Written Answers Nos. 830-843
830. Deputy Margaret Murphy O'Mahony asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of buses across the entire fleet that have been fitted with wheelchair accessible lifts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22190/16]
Amharc ar fhreagra832. Deputy Margaret Murphy O'Mahony asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of bus stops by county that currently are not wheelchair accessible in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22192/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 830 and 832 together.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing or providing public transport infrastructure including the PSO bus fleets.
Measures to provide for full accessibility are built into all new public transport infrastructure projects and vehicles from the design stage. In this regard my Department provides funding to the NTA for a rolling programme of bus replacement of the Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann PSO fleets both in the Greater Dublin Area and nationally. This has enabled 100% of the Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann city fleets to be wheelchair accessible, as well as approximately 80% of Bus Éireann coaches (which are wheelchair accessible by lift) and this will increase as the coach fleet is replaced.
831. Deputy Margaret Murphy O'Mahony asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of bus drivers that have been trained to operate wheelchair lifts on buses; the number still waiting to be trained; the cost of training all bus drivers to operate the aforementioned lifts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22191/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport I have responsibility for policy and funding in relation to public transport.
My Department provides funding to the NTA for a rolling programme of bus replacement of the Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann PSO fleets both in the Greater Dublin Area and nationally. This has enabled 100% of the Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann city fleets to be wheelchair accessible, as well as approximately 80% of Bus Éireann coaches (which are wheelchair accessible by lift) and this will increase as the coach fleet is replaced.
The issue of training Bus Eireann coach drivers to operate these lifts is an operational matter for Bus Éireann. Noting this I have referred 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.
833. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to introduce a compensation scheme for taxi drivers who lost substantial value on their licence following the deregulation of the industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22232/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe taxi industry is not deregulated but is regulated by the National Transport Authority under the provisions of the Taxi Regulation Act 2013.
The taxi market was liberalised some 16 years ago in 2000 with the removal of quantitative restrictions.
The Deputy may be aware that, following this, a Taxi Hardship Payments Scheme was established in 2003 on foot of recommendations of the Taxi Hardship Panel for a scheme to provide payments to individual taxi licence holders who fell into one of six categories that the Panel assessed as having suffered extreme personal financial hardship arising from taxi liberalisation. The Scheme involved payments ranging from €3,000 to €15,000 depending on the category of hardship involved, the final date for receipt of applications was 24 September 2004 and hardship payments totalling €17,449,000 were made to qualifying applicants between December 2003 and the final payments in 2005. Payments made under the Scheme were hardship payments and not "compensation".
I have no plans to introduce a compensation scheme for taxi drivers.
834. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport when a PSV officer will be appointed in County Westmeath (details supplied). [22322/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe appointment of PSV Officers is a matter for An Garda Síochána and the issue therefore comes under the remit of my colleague the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality.
835. Deputy Shane Cassells asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason an application (detailed supplied) for a hackney licence was refused; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22389/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe regulation of the small public service vehicle (SPSV) industry, including the granting of SPSV licences, is a matter for the National Transport Authority (NTA) under the provisions of the Taxi Regulation Act 2013.
I have 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.
836. Deputy Shane Cassells asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if a person who has applied for right of residency here, based on their parentage of an Irish citizen child and who has passed the RSA driver theory test can be issued with a driver’s learner permit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22391/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder EU law, member states may issue driving licences to persons normally resident in their territory.
If a person has applied for residency but not yet received approval, they are not yet eligible for a driving licence or a learner permit. The driver licence application process therefore requires proof of residency as part of the documentation to be presented.
837. Deputy Shane Cassells asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to provide an update on the provision of public transport services to the Kilmessan area in County Meath in order to reduce the amount of commuter traffic to Dublin on a daily basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22392/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe issue raised is a matter for the National Transport Authority (NTA) and I have forwarded the Deputy's question to the NTA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.
838. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to provide a breakdown of the regional and local roads allocations to each local authority in 2016; to provide a breakdown by individual national road of the estimated amount of maintenance funding spent on each road in 2015 and 2016. [22441/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraDetails of the 2016 regional and local road grant allocations to each local authority are available in the Dáil library.
Details of the regional and local road grant payments in 2015 to County Councils are outlined in the regional and local road grant payment booklets which are also available in the Dáil Library.
With regard to national roads, details of payments are a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).
Noting the above position, I have referred the Deputy's question to TII for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you don't receive a reply within 10 working days.
839. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason persons must input their personal public service number into an online form in order to book an appointment to apply for a driving licence with the National Driver Licence Service if they do not have a driver number. [22468/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe operation of the National Driver Licensing Service is the statutory responsibility of the Road Safety Authority. I have therefore referred the question to the Authority for direct reply. I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response has not been received within ten days.
840. Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if the sports capital programme will be opened for applications in 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22469/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraNo decision has been made on the timing of any future rounds of the Sports Capital Programme.
Any interested group should register online now at www.sportscapitalprogramme.ie as this portal will be the only way to apply under any future rounds of the Programme.
841. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the position on the strategic road grant; and to consider providing funding to advance the Carrigaline western relief road project in County Cork. [22531/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads in its area is a statutory function of local authorities in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act, 1993. Works on such roads are a matter for the relevant local authority to be funded from its own resources supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of projects to be funded from these monies is a matter for each local authority.
Under the Strategic Grant Scheme introduced in 2000 to facilitate housing and other development my Department has been providing grant assistance to Cork County Council in relation to the acquisition of land for the Carrigaline Western Relief Road. There is no grant commitment in place in relation to the construction of the road.
Given the cutbacks in State funding for regional and local roads since the financial crisis, it has been necessary to curtail the grant programme for major new regional and local road schemes and for major realignment schemes in order to protect the funding available for the maintenance of the existing network. In this context my Department is not operating an application process under these grant schemes.
842. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the expected timeline for the delivery of the M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy road scheme; the funding that has been committed to the project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22532/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs 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 the Transport Infrastructure Ireland (formerly known as the NRA) under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 in conjunction with the relevant local authority. I have referred the Deputy's question to TII for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you don’t receive a reply within 10 working days.
843. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to increase the network of greenways throughout Ireland; the status of the greenway canal route between Dublin, Sallins and Naas, County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22168/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the Capital Plan, €100million is allocated to smarter travel and carbon reduction measures, including Greenways, over the lifetime of the Plan.
The Programme for Partnership Government (PfPG) commits to provide additional funding for Greenways and it also commits to developing national guidelines for Greenway public consultation, planning, and construction to help guide local authorities and agencies.
I am very supportive of Greenways and committed to extending the number and length of our Greenway network. My recent announcement of funding for Greenways in Longford, Westmeath, Kildare and Meath testifies to that.
In addition to the dedicated funding for Greenways administered by my Department, funding is also provided for cycling infrastructure more generally under the Sustainable Transport Measures Grants (STMG) Programme and the Regional Cities programme which are administered by the National Transport Authority (NTA) on behalf of my Department. The NTA adopted a Cycle Network Plan for the Greater Dublin Area in 2013 which was prepared in collaboration with the relevant local authorities and this includes a number of Greenways.
In light of the NTA's responsibility for development of cycling infrastructure in the GDA, I have referred the Deputy's question to the Authority for direct reply in relation to the specific greenway project he has referenced. Please advise my office if you have not received a reply within 10 working days.
