I cannot comment on the particular situation. Now that I understand what has happened, planning permission has been given for this and it is still in the planning process. I cannot comment on that-----

I have it in my own constituency with wind farms. These wind farms are being imposed on communities in their own backyards. They are very imposing. Again, we do not know who owns them. Investors own them. Communities are preparing submissions to go into the local authority to make their cases. They are meeting in community halls to see how they will do this when they should be at home enjoying themselves with their families. That is the context of the overall issue. More public transport is definitely needed. The q…

I thank the Deputy for the question. In County Galway, we have 30 villages without any treatment plant, so I empathise with him. Uisce Éireann has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation. Neither I, nor the Minister, Deputy Browne, who offers his apologies as he cannot be here this evening for this question, have an operational function in the matter to which the Deputy refers. However, we have asked Uisce Éireann for an update on the Deputy's behalf. Uisce Éirean…

I can feel the Deputy's frustration with this particular issue. As I said, for the first time ever we have put money into Uisce Éireann, which is ring-fenced money, for it to develop new infrastructure. Since its inception, Uisce Éireann has spent a lot of its time trying to firefight existing infrastructure which was not functioning properly. In fairness, it did not get the proper money to do the job it was set up to do. That is an inherent problem and a legacy we have. With the agreement of Uisce Éireann, we also…

I welcome the opportunity to address the House on road haulage costs and how the Government is supporting this critical sector. I will share my time with the Ministers of State, Deputies Christopher O'Sullivan and Jerry Buttimer. Geopolitical events over the past number of years and the storm damage to Holyhead at the end of last year have highlighted the importance of the road haulage sector and the contribution it makes to our economy, facilitating domestic and international trade. During this period of instabili…

I rise today to pay tribute to my colleague, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, on the occasion of his departure from Cabinet. It is an important moment for this House and the country because it marks the close of a remarkable chapter in public service, one defined by stability, integrity and an unwavering commitment to the Irish people. Paschal Donohoe has given incredible service to this State since he first entered the Dáil in 2011. His contribution stretches across more than a decade of national decision-making, including…

-----we were waiting to make sure that over the next four years we would do that. I look forward to working with my colleagues for the next four years.

For almost 1,400 days, Ukraine has been subjected to an armed aggression, the likes of which had not darkened our Continent in decades. The actions of the Russian Government in invading the territory of a sovereign, independent state are an affront to humanity, conducted with flagrant disregard for the UN Charter and for international law. In the course of its military aggression, Russia has killed thousands of Ukrainians, occupied parts of the country, devastated towns and cities, deported thousands of Ukrainian c…

I thank the Deputy for his question. First, I want to state that the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is at COP30 and that is why he is not here tonight to answer questions. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I are here to answer the questions. It is important to point out that the Minister for Transport has no formal role when it comes to tolls. The setting of tolls is a statutory function of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and in line with that, the TII board proposed a limited number of toll increases f…

First, I cannot speak for people who made election promises in manifestos. I am here to deal with the question tonight and that is what I am here to do. I note there are 11 toll roads in the State of which ten are on the national roads. The East-Link-Ringsend bridge toll in Dublin is on the local road network. Of the ten tolls, there are two public tolls, namely, the M50 and the Dublin tunnel tolls. Revenue from these tolls is collected directly for TII by operating companies under TII contracts. It also important …

First, the question here is about the tolls and what they are doing. To recap again, there were previous tolls on eight PPP roads, the M50 and the Dublin tunnel. There were toll increases in 2025. At the moment, there are no changes for cars with the exception of a 10 cent increase on the M3 and M4 tolls. There are also increases for goods vehicles across all schemes, a 20% increase for heavy goods vehicles of more than 3.5 tonnes having four axles or more on the Kilcock to Kinnegad section of the M4. Not every tol…

As Minister of State with responsibility for international and road transport, logistics, rail and ports, I wish to begin by noting that e-scooter users, like cyclists and pedestrians, are vulnerable road users. Their safety is of paramount importance when regulating for safer roads in Ireland. To that end, regulations providing for and governing the safe and legal use of e-scooters on Irish roads were introduced in 2024. The ongoing development of segregated road space is also vital to improving safety for this gr…

I share the Deputy's concerns. The growing number of incidents, accidents and near misses is becoming an issue. As the Minister of State responsible for road safety, I will be reviewing this. I say to him and take this opportunity to say to parents as well that if they are thinking about buying an e-scooter, not to buy one for a child under 16 years of age, please. Many other technical requirements are needed. It is important, especially when you consider the devastation caused by an accident. We have only to look …

I thank the Deputy for his support and offer because working together is how we will improve safety. I will be talking to my officials about the evidence that has come back since the regulations were brought in in 2024 to see whether patterns have been seen. However, I believe there is a huge lack of understanding of what an e-scooter can do, the power it has and the speed it can go at. We have the regulations and there is an enforcement issue there. I see on the roads people on these scooters without a high-visibi…

The Department of Transport's annual capital allocations from 2026 to 2030 were confirmed in the review of the national development plan published by the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation in July. In recognition of the importance of advancing projects in the transport sector, of the €102.4 billion allocated across Government Departments, €22.3 billion has been allocated to the Department of Transport in addition to the €2 billion to advance MetroLink under th…

The PSO has been increasing. Why? It is because public transport services are increasing, demand is increasing and we are providing more services. Under the national development plan review, there was a reset of the money available for the PSO. I am satisfied that there is enough money there to meet the existing PSOs and for further development when we publish the new scheme. It is also important to say that, with the national development plan and the sectoral plan we will produce, we will be looking at a wide rang…

I do not have figures on that particular detail of the PSO funding because it was not part of the original question. I can, however, get those figures for the Deputy or they will probably be in the published NDP when we bring it out. On Bus Éireann services that are being reviewed, I have met representatives of Bus Éireann, as I am sure the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has, but I will confirm that. As the Deputy will be aware, there is increased demand. For instance, on the rail line between Galway and Limerick, when …

Like the Deputy, I am eager to see next generation ticketing rolled out on the Irish public transport system. I look forward to seeing its introduction as part of BusConnects Dublin before ultimately being delivered across the entire public transport network. Many people have seen contactless ticketing systems in other countries and feel like it is taking a long time to deliver here. As I have previously explained, which was in the reply to another question I did not have to answer, we introduced the new Leap ticke…

With next generation ticketing, there is much to take into account, since the scope of what it will deliver covers all public services, buses, trams and train stations, including bus validators, ticket machines, ticket vending machines, station gates, tram and train platform validators, and an account-based ticketing solution delivered on modern cloud-hosting technology. It is important to note that it is not just a matter of giving somebody a card or going contactless. This is next generation ticketing and it will…

I will have to check that out for the Deputy and see what plans there are. When we are introducing a new system like this, as has often been seen in the past, if it is not done right, it can cause huge problems and there can be significant anxiety and frustration when the system is not working right. The idea is to introduce a small number of bus, tram and train validators, test them and prove their functionality first. It is important that we do that before committing to large-scale deployment. I agree with the De…