Jonathan O'Brien
Question:39. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his Department have made any applications for Ten-T funding; and if so, for which projects. [45140/12]
View answerThursday, 18 October 2012
Questions (39)
Written answers
My Department has not applied nor has it plans to apply for funding under the current TENT Programme (2007-2013). Rather its role is not as project promoter for TENT projects per se. It does however disseminate information and encourage agencies and transport stakeholders to apply for funding. All TENT applications are automatically routed through a Government Department - usually mine in the case of Transport-related applications - to ensure policy fit and as a legal requirement for a TENT project on the territory of a Member State.
As I stated in reply to a written PQ (44832 /12) on TENT on Tuesday last, a number of State agencies have sought and been approved funding since the programme commenced in 2007 (a list was provided in the aforementioned PQ). The largest of these is the DART Underground / Dublin Interconnector project for which EU funding of €10m was approved towards the design and development process, geotechnical investigations and various surveys and studies. The most recent successful application for funding is the ESB who recently secured over €2m for an e-Cars study on the island of Ireland.
As for future plans, my Department and agencies continue to monitor calls for proposals under the TENT programme. Commission officials recently met with the National Transport Authority to discuss how best to access funding from TENT in light of the constraints on Exchequer investment in transport. Based on what emerges from the next Annual and Multi-annual call for proposals - due later in the year, I would hope to see some new applications coming forward.
Question No. 40 answered with Question No. 16.
Question No. 41 answered with Question No. 9.