Written Answers. - National Development Plan.
Bernard J. Durkan
Question:
136
Mr. Durkan
asked the
Minister for Public Enterprise
the extent to which she expects to achieve the targets set by and for her Department in the national development plan; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[30003/01]
The following is the position in relation to allocations and expenditure under the national development plan in the transport, energy and communications areas.
With regard to public transport, over the seven years of the national development plan, it is proposed to invest £2.2 billion or 2.8 billion in public transport. The greater Dublin area will benefit from a £1.6 billion or 2.03 billion investment in public transport and £650 million or 825 million is being allocated under the NDP proposals to address regional transport requirements.
Significant progress has already been made in achieving these targets. More than £450 million or 570 million has already been spent on projects since the commencement of the plan which has resulted in additional capacity on both bus and rail networks and greater frequency of bus and rail services. The implementation of the railway safety programme is progressing with more than 200 miles of track and more than 100 miles of fencing completed, 190 bridges renewed and safety improvements on more than 180 level crossings. The Luas project is on target for entering into service in 2003 with the trams already being delivered. The planning and design stage of such strategically important projects as the Kildare route project and the DART enhancement project are nearing completion and development plans for the metro are at an advanced stage.
My Department, in conjunction with CIE, is monitoring the progress of projects being funded under the national development plan and taking the necessary steps, where possible, to ensure that projects are completed within budget and in the agreed timeframe.
Under the airports measure of the national development plan, a sum of £11 million or 13.97 million, in 1999 prices, was allocated to assist with necessary infrastructural upgrades and improvements at the six regional airports. This amount was apportioned as £8 million or 10.16 million in respect of the four airports in the BMW region and £3 million or 3.81 million in respect of the two airports in the south and east region. A further sum of £3 million or 3.81 million was subsequently allocated to the south and east region, bringing the total allocation for that region to £6 million or 7.62 million and the overall total under the measure to £14 million or 17.78 million.
There has been no expenditure to date of this amount. However, my Department is continuing the process of securing all relevant information regarding the projects from the six regional airport authorities and it is anticipated that the selection of a number of safety related projects will be finalised shortly. I am confident that the projects which will be selected can be completed within the overall time frame of the plan.
Under the sustainable energy priority within the framework of the national development plan, £175.2 million or 222.5 million is earmarked for investment. My Department has overall responsibility for the administration of this funding and the Irish Energy Centre, IEC, which operates under the aegis of my Department, is the main conduit for implementing this priority. In the energy sector, a key priority in the national development plan is to identify those areas of expenditure which will assist Ireland in complying with its obligation under the Kyoto Protocol, which is to limit the growth of greenhouse gas emissions by 13% above 1990 levels. The strategy is to pursue least cost approaches to achieving more sustainable energy services and systems.
The focus of the strategy being pursued is on energy efficiency, conservation and the promotion of electricity generation from renewable sources. The Department's policy is fully elaborated in the Green Paper on sustainable energy, which was published by the Minister of State in September 1999. The primary implementing body for energy efficiency is the Irish Energy Centre and much of the emphasis at this stage is on building capacity in the centre to enable it to deliver the ambitious plans foreseen in the NDP. Already a number of new and exciting programmes have been launched by the Minister of State following work carried out by the centre. These are designed to ensure the energy sector continues to play its part in assisting the national effort to meet our targets under the protocol.
In relation to renewable energy, I have set a revised target to support the construction of an additional 500 megawatts of renewable energy based electricity generating capacity to be installed by 2005. The bulk of this target will come from wind energy. As part of the process to ensure the target is delivered by 2005, I have launched the fifth competition in the alternative energy requirement, AER, series. The closing date for the competition is the end of this month. It is expected that AER V will result in an additional 250 MW of electricity generated from renewables which will come on stream up to the end of 2004. The balance of the target, 245 megawatts, will be offered to the market as soon as is practicable so as to ensure the overall target is achieved by 2005. Work on the NDP initiative to improve the capacity of the electricity grid to accept renewable energy plant is progressing.
Recognising the importance of telecommunications and digital industries to the economic development of the country, the Government remains committed to the development of a world class communications and information technology sector and an environment that will further facilitate e-business and ICT industries. In order that rural and regional areas may be in a position to attract and promote further investment in the ICT sector, the Government has set aside £158 million or 200 million in the National Development Plan 2000-2006 to promote and co-fund the roll-out of advanced communications networks in rural and underdeveloped areas of the country.
Nine contracts worth £44 million or 56 million were signed with five companies in early 2001, following a competitive tender process and these projects will result in a total investment of about £134 million or 170 million in advanced ICT infrastructure. A second call for proposals was issued in July of this year with the aim of further developing broadband communications infrastructure and services to enable the uptake of the information society in the BMW and south and east regions. Organisations were invited to submit tenders under one of three programmes: commercial broadband rollout projects, commercial DSL rollout projects to areas prioritised in conjunction with Forfás, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, and public projects with economic development and social objectives for which public bodies were eligible to tender.
As a result of this second call, 31 proposals have been received. Twenty of these proposals are applications made by local authorities-public bodies. The other 11 are proposals from private sector companies. I am confident that the projects which have been selected to date and which will be selected under the new call for proposals can be completed within the overall time frame of the plan, achieving its objectives and intended level of expenditure.
