Written Answers Nos. 570 - 584
570. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if the procurement of legal advice in respect to freedom of information by the National Sports Campus Development Authority and Sport Ireland was in accordance with procurement law; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4487/16]
View answer584. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if the procurement of legal advice in respect of freedom of information by Sport Ireland and by the authority was in accordance with procurement law; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4211/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 570 and 584 together.
I have referred the Deputy's questions to Sport Ireland for direct response in relation to procurement of legal advice by the Authority or by Sport Ireland relating to Freedom of Information. I would ask the Deputy to inform my office if a reply is not received within 10 days.
571. Deputy Michael McCarthy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the funding allocation to Cork County Council for local and regional roads from 1 January 2015 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3945/16]
View answerDetails of the regional and local road grant allocations and payments to local authorities for 2015 are outlined in the regional and local road grant allocation and payment booklets which are available in the Dáil Library. Details of the 2016 regional and local road grant allocations to each local authority are also available in the Dáil library.
572. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding Sport Ireland and the National Sports Campus Development Authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3952/16]
View answerI have referred the Deputy's question to Sport Ireland for direct response in relation to expenditure and procurement of legal advice by the Authority or by Sport Ireland relating to Freedom of Information since 2012. I would ask the Deputy to inform my office if a reply is not received within 10 days.
573. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of the swimming pool grant funding scheme, including when it opened and when it will close; the expected timescale for decisions; the scale of grants; the number of pools that will be sanctioned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3970/16]
View answerUnder the Local Authority Swimming Pool Programme grant aid to a maximum of €3.8 million is provided to local authorities towards the capital costs of new swimming pools or the refurbishment of existing pools. The current round of the Local Authority Swimming Pool Programme was closed to new applicants on 31 July 2000. Since 2000, 58 projects have or are being dealt with under the Local Authority Swimming Pool Programme of which 50 have been completed and the other 8 projects are at various stages of the Programme.
I have commenced the process of opening a new limited round of swimming pool allocations. The Department has recently contacted local authorities seeking expressions of interest in such an allocation, with 5 February as the closing date for reply. I await receipt of that information before any further decisions will be made.
574. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to allay the fears of the employees of Bus Éireann on the potential privatisation of the company; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3972/16]
View answerThere are no plans to privatise Bus Éireann. 2015 was another welcome year of passenger growth across the public transport system and preliminary figures indicate that Bus Éireann provided just over 30 million passenger journeys in the year across its range of Exchequer subvented Public Service Obligation (PSO) routes. Of course challenges continue to exist, particularly in the commercial Expressway market, and the company is seeking to address those challenges through revenue growth strategies and also continued saving and cost control measures. My Department continues to liaise with Bus Éireann and the other companies within the CIÉ Group as they seek to address their financial and operating challenges.
I know the Deputy will welcome the fact that in last autumn's budget I secured an increase in the level of Exchequer PSO funds for the first time in a number of years and this year €236.6m has been made available to the National Transport Authority to secure PSO routes across both bus and rail services.
575. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason a person (details supplied) in County Cavan is unable to transfer a hackney licence to a relative; the requirements or conditions for passing a hackney licence onto family members; if special dispensations exist; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4038/16]
View answerThe Taxi Regulation Review Report 2011 recommended the prohibition on the transferability of small public service vehicle (SPSV) licences. The underlying principle for the recommendation was that a licence should determine a person's suitability to carry out a function and it should have no monetary value or be traded on the open market. The measure was provided for in Section 14(1) of the Taxi Regulation Act 2013 which was commenced with effect from 6th April 2014. Special provisions, contained in Section 15 of the 2013 Act, apply in the case of the death of a licence holder, whereby a licence may continue to be operated by a person nominated by the licence holder before his/her death.
The regulation of the SPSV industry is a matter for the National Transport Authority (NTA) under the provisions of the Taxi Regulation Act 2013, including administration of the nomination process under section 15 and the requirements relating to rental of a small public service vehicle to another person. I have therefore referred your question to the NTA for direct reply to you. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within 10 working days.
576. Deputy Jim Daly asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will introduce a passport-style initiative to encourage more visitors to the Wild Atlantic Way; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4060/16]
View answerPromotional initiatives for the Wild Atlantic Way are operational matters for the tourism agencies. Accordingly, I have referred the Deputy's question to Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland for direct reply. Please contact my private office if a reply is not received within ten working days.
577. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of applicants seeking payment or grant-aid, the number of these that were successful, the amounts requested as against the amounts rewarded, by county, for each of the years 2010 to 2015, in tabular form, under the sports capital programme and through the local authority swimming pool programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4076/16]
View answerThe information sought by the Deputy on allocations and payments under the Sports Capital and the Local Authority Swimming Pools Programmes is available on the Department's website www.dttas.ie. Information in relation to applications for grants will be collated and forwarded to the Deputy in due course.
578. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of complaints made to the National Transport Authority and to Transport for Ireland against taxi drivers, by category of complaint, by number of drivers against whom complaints were made, by number of enforcement actions as per category of complaint, by number and type of prosecution, by number of drivers licences revoked, by number of staff dealing directly with complaints by year since 2013, under section 64 of the Taxi Regulations Act 2013. [4102/16]
View answerThe National Transport Authority (NTA) has responsibility for the regulation of the small public service vehicle industry under the provisions of the Taxi Regulation Act 2013. I have referred your question to the NTA who will provide the information sought directly to you. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within 10 working days.
579. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the allocations for regional and local roads, by local authority, for 2016. [4117/16]
View answerDetails of the 2016 regional and local road grant allocations to each local authority are available in the Dáil library.
580. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will introduce testing systems for drivers under the influence of drugs, including on-the-spot swab testing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4130/16]
View answerThe Road Traffic Bill 2016, which I am happy to say was passed by the Seanad last week, contains measures to provide for roadside tests of oral fluid for the presence of drugs.
The new measures will empower Gardaí to conduct roadside oral fluid tests for drugs in similar circumstances where they can already conduct preliminary breath tests for alcohol. Mandatory Alcohol - MAT - checkpoints will henceforth be known as Mandatory Intoxicant - MIT - checkpoints, as Gardaí present will be able to test for drugs as well as for alcohol.
This is an important new tool for Gardaí in addressing driving under the influence of drugs. In addition to assisting in identifying drivers who have consumed drugs, I believe the introduction of the new tests will help to raise public awareness of the risks of drug driving, and will act as a deterrent. It is anticipated that the new drug driving measures will be operational in the summer.
581. Deputy Helen McEntee asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of the high cost of tolls for commuters from north County Meath using the M3 on a daily basis (details supplied). [4140/16]
View answerAs Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in relation to the national roads programme. The planning, design and implementation of individual road projects is a matter for the Transport Infrastructure Ireland (formerly known as the NRA) under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 in conjunction with the relevant local authority.
More specifically, the statutory power to levy tolls on national roads, to make toll bye-laws and to enter into toll agreements with private investors in respect of national roads is vested in TII under Part V of the Roads Act 1993 (as amended by the Planning and Development Act 2000 and the Roads Act 2007).
Accordingly I am forwarding your question to TII for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.
582. Deputy Gabrielle McFadden asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason an Irish emigrant (details supplied) with 17 years driving experience and a full clean licence from the US, has to resit a driving test here, and incur the expenses associated with securing an Irish driving licence; if Irish persons in these circumstances can be accommodated in a better way; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4166/16]
View answerIrish driver licensing law operates within a framework of EU law. On this basis we have mutual recognition of driving licences with all other EU Member States. In the case of non-EU States, we can reach bilateral arrangements on exchange of licences. This is not a straightforward matter. It involves the licensing authorities in both jurisdictions comparing the two licensing regimes, so that both can be satisfied that the two are compatible. From the Irish side, this task is undertaken by the Road Safety Authority.
I am aware that some people have found themselves in the situation to which the Deputy refers. However, it has not been possible to reach agreement on mutual recognition of driving licences with the United States, given that US driver licensing operates at State rather than Federal level. This means that there are 50 different licensing regimes involved.
It is important to remember that the reason for having a driver licensing regime is public safety - we need to have a verifiable standard for people to meet in order to drive on our roads. In the case of other EU Member States, we know that licence-holders have been tested to the same standards which apply here.
