Results 341-360 of 1,023,302 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh OR speaker:Darragh O'Brien)

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Network (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I will not read out the written response because it is very similar to what Deputy Marian Harkin would have heard only a few minutes ago.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Network (16 May 2024)

Éamon Ó Cuív: Unfortunately, I was chairing a committee at that stage.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Network (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: It will be available to the Deputy in written format in any case. If I can answer his question directly, the strategic rail review has been very public for over a year and a half. We had to go to a strategic environmental assessment. We decided that, in advance of the Assembly returning in the North, we would publish it because we had to go into that public consultation, so the details are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Network (16 May 2024)

Éamon Ó Cuív: It is a relatively recent invention of Government that the purely economic case of everything has to be justified. There are many things we do in society for societal good that do not make economic sense but they make social sense, regional balance sense and common sense, which is becoming very uncommon. Will the Minister outline the procedures? He has outlined the first one, where he has...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Network (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I agree with the Deputy fully. I would add the environmental issue to his list of common-sense considerations we have to take into account. The opponents of investing in rail freight argue that it is not economic and does not make sense, but they do not answer the question of how they intend to decarbonise our haulage system and do not take that into account as a key strategic objective...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Network (16 May 2024)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I provided funding of, I think, €5 million to clear the line from Collooney, all the way down to the CLÁR area boundary, which was south of Claremorris, back in 2006. What we need now is construction. We know the line is intact. We have been trying to explain that for a long time. It is intact from Collooney. That section of the line was cleared last year, but perennially...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Network (16 May 2024)

Martin Kenny: I thank Deputy Ó Cuív for the question. My interest is also in the western rail corridor. The Minister mentioned freight being part of it and that the analysis around all of that may bring that economic argument across the line. I feel another problem we have with it is that when an analysis is done of passenger numbers, it is done in much too narrow a scope. For instance, when...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (16 May 2024)

David Stanton: 11 o’clock The situation is extraordinarily serious. Planning in place in the Port of Cork runs out next year and it may be very hard to extend it or get new planning. The rubber is hitting the road very quickly because the port needs funding very soon to expand. Will the Minister of State tell me where that money is going to come from? That is the bottom line here. We...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (16 May 2024)

Jack Chambers: I will conclude what I was about to say and then respond to the Deputy's direct question. The Port of Cork has been assisted by Department officials in applying for the EU's Connecting Europe Facility. We provided support and guidance on those applications. This can help the port obtain 30% of the costs for infrastructure and up to 50% of the costs for other studies. The results of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (16 May 2024)

David Stanton: The Minister of State gives me only some comfort because he stated, and he can correct me if I am wrong, that the port can obtain 30% of the costs. That is not enough. It needs 100% of the cost to have certainty. There are many companies looking at this and making serious investment decisions to the tune of billions of euro. We need clarity here. The Minister of State said we are going...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (16 May 2024)

Jack Chambers: There is a need to ensure progress on this. We are engaging regularly with the Port of Cork on its needs, both in meetings and through correspondence, in respect of the proposed development at Ringaskiddy. There is extensive engagement with the corporate governance division on the financing needs of the port. The offshore renewable energy ports division, which was established last year,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (16 May 2024)

Public Transport

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (16 May 2024)

Darren O'Rourke: 59. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport for an update on the 103 Bus Éireann bus service; its performance standard and plans to improve it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22082/24]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (16 May 2024)

Darren O'Rourke: I ask the Minister for an update on the 103 Bus Éireann service which services Ratoath and Ashbourne to and from Dublin, its performance standard and plans to improve it, and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I am very aware of the ongoing issues with the 103 Bus Éireann service in Meath, which was particularly bad in September and October last year, and the negative impact that was having on the travelling public. Unfortunately, these issues were exacerbated by ongoing challenges the public transport sector is facing in the recruitment of both mechanics and drivers. However, I am pleased...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (16 May 2024)

Darren O'Rourke: I received a similar response directly from Bus Éireann earlier this week. It stated that so far in 2024, over 97% of scheduled route 103 services have operated fully. Anybody who uses that service will hear that as an insult to their intelligence. I will give today as an example. Three services have been cancelled, namely, the 8.58 a.m., the 9.22 a.m. and the 10 a.m. services. It...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I agree with the Deputy. It is not acceptable for passengers to be left waiting at the side of the road for the next bus. That is deeply frustrating, and it is not good enough. We have to make sure, through the NTA, that Bus Éireann is pushed so that the services improve. There are various ways we can do that. As I said, the first key issue is with mechanics and drivers. There has...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (16 May 2024)

Darren O'Rourke: Representatives of the service providers appeared before the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications last week. One of the asks they had of the Department, the Minister and his ministerial colleague was that a co-ordinated approach be taken to address the shortage of drivers and craft workers, involving SOLAS, the education and training boards, ETBs, and the National Apprenticeship...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rail Network (16 May 2024)

Marian Harkin: I thank the Minister. I have a long list of questions and replies going back to September 2021. It is nearly three years ago since he told me that the review was scheduled to be completed within 12 months. In November and December 2021, and October 2022, he told us that the review would be published shortly. This is going on for more than three years. I know there was a short delay...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rail Network (16 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: It was not a short delay due to the absence of the administration in Northern Ireland. I wish it had been short but it took a long time.