Results 1,001-1,020 of 1,042,292 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Mick Barry OR speaker:James Browne OR speaker:Steven Matthews OR speaker:Alan Farrell OR speaker:Chris Andrews) in 'Committee meetings'

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sustainable Travel Operations Update: National Transport Authority (10 Jul 2024)

Alan Farrell: I thank the witnesses for coming before us and I want to compliment the secretariat on the briefing note that was provided to us. I am sure the NTA contributed to it but it is really thorough. I thank the secretariat for that. On behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, who obviously cannot be at this committee, and on the basis of the glut of emails we received from Kildare this...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sustainable Travel Operations Update: National Transport Authority (10 Jul 2024)

Alan Farrell: Will Ms Graham give us a commitment that, if the NTA is in a position to introduce it sooner than quarter 1, it will do so?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sustainable Travel Operations Update: National Transport Authority (10 Jul 2024)

Alan Farrell: I thank Ms Graham for that reply. I have six items I wanted to touch on. I hope to have enough time to do so. I will start with the DART+. The witnesses have gone through that and Coastal North is in process, having been approved by Cabinet. There is an interim roll-out planned, I understand. Are there any impediments to choosing the implementation date for the roll-out of DART+ Coastal...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sustainable Travel Operations Update: National Transport Authority (10 Jul 2024)

Alan Farrell: Could I ask for clarity? On Irish Rail's website there is a very helpful document, which is literally a PDF on the website. It details that there will be diminution of service for existing services at existing stations. What Mr. Creegan has inferred will be that some services will be removed to provide services elsewhere. I wonder are these communities and train stations that will be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sustainable Travel Operations Update: National Transport Authority (10 Jul 2024)

Alan Farrell: It is an increase in frequency and capacity.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sustainable Travel Operations Update: National Transport Authority (10 Jul 2024)

Alan Farrell: I thank Mr. Creegan for that. With regard to any research the NTA has carried out on fare incentivisation - in other words, usage incentivisation - the Luas was mentioned with regard to there not being a change in demand for the use of that service when there were changes in the pricing structure. The Luas is a little bit like the railway lines. It is a fixed service in a fixed location...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sustainable Travel Operations Update: National Transport Authority (10 Jul 2024)

Alan Farrell: I ask the Leas-Chathaoirleach that we might consider a session just on that area of fare incentivisation with the NTA and perhaps with other actual transport service providers in the autumn.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sustainable Travel Operations Update: National Transport Authority (10 Jul 2024)

Alan Farrell: It might be something worth exploring.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sustainable Travel Operations Update: National Transport Authority (10 Jul 2024)

Alan Farrell: On the metro, it is a little bit of a pet project of mine in my own constituency. I very much welcome the appointment of Dr. Sean Sweeney and the advances that are being made. I note the remarks that have been made thus far. We are all waiting on tenterhooks for An Bord Pleanála to get us a decision, and I certainly hope the right decision is made. I very much hope that once that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sustainable Travel Operations Update: National Transport Authority (10 Jul 2024)

Alan Farrell: I have had no reliability issues and no state-of-bus service or interaction-with-the-driver issues - nothing like that. I am delighted with the service that has been provided. It has been relatively responsive, too, from the NTA's perspective, at granting additional extensions for parts of my rural constituency. I am very pleased with that. I would be grateful if they would not mind...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sustainable Travel Operations Update: National Transport Authority (10 Jul 2024)

Steven Matthews: I welcome the NTA to the transport committee. I concur with Deputy Duncan Smith's comment that the NTA is always willing to engage and that is appreciated by all members of the committee. I saw the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, report this week, which is positive about emissions reductions. We are here to discuss sustainability in transport. We have seen good work being done in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sustainable Travel Operations Update: National Transport Authority (10 Jul 2024)

Steven Matthews: It is absolutely critical for the reasons Ms Graham outlined. I urge any future Government to adopt that type of policy. The transport budget will always be there, but knowing what the ratio of the spend will be gives confidence. We spoke about driver recruitment earlier. How does train driver recruitment stand at the moment? I engaged with the NTA about improving the weekend service...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sustainable Travel Operations Update: National Transport Authority (10 Jul 2024)

Steven Matthews: In the first year, we saw active travel budgets. In the second year, we saw the recruitment of staff by local authorities to design and implement those projects. It did not really bed in until the third year of this Government, when everything started to work well together. What is the process when a local authority district engineer and members identify potential active travel projects...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sustainable Travel Operations Update: National Transport Authority (10 Jul 2024)

Steven Matthews: Is each individual project assigned its own code? Could a district engineer come along and say, "I have a bundle of ten radius-tightening projects", and then submit that up through the chain?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sustainable Travel Operations Update: National Transport Authority (10 Jul 2024)

Steven Matthews: That is important because it is often small interventions that can make the link between two bigger ones. On the 23 km zone, how did the NTA arrive at 23 km? I appreciate a line will always have to be drawn and there will always be people outside it-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sustainable Travel Operations Update: National Transport Authority (10 Jul 2024)

Steven Matthews: How did the NTA come to 23 km, when the other zone is 50 km?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sustainable Travel Operations Update: National Transport Authority (10 Jul 2024)

Steven Matthews: I had not intended to ask this question but Mr. Ryan has set it up very nicely for me. Maynooth was the north star. The Maynooth service commences at Pearse Station. The service is from Pearse Station, or possibly Grand Canal Dock, to Maynooth. Pearse to Greystones and Pearse to Maynooth is the exact same number of kilometres, yet Pearse to Maynooth passengers can avail of the cheaper...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sustainable Travel Operations Update: National Transport Authority (10 Jul 2024)

Steven Matthews: The other end of that DART line will end in Wicklow town.