Written Answers Nos. 45-53
45. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide a breakdown of the way the €7 million allocated by his Department for The Gathering will be spent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22850/13]
View answerThe matter raised is an operational one for Fáilte Ireland. I have referred the Deputy's Question to the agency for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.
49. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the actions his Department has taken to reaffirm the ownership rights of Iarnród Éireann of disused railway land; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22986/13]
View answerThis is an operational matter for CIÉ and I have forwarded the Deputy's question to the company for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.
50. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the level of funding that was allocated to the Road Safety Authority in 2012; the number of fatalities on our roads in 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22995/13]
View answerAccording to the Revised Estimates Volume (REV) for the Public Service for 2012, published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and available on that Department's website, the funding allocated to the Road Safety Authority for 2012 was €13,885,000. The REV did not provide an allocation for capital funding for the Road Safety Authority in 2012. Provisional figures provided by the Garda National Traffic Bureau and published on the Garda Website, indicate that there were 162 fatalities on our roads in 2012.
52. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will elaborate on the actions he and his Department and agencies have taken to combat injuries and fatalities on Irish roads to date in 2013. [22951/13]
View answer80. Deputy Damien English asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in view of higher than expected levels of fatalities and injuries experienced on Irish roads to date in 2013, the actions he or his Department are considering to enhance safety for all road users; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22911/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 80 together.
I recently launched the Road Safety Strategy 2013 - 2020, which has full Government approval. The Strategy, which builds on the success of previous strategies, contains 144 actions to be implemented over its lifetime. Without taking the emphasis off reducing road fatalities, it also focuses on reducing the number and severity of serious injuries resulting from road traffic collisions.
The Strategy sets a very ambitious target of reducing road collision fatalities to 25 per million population or less by 2020. It also sets a provisional target for the reduction of serious injuries by 30%, from 472 in 2011 to 330 or fewer by 2020, a reduction to 61 serious injuries per million population. The Road Safety Authority is responsible for the overall implementation of the Strategy and must report to me annually on progress on its implementation.
In addition, the Road Traffic Bill 2013, currently being drafted, contains a number of measures aimed at improving driver behaviour on our roads. The Bill will provide for additional Graduated Driver Licensing measures, the testing of incapacitated drivers following a road traffic collisions where death or injury has been caused, changes to the penalty points regime and intoxication impairment testing for drivers, aimed primarily at drug driving. I hope to publish the Bill in the coming weeks.
53. Deputy John Halligan asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in view of the proposal to put Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company under the aegis and in co-operation with Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, if he will agree to a meeting with representatives of the workforce as they have requested; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22943/13]
View answerThe publication of a new National Ports Policy in March 2013 represents an important change in approach towards the Government’s management of ports as important assets and provides an overarching vision for the future development of the sector. The Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company has been designated as a port of regional significance and will be transferred to local authority control in due course.
My Department will initiate discussions with the port company, the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government and the local authority to determine the most suitable method of transfer. The Department will also be required to introduce enabling legislation to enable the transfer to take place by amending the current Harbours Acts 1996-2009, as appropriate.
As you can appreciate, as ports are commercial companies I do not get involved in the day to day operations of any port company or in direct meetings with their workforce. However, if the workers have any proposals in relation to the transfer for the Harbour Company to the local authority, I shall have them considered as part of the transfer process.
