Niamh Smyth
Question:286. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of a road scheme (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38230/16]
View answerRoad Projects Status
Questions (286, 289)
Niamh Smyth
Question:289. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if Brexit will have any implications for a road scheme (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38241/16]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 286 and 289 together.
As Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in relation to the national roads programme. The planning, design and implementation of individual national road projects is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (formerly known as the NRA) under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned.
The Capital Plan published in September 2015 outlines proposed transport investment priorities to 2022. The transport element of the plan was framed by the conclusions reached in the Department's Strategic Investment Framework for Land Transport. This report highlighted the importance of maintenance and renewal of transport infrastructure together with targeted investments to address particular bottlenecks and critical safety issues.
The Capital Plan provides €6 billion for investment in the national, regional and local road network in the period to 2022, with €4.4 billion earmarked for the maintenance and strengthening of the existing extensive network, €600 million to develop the road PPP projects already underway and €860 million for road upgrades. Allowing for the commitments relating to PPP projects, the balance available for new projects within the available capital envelope was limited.
Given the limited capital envelope available for new projects, a range of upgrade projects, including the N2, could not be considered for funding within the period of the current Capital Plan.
Roads Maintenance
Questions (287)
Niamh Smyth
Question:287. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will address a matter (details supplied) regarding complaints concerning road infrastructure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38239/16]
View answerWritten answers
As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in relation to the national roads programme. Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has overall responsibility for the planning and supervision of works for the construction, improvement and maintenance of national roads. The construction, improvement and maintenance of national, regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of the relevant road authority, in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993, as amended. Accordingly, any issues relating to road infrastructure should, in the first instance, be addressed to the road authority concerned.
Both TII and local authorities come under the remit of the Office of the Ombudsman in accordance with the Ombudsman Act 1980, as amended.
Road Projects Status
Questions (288)
Niamh Smyth
Question:288. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of a project (details supplied); the route being considered at present; the timeframe for this project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38240/16]
View answerWritten answers
Cavan County Council was provided with over €2m in the period 2007-2014 by my Department in connection with this project under the Strategic Non National Road Grants Scheme in order to bring this 75 km route to preliminary design stage.
Due to budgetary constraints it is not possible to progress the project further at this point as the priority for available funding remains the repair and maintenance of regional and local roads. The construction cost for a scheme of this magnitude would be in excess of €150 million.
Question No. 289 answered with Question No. 286.
Airport Development Projects
Questions (290)
Robert Troy
Question:290. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he has met or consulted with any potentially interested parties before commissioning a feasibility study into the possible third terminal at Dublin Airport. [38254/16]
View answerWritten answers
The National Aviation Policy, published in 2015, contains a commitment to review the capacity requirements at Ireland's State airports in 2018. This review has been brought forward in view of the fact that passenger numbers had increased considerably at Dublin Airport to over 25m in 2015. My Department has published a request for tenders to engage consultants to carry out such a review and it is expected that it will commence in early 2017.
I can confirm that I met with parties last July who expressed an interest in the development of a third terminal at Dublin Airport.
Small and Medium Enterprises Supports
Questions (291)
Niall Collins
Question:291. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if a low-cost credit fund will be extended to all SMEs as was announced for the agrifood sector in budget 2017; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38268/16]
View answerWritten answers
Short, medium and long term responses are needed for Irish business as a result of significant currency fluctuations since the Brexit vote, mostly - though not all - involving sterling losing value against the euro. These responses include market diversification, cost reduction, value-addition, innovation and price repositioning. My Department and Agencies are putting in place measures to address these issues for client companies.
In terms of the Government response to Brexit, my Department, together with the Department of Finance, the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) and Enterprise Ireland (EI), is working on the issue of short term support for vulnerable but viable companies impacted by the Brexit referendum.
One of my clear objectives is to pursue and design a tailored, targeted evidence based response to industry’s real needs. In this respect, I initiated a structured dialogue with industry via focus groups in order to tailor a survey of needs and, on conclusion of that process, I will, if appropriate, bring forward proposals to address the ongoing concerns of Irish firms. Focus groups have met within the past week in Dublin, Cork, Athlone and Monaghan, and arrangements are being put in place to rapidly conduct a follow up survey.
At this point, and in view of the steps outlined above, it is too early to say whether the low cost credit initiative aimed at the agricultural sector and recently introduced by my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Michael Creed, T.D., can be replicated for the wider SME community. As mentioned above I will await the outcome of the evidence gathering process before determining the next steps.
From the strategic perspective, Enterprise Ireland continues to assist companies to maintain and grow UK exports and extend their international reach, as well as to help companies to enhance their competitiveness, and diversify into new markets. In addition, the Local Enterprise Offices and Inter-Trade Ireland are working closely with those clients likely to be impacted by Brexit to ensure that negative impacts are minimised and managed across all business sectors.
Economic Competitiveness
Questions (292)
Niall Collins
Question:292. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the way in which she expects Ireland to attain a top-five ranking for global competitiveness, considering Irish rankings on the World Bank's ease of doing business index have continued to reduce over recent years. [38269/16]
View answerWritten answers
Doing Business looks at domestic, primarily small and medium size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life cycle. Using quantitative indicators on a range of business regulations that can be compared across 190 economies and over time, Doing Business goes beyond identifying that a problem exists and points to specific regulations or regulatory procedures that may lend themselves to reform.
In the 2017 report, Ireland’s was ranked 18th – down 3 places, compared with our revised 2016 ranking. While this is disappointing, Ireland is ranked 8th amongst EU member states and 5th in the euro area. Doing Business also highlights many of Ireland’s strengths – for example, we are ranked 5th for “paying taxes” and 10th for “starting a business”.
Furthermore, in terms of the Distance to Frontier benchmark - which measures Ireland’s score against the benchmark set by the best performing economy across ten different category headings – Ireland’s performance has actually improved slightly since 2016. Of course, other countries are also striving to improve their business environments, hence the improvement in our score but drop in our ranking.
This serves to remind us that competitiveness is a relative measure. The process of reform and improvement must be continuous.
I would also note that Ireland is a strong performer in other international competitiveness rankings – this year, for instance, we are ranked 7th out of 61 countries in the IMD’s World Competitiveness Yearbook - an improvement from 16th in last year’s report.
In July of this year, the National Competitiveness Council published its annual Competitiveness Scorecard benchmarking report which provides an in-depth assessment of all aspects of Ireland’s international competitiveness performance. The Council found that while Ireland’s competitiveness has improved in recent years – and has been central to recent strong economic growth, a number of threats persist, not least of which is Brexit.
The analysis contained in the Scorecard report is informing the development of the Council’s annual policy report Ireland’s Competitiveness Challenge 2016 which I will shortly be bringing to Government for consideration and which will contain a range of actions to enhance competitiveness.
My officials will continue to monitor publications such as the World Bank Doing Business report. Further actions and reforms - driven by the 2017 Action Plan for Jobs which is currently being prepared - will enable us to further narrow the gap with the world’s most competitive countries and improve the ease of doing business, ultimately helping us to achieve our objective of sustainable full employment.
Brexit Issues
Questions (293)
Niall Collins
Question:293. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if Government employment and export targets will be reviewed following the recent ESRI report, The Product and Sector Level Impact of a Hard Brexit across the EU; the way in which Irish exports to the UK would be the most exposed in the EU in a WTO tariff scenario post-Brexit leading to a reduction in 4% of total Irish exports; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38272/16]
View answerWritten answers
The ESRI paper referred to by the Deputy examines only one possible scenario arising from the UK decision to leave the EU. The final arrangements between the UK and EU may not reflect this scenario.
The Deputy will be aware that the precise implications of the UK referendum result will depend on the position of the UK and the results of the negotiations ahead, involving the UK and our EU partners.
However, this research will be of interest not just to Ireland but to all member states in the EU. It clearly demonstrates why membership of the EU's Single Market with common rules and standards and zero tariffs is so important and beneficial for EU trade and for Ireland.
Trade constitutes an increasingly important means of creating more and better jobs and trade opportunities stimulate growth, create employment, and grow economies.
Ireland will be ready to meet the challenge of Brexit. Our planning ahead of the negotiations – both for the risks and opportunities for Ireland – is currently intensifying at both political and official level. We are already working closely with the EU Commission and our EU partners to ensure that we have a shared understanding of the implications and effects of the UK's departure from the EU.
As part of our ongoing Brexit preparations, further research being undertaken by Government will look at the sectorial and firm level impacts of Brexit on our complex trade and investment infrastructure.
We will continue to support the EU in creating open markets and we will ensure that our interests are to the fore in future negotiations with the UK. Ireland will continue to make the most effective use of the framework of bilateral trade agreements and multi-sectoral trade agreements that the EU already has in place under the World Trade Organisation, and to support the opening of new markets by the EU. An important example of this is the recently signed Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement between the EU and Canada.
Enterprise 2025, Ireland’s National Enterprise Policy, sets out our vision for Ireland to be the best place to succeed in business, delivering sustainable employment and higher standards of living for all. Enterprise 2025 highlighted the importance of sustaining the progress made on diversifying to non-UK markets and we will continue to support enterprises in that regard. We will continue to implement Enterprise 2025 through the Annual Action Plan for Jobs. Our jobs target remains 200,000 new jobs to be created by 2020, with 135,000 of these outside of Dublin. We will work across government to progress any additional specific measures necessary to sustaining and growing jobs in the 2017 Action Plan for Jobs which is currently being developed.
Tribunals of Inquiry Expenditure
Questions (294)
Michael McGrath
Question:294. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the amount of legal fees paid by her Department in respect of tribunals of inquiry established by the State and any resulting legal actions; if she will provide these broken down by tribunal and by year for 2006 to 2016 in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38456/16]
View answerWritten answers
No legal fees have been incurred by my Department in respect of tribunals of inquiry for the years 2006 to 2016.
Intercountry Adoptions Agreements
Questions (295)
Bobby Aylward
Question:295. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the progress of the accreditation process between Ireland and Kazakhstan for the purposes of adoption between the two countries; the progress of the formalisation of an administration agreement between the relevant adoption authorities of both countries; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38141/16]
View answerWritten answers
The Adoption Authority of Ireland has advised me that a delegation from the Embassy of Kazakhstan in London attended a meeting in Dublin with the Authority on 25th February 2016 to discuss the possibility of future adoptions from Kazakhstan.
At that meeting Kazakhstan indicated their openness to receiving an application for accreditation from an Irish adoption agency. The Authority requested Helping Hands Adoption Mediation Agency to begin the process of seeking accreditation in Kazakhstan. Helping Hands has submitted an application to Ministry of Justice in Kazakhstan and a decision on the application is pending.
The Authority has advised that for inter-country adoption to be undertaken, the Kazakhstan authorities have stated that any accredited agency will be required to establish a permanent presence in Kazakhstan. The need, if any, for an administrative arrangement is not currently being addressed by the Authority pending the outcome of application for accreditation by Helping Hands.
Unaccompanied Minors and Separated Children
Questions (296)
Mick Barry
Question:296. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to ensure that unaccompanied migrant children will be cared for when they arrive here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38234/16]
View answerWritten answers
Unaccompanied minors are a vulnerable cohort and the State is duty bound by international and domestic law to protect and provide care. When a child arrives into Ireland without their parents or customary care providers, the child is placed in the care of the State and provided with support. Tusla has a dedicated Social Work Team for Separated Children Seeking Asylum and they provide support, assessment and care to those children arriving alone into Ireland. To date most unaccompanied children are placed with foster families if received into care. However, it is important to recall that appropriate care placements are based on the assessed needs of the individual child.
Over the past five years, Tusla has taken an average of 100 referrals of unaccompanied children seeking asylum per year, with approximately 70 of these being received into care annually. Those not received into care are often reunited with family members or found to be over 18 years of age. Under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme, Tusla has made an initial commitment to relocating 20 unaccompanied minors from refugee camps in Greece in 2016/17. In addition, I have asked Tusla to pursue plans to address the recent Dáil motion in respect of unaccompanied children who were previously in the unofficial camps near Calais and this work is ongoing.
Tribunals of Inquiry Expenditure
Questions (297)
Michael McGrath
Question:297. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the amount of legal fees paid by her Department in respect of tribunals of inquiry established by the State and any resulting legal actions; if she will provide these broken down by tribunal and by year for 2006 to 2016, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38451/16]
View answerWritten answers
The Deputy might note that, since the establishment of my Department in 2011, no legal fees were incurred in relation to Tribunals of Inquiry established by the State.
Tribunals of Inquiry Expenditure
Questions (298)
Michael McGrath
Question:298. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the amount of legal fees paid by his Department in respect of tribunals of inquiry established by the State and any resulting legal actions; if he will provide these broken down by tribunal and by year for 2006 to 2016, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38452/16]
View answerWritten answers
My Department has not established or operated any Tribunal of Inquiry in the period 2006 to 2016.