If I understand Deputy O'Rourke correctly, it is a matter for An Garda Síochána rather than for a separate policing service. I agree with him on that. I know there are different views. Some people are arguing that we should have another completely separate police service for the transport system. I do not agree with that. I think it is best managed within An Garda Síochána, which is best placed with the immediate response system it has. I agree with the Deputy on that. The Garda manages that in terms of how many ga…

I will not reiterate the written response because it would be similar to the response I gave to Deputy O’Rourke. The role of my Department, as the Minister of State mentioned on another issue, is working with the NTA and operators. We meet them regularly. If there is an issue with security, reliability, getting workers or other things, while we do not run the bus service or train system, our aim is to make sure they deliver for the public the quality of service we expect. The first principle is that people have to …

I am slightly nervous because, as the Deputy said, it is an issue for the Minister for Justice and An Garda Síochána. The Deputy is right. I said to Deputy O’Rourke earlier that there is an argument in favour of establishing a unit outside An Garda Síochána, but I do not think that would be appropriate or correct. I recently visited the new control centre in Heuston Station, where the Garda response control unit is cheek by jowl with the rail control centre. That closeness, connection and speed of response is an ad…

I agree with the Deputy. We want to get people onto public transport for so many different reasons and making sure there is a safe environment is critical to that. This is happening. I was on the radio this morning and I mentioned some figures I saw yesterday. I think 80,000 young people have taken up the leap cards and new travel cards. They are taking off. On the issue of public transport numbers, I met with an international expert on transport who said that what is happening in Ireland is unusual and outside the…

These two schemes are distinct from each other, as one is a national road and the other is a local road. I will, therefore, update separately on each scheme. The N4 is the national primary road between Dublin and Sligo and it connects to both the N5 to Westport and the N6 to Galway and Athlone, forming a strategic corridor to the north west. The proposed upgrade aims to address congestion issues in Carrick-on-Shannon and to improve a section of the N4 route between Drumharlow townland in County Roscommon, which is …

I look forward to visiting Sligo again. I have been trying to get out there. I am visiting Westmeath County Council tomorrow and I look forward to visiting the county councils in both Sligo and Leitrim to talk to them about the climate action plan we have to deliver together. I am looking forward to visiting Sligo in particular because one of the most interesting pathfinder projects in our Department involves transformative plans for the centre of Sligo town, connecting it to the university and the hospital. On the…

I might take the Deputy up on that offer. We can go surfing together in Strandhill. The national planning framework gives us the way forward. We need better balanced regional development. There is excess development on the east coast, especially in the greater Dublin area, and we need areas such as Sligo, Cork, Galway, Waterford and Limerick to grow as a counterbalance to that. The best way for Sligo to grow is for it to switch and promote sustainable mobility in order that there will be a high-quality local enviro…

I contacted Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, in respect of the matter raised by the Deputy and its representatives informed me that eFlow appreciates customers may run into difficulties when paying their tolls and strives to assist customers in resolving these matters. To this end, eFlow has a dedicated resolution team within its operation, which engages with customers who are experiencing difficulties paying the tolls and penalties. It actively engages with customers who have fallen into arrears on their pay…

What the Deputy described, where somebody who owed €240 to eFlow contacted the company and agreed a graduated payment but nonetheless ended up with a €1,000 charge due to enhanced fines or other interest costs, seems unacceptable, although I do not have all the details. That would not encourage people to do what my prepared reply recommended, whereby customers in such a position should ensure they contact the company. The Deputy might convey further details on the case to me or the Minister of State, given if it is…

I agree. If there is an instance where, as the Deputy said, somebody is paying for a toll but has a backlogged fine and the payment does not go towards the toll but towards the backlog and they then get a further fine because they have not paid that toll, it seems so me that there is perhaps a communications issue in that situation in terms of it not being transparent or clear that people have to clear their backlog, otherwise they can get into further difficulty, which is unsatisfactory. I will ask my Department t…

We are committed to improving public transport in rural and urban areas across the country. A key deliverable among the policies we have put in place is the Connecting Ireland rural mobility plan. TFI Local Link services are responsible for the vast majority of new routes under Connecting Ireland. The latest figures from October last year show Local Link delivered 17 of the 25 new and enhanced services. They, therefore, have a leading role in delivering that policy commitment. In the context of their central role, …

I am very supportive of the NTA and the work it has done on this matter. It has had a central role in designing, promoting and pushing the new Connecting Ireland system. It has been given additional staff resources in the past two years so it can scale up. I agree that the Local Links are the right vehicle. They are community-based and distributed across 15 centres in a network with operations throughout the country with very good local knowledge. In the meeting I had with Local Link representatives in December, th…

I agree on the bus stop issue. As the Deputy will recall, we were in Ennistymon recently and I decided to use one of the local services. I did not know where it stopped, which was confusing. There could have been better information online about the timetable and the route. I agree with the Deputy. This is starting to work but this could work even better. In many instances it would be great to have a bus stop with a shelter but that is a much more expensive and difficult operation. In some instances, it could be a p…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 12, 13, 23 and 70 together. As the Deputies are aware, the strategic rail review is being undertaken in co-operation with the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland. The results of the review will inform the development of the railway sector on the island of Ireland over the coming decades. A draft report is currently being finalised by the consultants for submission to the Departments. The finalised draft report will then be submitted for approval to both Ministers and u…

To answer Deputy Doherty's question, we should look at returning rail connectivity to Donegal and improving it to the north west. This will not be cheap. I had a series of meetings with ARUP and the UK rail transport expert who was asked by the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson to examine some large projects. I thought providing access to Donegal would see the development of the existing line on the north Antrim coast. In those discussions, what started to come into view was the possibility of a spur from Portadown…

Please God, the assembly will return, but in the absence of that, we do not have full control over what we can do with the report. I have to bow to the diplomatic reality that we are in. I am glad Deputy Dillon mentioned the reopening of the Foynes line because it is connected to the western rail corridor. We need to think in the long term. The development of Rosslare Port in Wexford is necessary for the development of offshore wind, which means the quayside will have to be developed. We should put the rail line ba…

I am pleased to be able to take part in this debate and to listen to statements on the development of the Climate Action Plan 2023, which was presented by the Government just before the Christmas break. I am also pleased that we have this opportunity to review it. We will continue to do so as we implement it in the coming year and continue to evolve it to meet what is the greatest challenge of our time, namely, to protect the stability of our climate system for future generations and to avoid the worst impacts of c…

I move: “That the Bill be now read a Second Time.” I very much appreciate this opportunity to introduce this Bill. It is probably not likely to take up the full 20 minutes allocated. I am very pleased to address the House on Second Stage of the Bill and to be joined by officials from the Department. The Bill is largely administrative and procedural. It provides for contingencies in the event of an emergency rather than introducing major new policy or other provisions. It is important all the same because, as Deputi…

Today is an important day. For 100 years, we have operated as a democracy. It is important we follow the constitutional order today in electing a Taoiseach and a new Cabinet and Government. The metaphor I was using is that it is like half time. The captain's armband will be passed from one to the other but it will be a similar team and I am certain that on Monday morning the new Tánaiste, Deputy Micheál Martin, will be running out with the rest of us, determined to do everything we can to serve the people. I spoke …

I want to focus and concentrate in my contribution to the debate tonight on the role of the Green Party in this Government and what we intend doing in the next two years. I do so remembering, critically, two and a half years ago when we joined the Government and agreed a programme for Government, that the leader of the European Green Party, whose assessment would be well informed because we are in government in many countries in Europe, said that our programme for Government was the greenest programme that they had…