Results 81-100 of 3,471 for speaker:Martin Kenny

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform (15 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: I thank the Minister. I hope this opportunity will be recognised, particularly with the electrification of lines, with battery power and new technology and developments. I also wish to understand the level of ambition there is around developing more bus links in urban areas in particular. I know there are issues in Dublin with BusConnects and so forth. I am sure the Minister hears about...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform (15 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: I thank the Minister. Transport Infrastructure Ireland appeared before the transport committee yesterday. As the Minister is aware, it has seven stages when it looks to a project. The first four stages are around planning, working it all out and how it will proceed, whether it is building a road or something else. The last three stages are the actual construction and moving things...

Recent Developments in Northern Ireland: Statements (14 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: Long awaited comes at last, and this has certainly been the case with the executive in the North. We all extend our congratulations and our best wishes to the success of that executive. It comes as one of the key factors of the Good Friday Agreement in the hope that it offered of a co-operative Government that would work together for the benefit of everyone and to build a society that would...

Recent Developments in Northern Ireland: Statements (14 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: No, not a chance.

Recent Developments in Northern Ireland: Statements (14 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: The difficulties that lay ahead were spoken about. While there is great hope and a great sense of opportunity in all of this, there are real difficulties. Reference was made to the public servants who had been out on strike. The difficulty in the health service in the North is one of the really terrible issues and particularly at the Fermanagh and Enniskillen hospitals. The A3 road...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: I raise the issue of damage to power lines, particularly in recent storms. In County Leitrim, there are large areas of afforestation. Where there is afforestation, power lines go through it. As part of licence conditions, forestry is supposed to be kept 10 m back from the power lines. Often, that does not happen and it is not being enforced. There are cases of trees coming down on top of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Large-scale Capital Projects: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: I thank the witnesses for their presentation and the detail on all the major projects that are progressing. I have questions on some of those. The appendix to the opening statement sets out a number of projects that are moving ahead with some pace and projects approaching planning approval. It mentions in particular the Slane bypass and the Donegal TEN-T improvements. At what point is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Large-scale Capital Projects: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: Okay, so the Department of Transport is the hold-up.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Large-scale Capital Projects: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: We will not call it a hold-up. We will say it is under consideration, but it is a lengthy consideration.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Large-scale Capital Projects: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: That is one of the issues that I have raised numerous times. The phasing of projects of course has to happen. However, we seem to have this situation where it is difficult to move ahead while waiting for approval for phase 2, which has to be completed before one can move ahead to get funding for the next phase, and so on. I believe that is one of the things that is causing delays and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Large-scale Capital Projects: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: Of course.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Large-scale Capital Projects: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: If a sound proposal is put forward and is going to roll forward, waiting for six to eight months for it to get the nod when there is no change or serious questions to be asked about it seems a little bit frustrating.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Large-scale Capital Projects: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: That seems very long.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Large-scale Capital Projects: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: Is some of that due to additional environmental evaluations going on now that may not have happened in the past? Is that part of the delay?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Large-scale Capital Projects: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: There is quite a list of projects. TII's plan has various phases. Some attention needs to be brought to the first four phases. It seems to me that the last three phases can happen relatively quickly. If we could get the same sense of urgency around the first four phases, we would actually be delivering projects in a much more timely manner and resolving many of these issues. I see the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Large-scale Capital Projects: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: Could there be a re-examination of those guidelines?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Large-scale Capital Projects: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: It would be helpful.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Large-scale Capital Projects: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: I understand.

Road Traffic Bill 2024: Second Stage (13 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: I thank the Minister of State for outlining the Bill. It is something we have all been keen to look at. First and foremost, I am glad he withdrew the part of it relating to time-dependent penalty points. I hope he now accepts that the notion of having penalty points for weekends as opposed to weekdays is not a good idea and is simply inappropriate, in our system or indeed anywhere. The...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Cards (13 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: 579. To ask the Minister for Health the reason a person over 70 years whose income comes solely from social welfare or HSE payments is entitled to a medical card even though they are over the income threshold, but a person who is over the income threshold due to private income is not entitled to a medical card; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6260/24]