My Department has 19 agencies in total, 12 commercial and seven non-commercial, which have either a CEO or commissioner running the organisation. All CEO and commissioner contracts under the aegis of my Department have terms and conditions based on sanction received from the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation. All CEO salaries and benefits are published in the company’s annual report and financial statements, in keeping with the business and financial reporting…

First, the salary increases are in line with the aegis of the Department of public expenditure and reform and the guidelines set out by it. It is important to say that salaries of CEOs are in line with the responsibilities they take on. They vary from agency to agency, depending on the responsibility they have, the number of people working in the organisation and all that goes with that. With State and semi-State agencies, it is important that we have people in control who are able to progress Government policy, ex…

The Deputy talked about the minimum wage but the minimum wage was increased in the budget. It is important to keep a balance on the discussion. When it comes to people at senior management level, you are trying to make sure that we get the best value for money. In the context of the Department of Transport, as billions of euro are being invested in transport, that is important. Every chief executive who is working within transport and is responsible for the running of these organisations has a lot of people and res…

I thank the Deputy very much for raising the question. I assure him my Department and the agencies that work under it are all fully aware of the need to ensure we have a transport system designed for all users and accessible to everyone. We have made progress in this regard in recent years, but still there is a lot to be done. We are committed to that work in the years ahead to deliver on the ambition of pillar 5 of the new national human rights strategy for disabled people. Turning specifically to rail, Iarnród Éi…

I am just looking here at information for the Howth station. Some general maintenance and cyclical work are being carried out, including line marking and nosing on stairwells. An anti-slip surface will be placed on all stairwells. Access to all platforms via lifts or stairs is the accessibility element. On the Deputy's specific question of what Iarnród Éireann did before it carried out works and the notification thereof, I will go back to the company and try to find out what it did and get the answers for him. If h…

I accept what Deputy Heneghan is saying in that we have to have public engagement when we are carrying out works so people know what is going on. The Deputy might send to my office what the issues and problems are and what the stations are. He mentioned Kilbarrack there. It says here line-marking and nosing of stairwell and it talks about surface repairs but, if the Deputy sends me the list and the time the works were carried out, I will get an answer for him. It is an important thread that is coming through all ni…

I thank the Deputy for asking this very important question. Based on large-scale surveys and analysis from the NTA's Walking and Cycling Index 2023 for Ireland’s five metropolitan areas - Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick-Shannon, and Waterford - active travel is delivering significant environmental benefits nationally. Walking, wheeling and cycling in these metropolitan areas remove approximately 680,000 car trips every day, reducing congestion and meaningfully cutting emissions. In 2023 alone, active travel saved an…

As I said, large-scale surveys were carried out in 2023. That is what we have at this stage. When we are investing money in active travel we want to make sure before we start that it will actually deliver what it says on the tin and we want to see afterwards if we got the necessary outputs. That is the same for every infrastructure project we carry out. There is an assessment carried out before projects are started to see what benefits they will bring. I will go back to the Department to see what other data we have…

From the surveys and data I have given the Deputy, I am convinced we are reducing CO2 emissions. In my own opinion, having been talking about this issue for the past hour and a half, when we put in active travel measures we need to talk about having effective public transport. We have an integrated transport travel system that will give an experience to pedestrians, cyclists and people using public transport so they will continue to use that. As regards some of the improvements we have to make, in order to get more…

I thank the Deputy for the question. It is important we discuss the all-island rail review, for which I have overall responsibility. I have a passion for rail and think it is important we restore as many of the lines as possible and do as many of the connections we can, especially in the west and north west where rail is lacking, and in the Deputy's constituency. I met some people in Ulster in relation to the connection between Derry and Letterkenny and the line from Portadown through Down. We have the basis for th…

I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for raising this. Neither the Minister for Transport nor his Department are involved in the day-to-day operation of the small public service vehicle, SPSV, sector. The National Transport Authority, NTA, the independent transport regulator, has responsibility for setting taxi fares under the provisions of the Consolidated Taxi Regulation Acts 2013 and 2016. I am informed that on 3 November 2025, Uber Ireland introduced a new option on their platform providing their customers with a single…

As I mentioned in my opening statement, the regulation of the SPSV industry, including the setting of fares, is a matter for the independent transport regulator. It is also important to say that taxi fixed price is a new trip option recently introduced by Uber in Ireland, whereby passengers see a single maximum price for a trip before requesting it. I understand the Uber fixed price is also available in other jurisdictions in Europe. How it works is that a price is displayed in advance showing the maximum fare for …

It is but I do not think that whatever is being done at present is breaching regulations. It is using the pricing structures to bring down the price a bit, which customers will think is great but in the long term we need to have a sustainable taxi industry. This is why we set increases through the regulator, so that people can make a living from it. Being a taxi driver is not the easiest job in the world. The big issue is the dispatch operators that drivers sign up with, what the conditions are and whether they are…

I thank Deputy Ahern for raising this important issue. It is following the theme of lots of tonight's priority and oral questions during Question Time. I am taking this issue on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, who is in Brazil. I want to clarify that the Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. However, neither the Minister, me as Minister of State or the officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The stat…

I will get to the good part for the Deputy. Many communities have benefited from the first direct connection to the likes of UCD from the Long Mile Road, Crumlin hospital, Ballyfermot, Cherry Orchard, Rathgar and Milltown on the S4, and Firhouse Road, Cherryfield and Templeogue on the S6 route. The Deputy asked about the S6. It will move to a high-frequency timetable to improve punctuality, while the S8 will get run time adjustments to boost reliability. These improvements will go live on 30 November. Coming back t…

First, I want to confirm that the Government will be opposing this motion. I welcome the opportunity to respond to some of the issues raised in the debate on the motion put forward by Sinn Féin on the cost of motoring. Sinn Féin has expressed the view that the May and October 2025 carbon tax increases should be reversed with no further increases taking place. Sinn Féin also calls on the Government to not proceed with toll price increases and to abolish the motor tax surcharge for quarterly and biannual payments. Th…

I thank the Acting Chair very much. The Senators' faces are all very familiar. For some reason, Galway and Mayo have taken over here. I thank Senators for inviting me to address the House. I welcome the opportunity to provide an update on the all-island strategic rail review. Rail lines built in the 1800s are still carrying passengers today, and the decisions and investments we make for rail in this decade will similarly benefit the Irish people, the economy and the environment to the end of this century and beyond…

Are our guests coming to Galway?

There is no pressure at all on me, I would say. I thank Members for their contributions. Sometimes, I have to pinch myself when I hear people talking nowadays compared to in 2004 when I joined the intercounty rail committee. We were maybe an organisation that was not proud of what we were doing. We had the vision but it took us a long time to get to a stage where we could convince people, including politicians. Between 2016 and 2020 - actually, it was later - we drafted a letter that we sent to the then Minister fo…

That is on track to get moving. Sometimes these things move slowly when there is a public consultation or whatever. It is not a shovel-ready project, but we will push on with it. In addition, people are looking for additional stops and connection from Loughrea. These are things we can look at. If they make sense, then we are in business. Our biggest success story over the past ten years is public transport. That is why we were talking about doing more and more. We are demanding more and more now. It is great. The c…