I thank Deputies for their comments on this. It is clear that we need to look at ways to encourage more people to use public transport. That is an aim and objective of Government. We will look at the NTA's research on it. We can all see the positives anecdotally before even seeing that research. This will be broadened to include commercial operators as quickly as possible. The NTA is currently assessing the deployment options. A working group has been established to expedite the roll-out of this scheme to commercia…

I will raise the expansion of these services with the Minister. He is also looking at the matter. This all comes down to budgetary constraints. The youth travel card has been extended to commercial bus operators. There are currently no plans relating to the 20% PSO.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 70 and 91 together. My Department is currently focused on delivering a number of existing measures in our climate action plan, sustainable mobility policy and road safety strategy, none of which propose the introduction of a curb on new vehicle sales on the basis of a vehicle's size. However, our existing approach to the taxation of motor vehicles through vehicle registration tax, VRT, is already designed to encourage a shift to improved emissions performance and my Department conti…

I thank the Deputies. It is clear from their contributions that we need to take a wider holistic approach to this. We are doing an awful lot in respect of public transport and active travel. There was a question today, for which the Deputy was not present, about electric vehicle charging points and the roll-out of charging infrastructure. It is very clear that a large part of reducing emissions here will be the roll-out of electric vehicles particularly for people in rural Ireland who may not always have access to …

Electric vehicles play a central role in COP 21 with a target of 175,000 EVs on our roads by 2025 and 945,000 EVs on the road by 2030. There are currently more than 58,000 EVs registered on Irish roads. That is since the end of April 2022. By 2030, the abatement impact for an additional 845,000 passenger EVs is estimated to be about 2.5 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. This figure is informed by the Department of Transport's modelling of the projected car fleet profile for the climate action plan 2021. It i…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 71, 76 and 89 together. The DAA introduced a voluntary severance scheme, VSS, during the summer of 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 crisis as part of the cost-cutting measures deemed necessary to secure the continued viability of the company. This was at a time when the DAA was losing €1 million per day, passenger traffic was substantially reduced, and there was uncertainty around the timing of a recovery with 2019 levels of passengers not envisaged until 2024 or 2025. The DAA too…

I thank the Deputies. As I said in response to a previous question, what happened on 31 May at Dublin Airport was completely unacceptable and fell well below the standards expected. We have engaged in our weekly meetings on this. The DAA has put in place a plan and presented it to the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications. It is critical that the DAA, which has statutory responsibility to operate and manage Dublin Airport, including in respect of required staffing levels, security staffing and the screeni…

I was very clear on the role of the Minister for Transport and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The terms and conditions of the VSS were approved by both Ministers. On staffing levels, the take-up under the VSS is completely a matter for the DAA. It runs the airport. It is looking at projections for passenger numbers. It is predicted that the return to the levels of 2019 will be in 2024 or 2025, but that is a matter for the DAA. It runs the airport, not the Department and certainly not Ministers. In …

I agree with the Deputy on ensuring we have a functioning airport. It is not just about people getting their flights, although that is an absolute because it is the key service, it is also about staffing. It is about ensuring that the infrastructure is in good repair. It is about a whole range of issues that the DAA is well equipped to deal with, given that it knows both its role and function. I am ensuring that, through these meetings, this continues to happen. I absolutely agree with the Deputy that the DAA fell …

In the context of the 370 staff, the DAA has told me that they should be deployed by mid-July and that, at that point, it should have security staffing levels equivalent to 2019. Again, I want to reassure Deputies of my engagement and that of the Minister with the management and with the chair of the DAA in this regard. It is about increasing security staffing in particular at the airport in order to relieve pressure. There are contingency plans in place through the triaging that the DAA feels will be adequate in e…

The Energy Charter Treaty is a political declaration on international energy co-operation with 53 signatories and contracting parties, including all EU member states, except Italy. It was signed in 1994 and entered into legal force in 1998. Since then, the Energy Charter Treaty has provided a multilateral framework for energy co-operation. It promotes energy security through the operation of more open and competitive energy markets, while respecting the principles of sustainable development and sovereignty over ene…

The modernisation of the treaty was initiated to respond to a world where the importance of renewables was paramount and to the policy objectives of the EU and non-EU countries to phase out fossil fuels in favour of renewables. That is essential. The Government's position is, therefore, that the best outcome of the treaty-modernisation negotiations is to align the treaty with the Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal, while maintaining the energy security framework provided by the treaty. While the option to …

I thank the Deputies for tabling this motion and for their valuable contributions. As set out in the programme for Government, Our Shared Future, the Government believes the State has a fundamental role in enabling older people and people with disabilities to remain living independently in their own homes. The opportunity to discuss and debate this very important issue this morning is welcome. While the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has some concerns about some elements of the motion, for exa…

I thank the Senators for their contributions. I remind the House that the primary purpose and focus of the Bill is to amend the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Casualties) Act 2000 to facilitate a revised board composition for the MCIB. In the various interactions of the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and me with Oireachtas Members on this Bill to date, we have consistently highlighted the reasons for regarding the Bill as a necessary intermediary step to ensure and support the continued functioning of the…

I apologise for not coming back on the Clinch and Lacey reports. I will do so now and will address the other issues raised earlier. A number of Senators raised the issue of the wider review of the organisational structure for marine casualty investigation in Ireland and the publication of the Clinchmaritime Limited report. The recommendations of the Clinch report will inform the wider structural reform process that is under way. With regard to publication of the report, there continues to be a number of legal issue…

I thank the Deputy for the question. The European and global oil markets are currently volatile due to the conflict in Ukraine exacerbating pre-existing market shortages, primarily of diesel. This has caused a spike in the price of crude and of refined products on the retail market. The Government is fully aware of the significant financial impact that rising fuel prices is having on the haulage sector and has been engaged with sectoral representatives in that regard. The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and I met the …

We all accept there are external factors here. The Government can do so much in regard to cushioning people from the rising cost of fuel but there is also a strong recognition from the Government of the importance of the haulage sector, in particular for our essential supply chain. That is why I, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the Government moved in regard to this scheme, which is being processed at the moment and the deadline for that is 29 April. We also have the diesel rebate scheme, which was introduced …

We have to acknowledge the work that is ongoing within the Department in regard to the current €100 per week scheme. Those in the haulage sector are applying for that. It is going to run for an eight-week period and it will be reviewed thereafter. As I said, we will continue our engagement, as we have done, with the Irish Road Haulage Association and the wider sector in regard to the needs around logistics and the supply chain, as well as working on the ten-year road haulage strategy. We are also working with the D…

I thank the Deputy for his question. The shared island fund is allocated by the Department of the Taoiseach to approved collaborative North-South projects that implement the Government’s investment commitments and objectives on a shared island as set out in the programme for Government and the shared island dimension of the revised National Development Plan 2021-2030, including the Government’s commitments under the New Decade, New Approach agreement of January 2020. There is no Government undertaking to provide fi…

As I said, what I and the Minister have committed to doing is conducting that review around the viability of those air routes between Dublin and Derry, and Cork and Belfast. We are working with the Department of the Taoiseach in respect of that. It is also important to say that the City of Derry Airport is already in receipt of funding support from Derry City and Strabane District Council and has received funding from the Northern Ireland Executive and the Department of Transport in the UK, including most recently …