Written Answers. - National Development Plan.
Derek McDowell
Question:
86
Mr. McDowell
asked the
Minister for Public Enterprise
the projects in the National Development Plan for which funding has been provided as part of the 2002 abridged estimates or announced in the budget statement; the level of funding provided; the nature of the works; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[32361/01]
The following is the position in relation to projects under the national develop ment plan in the transport, energy and communications areas.
The Book of Estimates for 2002 provides £112 million for rail safety, £100 million for light rail and £76 million for public transport investment. As part of the budget day announcements, an additional £45 million is being provided by way of Exchequer funding. In total, £333 million is being provided by the Exchequer, compared with £271 million in 2001, an increase of 23% on last year. This Exchequer funding has been allocated as follows:
The £112 million in respect of the railway safety programme will enable Íarnrod Éireann to continue to expand their investment programme of track renewal and upgrading of signalling, bridge renewal, level crossings improvements and improved safety management, across the entire network; £110 million has been allocated to the Rail Procurement Agency of which £10 million will be used to meet the set up costs of the agency. The balance of £100 million is being allocated to fund the development of the LUAS project which will see services commence in late 2003; over £111 million will be utilised to progress a number of projects in 2002. EU co-funding will also be provided in respect of a number of these projects. The projects include: a major expansion of Heuston Station facilities and capacity to accommodate increased frequency of mainline and suburban trains with extra platforms, signalling and improved passenger facilities. This investment will form part of the Kildare line upgrade; continued funding of the DART upgrade project including the final payment on 12 DART cars to go into service next spring. The next phase in the DART expansion involves upgrading platforms, signalling and power supply to enable 8-car DARTS operate on the system. It will also allow for extra slots in the area of Connolly Station/Pearse Station for additional trains from the Northern and Maynooth lines; In 2002, Iarnród Éireann will start taking delivery of 80 diesel rail cars to be used mainly on the outer suburban rail system. In addition, a rail depot at Drogheda will be constructed for the maintenance of these trains; both Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus will continue with their fleet development and enhancement programmes; Iarnród Éireann are in the process of tendering for new mainline carriages to replace old rolling stock and expect to place orders for these carriages in the new year; funding has been allocated to community-based pilot projects to assist in the development of rural transport under the rural transport initiative; funding is also being provided for projects which will help the mobility impaired in accessing public transport facilities and vehicles, including making further progress on improvements to rail station lifts and foot bridges; funding is being provided to the light rail project office/Railway Procurement Agency to further develop an integrated ticket ing system for the greater Dublin area; and funding is also being provided for improved facilities for public transport customers in terms of reliable and up-to-date information. Information technology will be central to these new customer facilities. Some funding is also being provided for transport research.
The physical and financial progress of the above projects will be closely monitored by the NDP monitoring committee established early last year by my Department and made up of representatives from my Department, Department of Finance, CIE holding group and the three subsidiaries.
An amount of £4.73 million has been allocated in the 2002 Abridged Estimates for my Department in respect of all capital works at the regional airports. This includes provision for the completion of a runway project at Galway Airport and for the airports measure of the NDP. The type of projects which have been submitted for consideration falls into two broad categories: safety/security e.g. fire tenders/equipment in respect of hold baggage screening and upgrades and improvements of infrastructural works e.g. improvements to car parking facilities/passenger facilities.
No formal decisions on project selection under the NDP have been made to date but my Department is continuing its examination of the project submissions forwarded by the airports and it is anticipated that approval of a number of projects will issue in the near future.
As part of the 2002 Abridged Estimates, the sum of £7.3 million has been allocated to my Department for the promotion of energy conservation and renewable energy measures. In the energy sector, a key priority of the national development plan is to identify those areas of expenditure which will assist Ireland in complying with its obligation under the Kyoto Protocol.
The Irish Energy Centre is the main implementing body for measures relating to energy efficiency and renewable energy and the Estimates allocation will be expended by them in a range of activities such as public sector building, research and development in energy efficient housing, renewable energy and public awareness.
Over recent years, the Government has put in place a number of initiatives aimed at promoting the roll-out of regional broadband. While the telecommunications market is liberalised, certain interventions have taken place to address the issue of market failure in the delivery of broadband services. Funding made available in the 2002 estimates of £20 million and additional funding made available in the budget of £15 million will be used to extend and develop these initiatives under the National Development Plan 2000-2006. It is particularly appropriate at a time when the private telecommunications sector is undergoing a period of capital expenditure retrenchment. The focus of this investment will be to support investment in communications and electronic commerce infrastructure, systems and services in less developed areas with the objective of balanced regional development and the enabling of e-commerce.
