Vol. 1029 No. 2
1. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Transport the steps that he is taking to reduce the long waiting times for NCT appointments; if the private company operating the NCT service has faced any sanction under its contract due to these long delays; if the staff which it has temporarily transferred from Spain are qualified to the same standard as their Irish counterparts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55353/22]
I ask the Minister of State to set out the steps she is taking to reduce the long waiting times for national car test, NCT, appointments. Has the private company operating the NCT service faced any sanction under its contract due to these long delays? Are the staff who have been temporarily transferred from Spain qualified to the same standard as their Irish counterparts?
I thank the Deputy. The statutory responsibility for roadworthiness testing lies with the Road Safety Authority, RSA. However, I am very much aware of vehicle owners' concerns over delays this year in securing test appointments. I have emphasised to the RSA the importance of reducing the test backlog and my officials are meeting weekly with the RSA to monitor progress in reducing delays. My Department will continue to keep the situation under close review while supporting any appropriate requests from the RSA for assistance.
Work is under way to increase test centre capacity and restore the average appointment waiting time to an acceptable level. To date, a priority waiting list has been established for motorists to avail of cancellations. The contractor is providing 22 vehicle inspectors from its Spanish operation and the RSA has approved a pilot for additional inspection personnel in automated elements of the test. These measures are in addition to the 53 new staff employed by the National Car Testing Service, NCTS, earlier this year and a significant increase in staff overtime that allows eight tests per tester per day instead of seven. My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy English, with my Department's assistance, is allowing recruitment of up to 100 non-EU testers. Some 44 additional testers are expected before the end of the year for test centres with the most significant delays.
The NCT service contract is held by the RSA. As Minister of State, I do not have a role in its administration. Contractual sanctions are a matter for the RSA and penalty clauses apply where the contractor breaches key indicators. The RSA has confirmed that contract mechanisms have applied where service levels have not been met. The contractor is disputing these, however, and further discussions are planned in the coming weeks.
With regard to qualifications, I can confirm that the temporary vehicle inspectors from Spain are qualified to Quality and Qualifications Ireland, QQI, level 5, which is the standard in many EU member states and the UK. Until 2020, the QQI level 5 certification was considered the appropriate minimum requirement for vehicle inspectors in the State. This was changed in accordance with apprenticeship changes in Ireland as well as to align with the commercial standard.
There are two elements of this for me, the first of which is the inordinate delays. In the first instance, I am not entirely convinced. There is a job of work to notify people about the priority waiting list and the mechanism they should use. I try to find people an appointment in my area, but they will wait until 3 May next year in Kells, 18 May in Navan and 7 June in Drogheda. At Northpoint 1 and 2, they will wait until 7 June or 31 May. Therefore, six-month waits are not unheard of.
This is my first question by way of follow-up. What is the commitment from the contractor to reduce those waiting times? If there is an average waiting time of 24.5 days and the target is 12 days, when will the contractor deliver on that? Will it do it through additional staffing, additional hours or additional tests? How will it do it, and when will it happen?
All of those approaches will be used by the contractor to reduce the waiting times. This will include overtime and recruitment in Ireland and abroad. As I outlined earlier, we are working with the Minister of State, Deputy English, to allow the recruitment of up to 100 non-EU testers. Some 44 additional testers are expected before the end of this year.
To directly answer the Deputy's question regarding motorists, I strongly urge vehicle owners to allow plenty of time to book their tests. The regulations allow a car to be tested up to 90 days before the due date without affecting the expiry date of the certificate issued. Appointment slots are released continuously across all test centres with many also becoming available through cancellations or rescheduling of appointments. Therefore, when motorists are unable to secure an NCT test date before their certificate is due to expire, they should contact the NCT customer service directly and ask to be added to the priority waiting list. The majority of those on the priority list will be provided with an appointment within 30 days.
The next area I want to focus on is standards, which the Minister of State touched on in her initial reply. I would appreciate if she could expand on it here. I am hearing from unions - SIPTU, in particular, has been in contact with me - and workers that there is a real concern that in the rush to address the backlog, standards are being driven down and new recruits or internal transfers within the company are not qualified to the same standard. Traditionally, it has been the case that the inspectors would be qualified motor mechanics with additional experience and intensive training. The Minister of State pointed towards QQI level 5. That is not the standard in Ireland that it might be elsewhere. How exactly are standards being maintained? Does the Minister of State accept that these new recruits are not qualified to the same standard?
With regard to the qualifications, I can confirm that the temporary vehicle inspectors from Spain are qualified to QQI level 5. That is the standard in many EU member states. As the Deputy alluded to, however, until 2020, QQI level 5 certification was considered the appropriate minimum requirement for vehicle inspectors in the State. This was changed in accordance with apprenticeship changes in Ireland as well as to align with the commercial standard.
Testers in Ireland are currently required to hold QQI level 6 qualifications, but the RSA has confirmed that local applicants with QQI level 5 will be considered for a temporary period and has indicated that on-the-job training will be provided to bring testers to QQI level 6 standard. The RSA has assured my Department that the highest testing standards that we expect from the NCTS will not be compromised in any way as they work to increase testing capacity and deal with the backlogs.
2. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Transport if he will report on the BusConnects project in Cork; if he will confirm if the routes will be subject to tender for private operators; the guarantees he can give in terms of workers’ rights and service levels for outsourced routes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55832/22]
I ask the Minister to report on the BusConnects project in Cork. Will he confirm that the routes will be subject to tender for private operators? What guarantees can be given in terms of workers' rights and service levels for outsourced routes?
BusConnects Cork is the NTA's plan for the development and delivery of a sustainable, high-quality bus system for the Cork metropolitan area. The NTA is developing plans to introduce 12 new sustainable transport corridors, which will encompass 93 km of bus lanes and 112 km of cycle lanes across the city. Investing in a sustainable future for Cork is vital for supporting the city's growth over the coming two decades. Following two earlier rounds of public consultation, the NTA launched its new design for the Cork metropolitan bus network in June, with consultation closing on 3 October. Submissions received during that process are now being considered by the NTA and a further round of public consultation on the revised proposals will take place next year.
The new network is intended to transform the public transport network across the whole Cork metropolitan area. The new network will involve the creation of new bus routes and improved bus frequencies and will provide an increase of over 50% in bus services across the city, helping to transform the public transport system to meet anticipated growth and future travel demand in the region. To date, no decisions have been made regarding how services will be secured. The NTA has a directly awarded contract with Bus Éireann for bus services in Cork and this contract may be varied as a means to provide some services. Alternatively, the NTA may elect to seek an operator or operators by public tender. In either case, the NTA will ensure that providers of contracted services comply with all relevant Irish and European law, including employment law.
I strongly believe that Cork city needs to move towards having fewer cars, more public transport and more bicycles on the road. Key to making public transport more attractive is to slash fares, even going so far as to make fares entirely free. Given this, I am disturbed that the Minister's reply holds open the real possibility that 12 strategic transport corridors could go out to tender. If they do, the Minister and I know that private companies which pay lower wages will have a competitive advantage and could end up operating at least some of those routes. Cork city has never in modern times had key bus routes run by private operators on a for-profit basis. Privatisation would be a big step backwards and potentially is being facilitated by BusConnects Cork. I ask the Minister to comment further on the matter.
I agree with the Deputy about the benefits for Cork in terms of getting a really good bus service. This is challenging because it requires giving road space and priority for buses at junctions. I know there is a lot of concern in Cork, particularly around whether any trees or front gardens are affected. That became clear during the consultation process. The experience of going through a similar process in Dublin may steer us in the direction of giving even stronger priority for buses within the existing road network as a way of meeting the desire to improve bus services without affecting the local environment. I hope the Deputy and other parties and representatives will engage. We need to do it quickly.
I do not agree on the idea that it would be a free service. We need the funding for the additional services that are going to be provided. The issue of contracting is not being decided in this consultation process. There is a European regulation from 2007 and a directive from 2004 which mean the NTA is obliged to introduce competitive tendering for public service obligation, PSO, contract services. How exactly that is done is a matter that the NTA has to consider. There are various examples, and the Deputy cites Dublin as one, of recent tendered services. Bus Éireann provides the service in Waterford as a single supplier. There are different options in terms of how this can be delivered.
The Minister cites Dublin as an example. Dublin certainly is an example that people in Cork need to look at very carefully. What percentage of the routes have been privatised in Dublin? Go-Ahead Ireland has control of 10% of the routes, I think. Fines were announced the other day for falling down on service provision. Dublin Bus was fined €1.5 million and Go-Ahead Ireland was fined €850,000. I would expect that if Go-Ahead Ireland had 10% of the routes it would get 10% of the fines, if its service provision was of an equal quality to the public company. They did not have 10% of the fines; they had nearly 40% of the fines. Going by fines, the service was nearly four times worse on the private routes. That is a warning to the people of Cork. They need to raise their voices to stop the threat of privatisation of bus services in the city. The Minister has not excluded that as a possibility. He has said that there are various options but by citing the European directives he has given a very clear indication of what road the NTA is likely to go down. Can he clarify when the NTA will provide clarification on this question?
We cannot ignore European law. I am just stating what is obvious and what exists. As a member of the EU, we exist within the European legal system. I do not disagree with the Deputy's comments about the real problems we have seen in Dublin recently for all the bus companies in terms of getting drivers and getting service reliability. We have to address that. It was a good start when the companies apologised to the Oireachtas committee yesterday. I would have to say on comparing Cork and Dublin, and one never does that at the best of times, that in my mind the real problem in Cork is that the bus service is not extensive enough. It is not good enough as it currently is. I mean no disrespect to the bus drivers in Bus Éireann or the company. The service is not good enough. This project provides for a 50% increase, with two new 24-hour services on major lines running from Ballincollig right through the city to Mahon, and from Carrigaline through the city up to Hollyhill. It provides for services seven days per week, with buses coming every 15 minutes.
Why does the Minister link it to privatisation?
No. First and foremost it is the public I am thinking of. We need to get that really high-quality service. The biggest problem we have is political and public support locally for the changes to make that happen. If we do not get that right, we will be stuck in the current system. Cork does not have a good enough bus service, and upper Glanmire, Waterfall and Kerry Pike do not get bus services. They will come in with this new system.
3. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Transport when the port capacity review will be published and when the full review of the national ports policy will be commenced; if he will outline the Exchequer and non-Exchequer funding planned for investment in ports in Ireland, at Rosslare, Cork and Shannon-Foynes in particular, to fund the development works needed to facilitate the construction and installation of offshore wind farms at these ports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55354/22]
I ask the Minister of State to set out when the port capacity review will be published. When will the full review of the national ports policy be commenced? What level of Exchequer and non-Exchequer funding is planned for investment in ports at Rosslare, Cork and Shannon-Foynes, in particular, to fund the development works needed to facilitate the construction and installation of offshore wind farms at these ports?
The port capacity study is currently under way and is due for completion shortly. Upon its finalisation a full review of national ports policy will commence later this year which will look at the overall ports policy framework. The first stage in this review will be the drafting of an issues paper and it is anticipated that this will go to public consultation in early 2023. Pending this review, I have published a policy statement on the facilitation of offshore renewable energy by commercial ports in Ireland, making it clear to the offshore industry that we are committed to the provision of port facilities in Ireland for offshore renewable energy, ORE, developments. In Ireland, the contribution from the Government to the ORE industry will be embedded in the offshore renewable energy supply schemes, ORESS 1, ORESS 2 and later auctions, where guaranteed income for the electricity produced will enable the wind farms to be financed and cover the cost of required port infrastructure and services.
In relation to funding, our State ports operate as independent commercial bodies. Under national ports policy, no Exchequer funding is provided to them.
It is envisaged that like all port infrastructure, the ORE facilities will be funded through a combination of: port revenues, including from the ORE industry; EU funding; and borrowing from the likes of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, the European Investment Bank, EIB, and other financial institutions. My Department is already engaging with the various institutions, including the EU Commission, on the availability of funding for ports in providing the ORE infrastructure to meet the EU's and Ireland's ambitions. In line with the policy statement, a number of ports are progressing plans for the delivery of port infrastructure to facilitate ORE deployment activity, including the ports named by the Deputy in this question. These are all trans-European network for transport, TEN-T, ports and, as such, are eligible to apply for Connecting Europe Facility, CEF, grant funding. The Department is assisting, as appropriate, eligible applicants in the application process.
I would be concerned if the expectation is that port infrastructure would be delivered as part of the ORESS because it is almost the wrong way around. To capture the full potential of the opportunity of offshore wind and to deliver it within the best possible timeframe the investment in our ports needs to happen now, not in conjunction with the development of our offshore wind farms. It is almost putting it back on offshore wind farm developers to do this.
We know the sector has prepared reports into the infrastructure deficit and has pointed towards direct funding but the Minister of State also mentioned the ISIF, the EIB and low-cost loans. How tangible are they, how quickly can they happen and how advanced are discussions at an EU level?
A lot of work is happening within the Department and there has been ongoing engagement with the EU, the ISIF and the EIB to lay the ground for our ports and the potential investment there. The policy statement recognised that existing ports in Ireland, or entities within ports with development plans, such as Rosslare Europort and the Port of Cork, can play a significant role in providing the required large-scale port infrastructure for those deployments. The policy specifically mentions, for example, Shannon Foynes Port and the Port of Cork, or entities within those ports. They can also play a significant part in the provision of the required large-scale port infrastructure for floating ORE.
In order to maximise the EU funding opportunities the Department has engaged extensively with the Commission to advocate for the inclusion of funding for port infrastructure required for ORE under the CEF. Ports are again engaging and applying for that funding and the Department is working with them. This is a competitive process and it is generally oversubscribed but the Department assists the eligible applicants with this application process.
I am concerned with this response because we know our ports have applied for TEN-T funding. As the Minister of State has said, it is competitive. They have applied and they have been unsuccessful. We know that time is ticking and that we have a huge infrastructural deficit in our ports, which is within the responsibility of the Department, albeit we know they are commercial operations. There needs to be a mindset shift and the Department, the Minister of State and the Minister need to look at every option. The national ports study from the sector was good and useful and the Department has its own work ongoing on the ports policy but time is of the essence. I want to see the Minister of State outline what the investment will be in 2023, in whatever shape or form, to get the ball rolling on this because time is of the essence.
I assure the Deputy that huge work is happening in this space. From engagements with ports and industry it is known that ports and private entities are engaging in their own commercial discussions with ORE project developers to underpin the business case for port infrastructure developments, progression of the projects and timelines. It remains subject to the results of the auctions. On the CEF funding, this is significant now that it has been included. Again I want to commend the officials in my Department for including ORE and for fighting the fight at European level to ensure the CEF funding will include offshore renewable energy. The successful applicants can obtain grant funding of up to 50% of eligible costs for studies and 30% of infrastructure work costs. While Irish port projects were unsuccessful in 2021 in the CEF call, ports are preparing new applications for the 2022 CEF call. It is a competitive process and the Department is assisting those eligible applicants where appropriate. A lot of work is happening between the ports and industry, which is crucial. The funding must go to the right places and it must be guided through that engagement with industry.
4. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Transport the steps which he intends to take on foot of the Climate Change Advisory Council-commissioned report from the OECD on reducing Ireland's transport emissions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54970/22]
The OECD report on reducing Ireland's transport emissions talks about deep transformation that needs to be reflected in our spatial and transport planning, which we all know needs to be built around real investment in rail. Yet in the first major rail carriage investment under the Minister's tenure, Galway city has been ignored and Athlone, which is supposed to become a new city with three major rail lines, gets just one morning train to Westport and another one from Tullamore.
It is clear that the scale of the challenge we face in decarbonising transport, as highlighted in this OECD report, will require a transformative level of behavioural and systems change. I was pleased to participate at the Climate Change Advisory Council's and OECD team's launch event on 5 October, alongside the new environmental director at the OECD and the chair of the advisory council. My Department engaged collaboratively with the OECD team over the past year in the preparation of its review.
The perspective in this report, that our transport system fosters growing car use and emissions by design, rightly reflects a systemic challenge that will require a systemic response. Our everyday transport and mobility patterns have been deeply embedded through a legacy of our past dispersed and low-density settlement patterns and policies and long-engrained mindsets that have established the primacy of private car usage over accessibility and more sustainable modes of travel. The report's key findings are clear. The most impactful and transformative measures we need to scale up and accelerate to achieve our highly ambitious emissions targets in transport are increased road space reallocation, the mainstreaming of on-demand shared services and enhanced communication strategies to encourage and support the required behavioural change in how we travel.
All of these measures are reflected in our ambitions as set out in the Government's national sustainable mobility policy, SMP, and through the work of our SMP leadership group and pathfinder programme, which I launched recently. The wellbeing lens approach that the OECD team has used in the report will be key to ensuring that policies to decarbonise transport are framed in terms of the wider benefits to be achieved in terms of quality of life and health benefits. While electrification of our car fleet will remain an integral part of how we will achieve our 2030 emissions targets, we cannot rely on technology alone. We need to move away from systems and policies that continue to engender car dependency and hinder the possibility of efficiently managing our public space and thereby diminish public wellbeing. We must instead provide quality access through more sustainable and healthy transport modes. The findings and approach set out in the report will greatly inform the direction of travel in the transport chapter of the next climate action plan and the further work in delivering the sustainable mobility action plan.
The OECD report says that deep transformation in Ireland means promoting development within our cities. However, this is being ignored west of the Shannon in the expansion of our rail services by Irish Rail. While I welcome the additional morning service to Mayo, why was the Galway to Athlone rail line ignored? This is despite Galway city being choked with traffic and despite the outer ring road in Galway being long-fingered again. This is despite the Government allocating €3 million to provide a passing loop at Oranmore railway station 18 months ago and despite the existing services from Athlone and Ballinasloe into Galway city being more akin to an Indian rail service than an Irish one because of the overcrowding on it.
I agree with the Deputy that part of this transformation has to be the development of rail services in our cities of Cork, Galway, Waterford and Limerick to be counterbalances to the excessive reliance on development on the east coast and in the Dublin region.
It is important that we invest in the rail services of those cities so that they have centres of scale that can be counterweights to the greater Dublin area. I agree with that. That is why, yesterday, Government announced a significant and important decision on the investment of €170 million in Waterford to improve the rail service and put in a new sustainability bridge. That is why we are investing. The first top-line of our Recovery and Resilience Facility funding from the EU went to metropolitan rail services in Cork. That is why we are starting the process of reopening the Shannon Foynes line and committing, in the pathfinder projects, to put in new stations in the likes of Moyross to give communities these new services. I agree with the Deputy that Galway and the west has to be part of that as well. He mentioned the passing loop in Oranmore. There is also potential for further improvements to be made around Céannt Station and for double tracking and improving the overall level of service, particularly from the likes of Athenry or Athlone into Galway, so that people can commute by rail rather than by car, which is the curse of Galway's transport system at the present time. There is no restriction to the political side-----
We are way over time.
The first step that could be taken is to utilise the existing rail network in the west. I want a commitment from the Minister that we get our fair share of the 41 new carriages that are coming on track. I want a commitment from him, in the first instance, that we will get two new rail sets based in Athlone, the city-designate that everybody seems to be forgetting about, including one that shuttles between Galway, Ballinasloe and Athlone, connecting passengers with the Dublin-Mayo rail services, but also providing commuter rail services into Galway city. The second set should be used to shuttle between Mayo and Athlone to connect the Roscommon and Mayo passengers with the Galway-Dublin services. Those two sets alone would dramatically transform rail services throughout the west, connecting counties Mayo, Roscommon, Galway and Westmeath for the first time since the foundation of the State and providing the type of transformation that the OECD is calling for.
I do not disagree with the Deputy. There is huge potential in the services he mentioned. The allocation of those ICR carriages is a matter which Iarnród Éireann is going to have to decide on an operational basis. It is best placed to see where the growth is. What is interesting, and what I hear from the company, is that since we as a Government introduced a 50% reduction in fares for those under 24 and a 20% reduction for all passengers, there has been a massive increase in demand, particularly for the rail services outside the greater Dublin area. I do not disagree that where we provide high-quality public transport services, the people respond by taking them up. Another example that can be referenced is the reopening of rail services to Ennis from Limerick. People said it would never take off, but it has been hugely popular. I do not disagree with the Deputy on the potential for those shuttle services or ICR services from Athlone either up to Westport or down to Galway. That is an operational matter for Iarnród Éireann. Those carriages are starting to come in but it takes time before they are fully commissioned. Safety and other technical arrangements need to be made. There is nothing restricting Iarnród Éireann if it sees that as-----
If the Minister does not intervene, it is not going to happen. It needs direction.
I am intervening in putting the funding into public transport, reducing fares and in encouraging the development of Cork, Galway, Waterford, Limerick, in particular, as our priorities for investment in transport.
All we want is our fair share.
