Written Answers Nos. 492 - 511
492. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if funding will be made available to the members of the two CIÉ pension schemes for independent legal advice; if an independent investigation will be initiated into the governance of the two pension schemes; if all outstanding questions raised by CIÉ employees relating to the pension scheme will be addressed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17542/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI refer the Deputy to my response to Priority Question No. 1 which I answered earlier.
493. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his attention has been drawn to alleged overcharging at NCT centres (details supplied); if the issue will be examined; and the reason for same. [17551/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis is a matter for the Road Safety Authority. I have referred the question to the Authority for direct reply. I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response is not received within 10 days.
494. Deputy Michael Harty asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to reinstate a staffed community tourist office in conjunction with Fáilte Ireland at Shannon Airport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17576/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe management of the Tourist Information Office network is a matter for the Board and Management of Fáilte Ireland. Accordingly, I have referred the Deputy's question to the agency for further information and direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.
495. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to create a park and share facility near Gorey, County Wexford, or close to the border of counties Wexford and Wicklow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17600/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to advise the Deputy that the National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure and services in the Greater Dublin Area and undertakes a support role for the relevant local authorities, a non statutory basis, in the Regional cities of Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
Issues relating to the provision of car parking spaces at train stations on the heavy rail network outside of these cities are an operational matter for Iarnród Éireann which receives Exchequer funding for such works via the NTA.
Noting the role of Iarnród Eireann and NTA in the matter of park and ride facilities, I have referred your question to both bodies to provide information on the issue raised. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.
496. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the position regarding the engagements he has had to date with an organisation (details supplied) regarding the use of phase 2 of the National Indoor Arena that is due for completion in mid-2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17630/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have not had any direct engagement with the organisation mentioned by the Deputy in relation to the use of Phase 2 of the National Indoor Arena.
Phase 2 of the National Indoor Arena is being developed by Sport Ireland and engagement with organisations in relation to relevant matters, e.g. the design and anticipated use of the facility, would be a matter for Sport Ireland. I understand that Sport Ireland is in ongoing contact with those organisations.
497. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason funding has not been received by a group (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17636/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe matter raised by the Deputy would appear to be an operational matter for the Board and Management of Fáilte Ireland. Accordingly, I have referred the question to the agency for further information and direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.
498. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to develop the Waterford to Limerick road; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17641/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra499. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to develop the Waterford to Cork road; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17642/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 498 and 499 together.
As 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 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.
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.
500. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the capital funding that has been approved and secured for the development of the north quays in Waterford city; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17643/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy may be aware, the recently published National Development Plan (NDP) establishes 4 new funds, one of which is the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund. This envisages €2 billion, under the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government that will support the co-development of the National Planning Framework’s (NPF) growth enablers for the five cities and other large urban centres. Examples of projects that have the potential to receive support under the Fund would include the Waterford North Quays SDZ regeneration project.
Allocation of funding from the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government.
501. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the allocation of road funding to projects in Waterford city and county in each of the years 2008 to 2017 and to date in 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17644/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraDetails of the regional and local road grant payments to local authorities from 2008 to 2017 are outlined in the regional and local road grant payment booklets which are available in the Dáil Library.
Waterford City and County Council has drawn down €741,887.80 so far this year on regional and local road programmes, from an allocation of €11,930,944.
In relation to the national road projects mentioned by the Deputy, as 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 Transport Infrastructure Ireland under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. Within its budget, the allocation of funding for 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 in relation to national roads. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.
502. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the amount of funding being made available to extend the runway at Waterford Airport. [17645/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, capital supports under my Department's Regional Airports Programme are targeted at grant-aiding investments in the areas of safety and security and to assist the smaller airports in ensuring compliance with international regulatory requirements in these areas. Waterford Airport has received substantial Exchequer support in the past under the Programme - €20 million over the past 10 years - to assist it with implementing necessary safety and security related projects and activities.
The scope of the Regional Airports Programme does not extend to supporting the development of capacity expansions at the regional airports. The Exchequer does not invest in airports for development purposes, whether at State airports or regional airports. Decisions of that nature - for example, the proposed runway extension at Waterford - are commercial matters for airports themselves and are outside the scope of the Programme. The airport authorities in Waterford are aware of this position.
The current position is that my Department is arranging for an independent consultant to undertake a review of the options for Waterford Airport and it is hoped to have this review completed by mid-year.
503. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the tonnage handled in each port in each of the years 2000, 2010, 2016 and 2017, by port in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17646/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra504. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the tonnage, turnover and the number of employees in each of the State’s ports in each of the years 2000, 2010, 2016 and 2017, by funding category, amount and port in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17647/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra505. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the tonnage handled at the Port of Waterford in each of the years 2010 to 2017, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17648/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 503 to 505, inclusive, together.
Figures for the total tonnage handled by each port annually are available on the website of the Central Statistics Office, www.cso.ie. Statistics of port traffic are published annually on the CSO's website.
Details of the turnover and employee numbers for each State port company are contained in their Annual Reports which are laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas each year and published on the Oireachtas Library website: http://opac.oireachtas.ie/liberty/libraryHome.do.
506. Deputy Michael Harty asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on the inclusion of east County Clare in the Ireland's Hidden Heartlands tourism initiative and also on the River Shannon master plan being developed by Fáilte Ireland in partnership with Waterways Ireland which has its southern headquarters in Scariff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17673/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraNeither I nor my Department has any role in relation to the development, implementation or management of the tourism experience brands, such as Ireland's Hidden Heartlands, or in the Shannon Navigation Tourism Masterplan.
Matters such as those raised by the Deputy are operational matters for the board and management of Fáilte Ireland. Accordingly I have referred the Deputy's question to Fáilte Ireland for direct reply to the Deputy. Please contact my private office if you have not received a reply within ten working days.
With regard to the geographical boundaries of Ireland's Hidden Heartlands and the inclusion of east Clare in this new experience brand, I understand that Fáilte Ireland considered that the natural tourism offering of east Clare and its proximity to the Shannon makes it a good fit with the new brand identity and means this area will benefit from being included.
As regards the river Shannon, this will be a central focus of the new brand. I am informed that the Shannon Navigation Tourism Masterplan currently being developed by Fáilte Ireland in partnership with Waterways Ireland aims to drive tourism opportunities both on and off the water, and in the towns nearby.
In terms of next steps, I understand that Fáilte Ireland will now recruit a dedicated team to ensure an immediate local presence to champion the brand’s development. An initial €2 million in Exchequer funding has been allocated to start the development stage of the brand, with further Exchequer allocations for subsequent years being decided in the context of the annual Estimates process between my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
507. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the measures he plans to implement to eliminate delays in driver tests in counties Cavan and Monaghan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17728/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis is a matter for the Road Safety Authority. I have referred the question to the Authority for direct reply. I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response is not received within 10 days.
508. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to progress a road project (details supplied) in view of its importance to a number of counties; if this project will be considered for specific funding in the 2019 road works programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17730/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraProposals to deliver an upgraded East-West route linking Dundalk to Sligo, taking in Cavan, involve linking elements of the national road network and regional roads along as direct a route as possible. Essentially the route involves upgrade/realignment works on the regional routes from Dundalk to Cavan and on national routes from Cavan to Sligo.
As regards the regional road aspect of the proposal, the 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.
My Department provided funding to Cavan County Council (acting as lead authority with Monaghan and Louth County Councils) with over €2 million in the period 2007-2014 to progress the regional road element of the project to preliminary design.
This year I have given an allocation of €25,000 to Cavan County Council to enable the Council to undertake appraisal work, in line with the current requirements in the Public Spending Code and the Capital Investment Framework, of the Cavan to Dundalk section of the route. The aim of this appraisal would be to assess the extent to which the scheme or elements of it can be justified in terms of appraisal and advanced for further consideration in relation to schemes for development post 2021.
509. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the regulations and legislation he plans to introduce to manage the use of rickshaws for public hire following a public consultation on rickshaws undertaken by the NTA; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17748/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy refers, I asked the National Transport Authority (NTA) to conduct a public consultation on rickshaws last year, which concluded at the end of September. A report on the consultation, along with recommendations by the NTA, were submitted to my Department in the latter part of 2017.
My Department is now considering a range of options for regulating rickshaws from the perspective of proportionality, public safety and enforcement as well as regarding the question of costs and benefits. This examination is at an advanced stage and I intend to select a preferred approach in the near future, with any corresponding legislative provisions to be developed quickly thereafter.
510. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason persons who pay their car tax on time each quarter are charged more than if they pay annually; and if he will review the situation. [13631/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraMotor tax is payable on an annual, half-yearly or quarterly basis. The rates applicable to the half-yearly and quarterly options are 55.5% and 28.25% of the annual charge, respectively. These relativities have remained generally consistent since the 1960s.
Each quarterly renewal of motor tax requires the same administrative procedures as the annual renewal process. Any consideration of re-balancing of the charges for non-annual discs must take account of the fact that overheads, both direct and indirect, would increase exponentially if the change were to result in increased volumes of transactions. Aside from these costs, the loss to the Exchequer arising from the elimination of the additional charge for these options has been estimated at just under €53 million, on the basis of 2017 transactions.
