Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 9 May 2018
250. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his Department's capital allocation for projects under way and projects already tendered or committed to spending contractually. [20475/18]
View answer251. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his Department's capital allocation in each of the years 2018 to 2022 disaggregated according to capital allocated to projects under way, projects contractually committed to and projects yet to be initiated. [20492/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 250 and 251 together.
The Capital Allocation for the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport for the years 2018 to 2022 can be found in the recently published National Development Plan 2018-2027, available at http://www.gov.ie/en/project-ireland-2040/. The table contains the total Capital allocation for my Department.
Capital Allocation
|
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
|
€'000 |
€'000 |
€'000 |
€'000 |
€'000 |
|
1,327 |
1,643 |
2,058 |
2,526 |
2,405 |
The Deputy has requested the capital allocated to projects under way, projects contractually committed to and projects yet to be initiated. A detailed note of these projects is included for the Deputy's information while information on projects which fall under the remit of agencies has been requested and replies will issue to the Deputy in due course.
Reply by Programme
Programme A – Civil Aviation
The capital allocation in 2018 for grant support towards safety and security projects at the regional airports under the Regional Airports Programme is €3.85 million.
Applications for grant support under the Programme are invited on an annual basis and these applications are assessed by my Department, in conjunction with the IAA, against the criteria set out in the Programme.
My Department is currently finalising its consideration of this year’s applications from the airports and I expect to be in a position to make an announcement in this regard shortly.
Programme B- Public Transport
Budget 2018 provided a four-year enhanced capital envelope for public transport of over €2.7 billion to 2021 including funding of over €400 million for investment in public transport in 2018. This increased funding will allow rollout of a number of key programmes to address congestion and emerging capacity constraints on our public transport system across our cities. It includes:
- investment of more than €750m for the BusConnects programme - a transformative investment to enhance and expand the bus network, improving bus access through and around the Capital, and including designated segregated cycle lanes.
- over €110 million for new urban cycling and walking routes in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA), and in Galway, Limerick, Cork and Waterford Cities areas, which will provide additional sustainable travel options to complement increased capacity and faster, higher quality public transport in our main cities.
- over €220 million capital investment in additional heavy rail infrastructure between now and 2021. This will deliver: the City Centre Re-signalling Project to improve speeds on mainline rail; a new rail Central Traffic Control Centre; progress on the DART Expansion Programme to include increase rail fleet and further progress on electrification of both the Northern rail line to Balbriggan and the Maynooth line.
- funding of almost €460 million investment in light rail for additional Luas capacity - with additional trams and longer trams across the Luas network - and to progress the Metro Link, with construction work starting on the project in 2021, and passenger services commencing in 2027.
- investment in maintenance and safety projects to maintain safety and service levels in railway operations of our national railway system.
- multi-annual funding of almost €30 million over the next four years to continue the programme of retro-fitting older, existing public transport facilities to improve their accessibility features. This effectively triples the previously planned investment amount.
- funding in the region of €130 million over the next four years for traffic management, bus priority and other smarter travel projects in our cities.
- €35 million to back new ideas that will help decarbonise the transport sector, including pilot initiatives for low emission technologies.
This is complemented by the investing of €15 million in lower energy lighting on national roads.
The recently published National Development Plan (NDP), which will run from 2018 to 2027, builds on this enhanced 4-year capital allocation and will enable extensive investment across Ireland's transport sector, supporting the overall development of an integrated and sustainable national public transport system.
It is worth noting that as part of the annual Estimates process, the multi-annual capital allocations for Government Departments under the NDP will be reviewed and extended annually on a rolling basis to cover the coming 5-year period. This will provide Government with an annual opportunity to review the allocations in light of any implementation issues arising and/or new priorities which may emerge as the NDP is implemented.
The NDP also commits to a full mid-term review of the Plan in 2022, to allow Government to take stock of progress in terms of delivery of the planned projects and programmes, and to allow Government to review and reaffirm its investment priorities. It is envisaged that the review will be carried out in order to prepare and publish a new updated 10-year plan for public capital investment in 2023, covering the period 2023 to 2032.
As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) and Irish Rail have responsibility for the development and implementation of public transport infrastructure projects and therefore I have referred the Deputy’s question to both organisations for further information on the issues raised.
Programme B. Roads
The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of the relevant local authority in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on those roads are funded from the Council's own resources supplemented by State road grants. Each local authority is the contracting authority for the purpose of implementation of regional and local road improvement projects.
My Department is committed to providing grant funding to 13 projects at present under the capital investment plan. The current status of each of these projects is set out in the table below. As regards grant expenditure to date for these projects, this information is included in the Regional and Local Roads Payment and Allocations Booklets which are available in the Oireachtas library.
|
Capital Plan Regional and Local Road Projects |
DTTaS Grant €m |
Current Status |
|
Dingle Relief Road - Phase 4 |
4 |
At construction |
|
Bettystown to Laytown Link Road |
5 |
At planning stage |
|
Adamstown & Nangor Road Upgrade |
18 |
At Construction |
|
Sallins By-Pass / Osberstown |
57 |
At Construction |
|
Shannon Crossing Bridge at Killaloe |
16 |
At land acquisition stage |
|
Athy Southern Distributor Road |
34 |
Land acquisition & advance works |
|
Portlaoise Southern Relief Road |
7 |
At tender stage |
|
Sligo Eastern Garavogue Link Road |
18 |
Land acquisition & advance works |
|
Sligo Western Distributor road |
11 |
Land Acquisition & advance works |
|
Tralee Northern Relief Road |
11 |
Detailed Appraisal |
|
R498 Latteragh Realignment |
15 |
At planning stage |
|
Killaloe Bypass/R494 Upgrade |
34 |
At land acquisition stage |
|
Coonagh to Knockalisheen |
42 |
At land acquisition & advance works |
In relation to the national road projects, 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 road projects is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned.
Within its capital budget, the assessment and prioritisation of individual projects is a matter in the first instance for TII in accordance with Section 19 of the Roads Act. I have, therefore referred the Deputy's Question to TII for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.
Programme D. Sports and Recreation Services
We do have commitments in relation to some large individual projects such as Parc Ui Chaoimh, Kerry Sports Academy at IT Tralee and swimming pool projects like Castlebar. Our existing capital envelopes cover all such commitments.
The two projects below are currently underway at the National Sports Campus.
- Worked on the development of Phase 2 of the National Indoor Arena is underway and is due for completion in mid-2019
- Work on new office accommodation for Sport Ireland and a National Governing Body of sport is underway with completion expected in mid-2018.
Programme E. Tourism Services
Capital projects already tendered or committed to spending contractually is an operational matter for Fáilte Ireland and I have therefore referred the Deputy's Question to Fáilte Ireland for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.
