.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)
Marc MacSharry: It is, therefore, a case of smoke and mirrors. It is a superficial announcement that we have a national cycling office when all we have done is given a name to something that already existed.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)
Marc MacSharry: The cost this year is €1.5 million. What was the cost last year before we announced the office?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)
Marc MacSharry: An office is like a room. There were, however, people dedicated to schemes and we were paying them to do designs and so forth. The announcement of a national cycling office within the National Transport Authority seems to me to be a little superficial. It is smoke and mirrors because there are seven people in the office who do not really work for us. They are contracted in to do a...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)
Marc MacSharry: Yes, but they are subcontractors for want of a better word.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)
Marc MacSharry: I know the NTA is depending on the resources that are available and all of that kind of stuff. I suggest, however, that what it says on the tin and the public perception of that is not what we are getting.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)
Marc MacSharry: As do I.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)
Marc MacSharry: I thank Ms Hanlon for what was to some extent a second opening statement on what is going on. The crux of this is that the national cycling is not what I thought it would be.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)
Marc MacSharry: Maybe we need a policy office in the Department. We basically have a structured design team within the NTA. That is not what I understood the office to be. It is specific to infrastructure. Ms Hanlon mentioned all the good things taking place in education, challenging stigma and normalising cycling, to which Deputy Eamon Ryan referred. That is all great but people are interested in the...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)
Marc MacSharry: What programme will have €70 million in funding?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)
Marc MacSharry: Can we separate those out? Presumably the walking programme involves funding for footpaths for local authorities. Is that the case?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)
Marc MacSharry: Certainly.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)
Marc MacSharry: Can I interject? There is a benefit from greenways for walkers and cyclists. The allocation for it is €23 million and nobody is arguing with that. I am still confused how we get to a funding figure of €100 million or €114 million for cycling. Let us take €23 million off the €114 million-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)
Marc MacSharry: In terms of that €70 million funding, can Ms Hanlon strip out walking from cycling?