Beverley Flynn
Question:71 Ms Cooper-Flynn asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the amount of money which has been allocated and spent to date by his Department in each of the BMW counties under the national development plan. [24624/01]
Vol. 542 No. 4
71 Ms Cooper-Flynn asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the amount of money which has been allocated and spent to date by his Department in each of the BMW counties under the national development plan. [24624/01]
No funds have been allocated to the Department of Foreign Affairs under the national development plan.
72 Ms Cooper-Flynn asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the amount of money which has been allocated and spent to date by her Department in each of the BMW counties under the national development plan. [24625/01]
Over the lifetime of the National Development Plan 2000 – 2006, it is envisaged that at least £197 million, 250 million, will be spent in the BMW region under the regional public transport programme. This includes £120 million, 152 million, on railway safety, £45 million, 57 million, on non-safety related railway improvements and almost £32 million, 40.63 million, on bus services.
It is not possible at present to provide a breakdown of the expenditure to date on a county by county basis. However, overall to the end of June, 2001, almost £64.20 million, 81.51 million, has been spent on public transport projects in the BMW region under the above programme. These projects are being implemented by CIE, with Iarnród Éireann being responsible for development of the rail infrastructure, rolling stock and services, and Bus Éireann developing regional bus services.
The main objectives are to upgrade the mainline rail infrastructure, rolling stock and facilities to improve the safety of the network, increase the physical capacity of the railway to cater for growing passenger demand and also to improve the quality, speed and reliability of services. These objectives will be achieved through mainline rail investment in safety and renewal; regional bus improvements; accessibility improvements to existing public transport infrastructure and facilities; and ongoing fleet replacement and re-equipment by Bus Éireann.
The NDP monitoring committee established by my Department which includes representatives from the CIE Group and the Department of Finance, is responsible for overseeing progress, both financial and physical, of the public transport projects.