Michael Healy-Rae
Ceist:180. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Transport if a matter in relation to a taxi (details supplied) will be examined; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33352/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraPublic Transport
Ceisteanna (180)
Freagraí scríofa
The regulation of the small public service vehicle (SPSV) sector, including SPSV licensing, is a matter for the independent transport regulator, the National Transport Authority (NTA), under the provisions of the Taxi Regulation Act 2013.
Accordingly, 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.
National Car Test
Ceisteanna (181)
Patricia Ryan
Ceist:181. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Transport if his attention has been drawn to long delays for the national car test; his plans to address this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33395/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The operation of the National Car Test Service (NCTS) is the statutory responsibility of the Road Safety Authority (RSA). 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.
However, I am very aware of the serious challenges that the RSA and the NCTS are currently facing to meet demand and the frustrating delays which vehicle owners have encountered since the start of this year.
I am given to understand that customers seeking test appointments may contact the NCTS directly by calling 01-4135992 or may avail of the priority waiting list function via the NCT website www.ncts.ie.
This is a serious matter and I and my department will continue to monitor the RSA's progress to reduce test delays closely as part of ongoing corporate governance processes.
A referred reply was forwarded to the Deputy under Standing Order 51
Public Transport
Ceisteanna (182)
Patricia Ryan
Ceist:182. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Transport his plans to address the high cost of public transport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33407/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport, nor decisions on fares.
It is the National Transport Authority (NTA) that has the statutory responsibility for the regulation of fares in relation to public passenger transport services and for securing the provision of public transport services by way of public transport services contracts in respect of services that are socially necessary but commercially unviable. The funding of those services comprises both the fares paid by passengers and the subvention payments from the Exchequer. The main purpose of the subvention payment is to meet the gap between income from fares and the cost of operating services.
The provision of public transport services is heavily dependent on passenger fare revenue as it normally contributes about 65% of the operational cost. The remaining 35% of cost is covered by the PSO grant and the Department of Social Protection grant under the free travel scheme.
Prior to COVID-19, €287 million of Exchequer funding was provided for PSO services in Budget 2020; however, since 2020, additional funding has been required to continue to address the significant COVID impacts on public transport provision. In 2022, I secured €538m to support PSO services including over €200m to address COVID expenses (i.e. loss of fare revenue, cleaning costs). Up to €12m will be provided as ongoing support for the licensed bus sector; while, over €15m has also been allocated to support Local Link regular service provision in rural Ireland.
As the Deputy will be aware, a 20% average reduction is being introduced on PSO services as part of a suite of Government measures to help combat the rising cost of living. This fare reduction was applied to all services outside the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) from the 11th of April and nationwide from the 9th of May. The fare reduction will be in place until the end of the year and €54m in Exchequer funding has been secured to allow for the introduction of these discounted fares, this is in addition to the REV22 allocations. As such, I would like to see the 20% fare reduction continue into 2023; however, I am acutely aware of the competing pressures across the system and the finite Exchequer resources. The funding implications of all measures must be considered in the round so I will work closely with Minister McGrath and other Government colleagues in the context of the 2023 Estimates process to see what we can do with regard to supporting public transport services.
The 20% fare reduction comes on top of several other measures that we are progressing to encourage greater public transport patronage. For instance, the Young Adult Card, which provides an average 50% fare discount for those aged between 19 and 23 on both PSO and commercial services. As well as the TFI 90 Minute Fares scheme which means that adults now pay €2, young adults pay €1, and children pay just 65 cent to travel for up to 90 minutes on Dublin Bus, Luas and most DART, commuter rail and Go-Ahead Ireland services in Dublin. In May alone, the number of people who had a Child Leap Card, Student Leap Card, or the new Young Adult Leap Card increased by over 16,000, which is very encouraging.
While fare reductions are to be welcomed, investment in additional services is also critical. For this reason, I am committed to progressing core projects like BusConnects, Connecting Ireland and DART+ as well as improving existing services across the country.
The PSO programme represents a significant expenditure of taxpayers' money, and funding has increased in recent years to cater for additional services and growing capacity. Any assessment of a proposed change to public transport fare structures would be a matter for the NTA to consider in the first instance. Therefore, in light of the Authority's responsibility in this area I have forwarded the Deputy's specific question in relation to the cost of public transport, to the NTA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.
A referred reply was forwarded to the Deputy under Standing Order 51
Electric Vehicles
Ceisteanna (183)
Patricia Ryan
Ceist:183. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Transport his plans to address the poor public electric vehicle charging network; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33408/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The Government is fully committed to supporting a significant expansion and modernisation of the electric vehicle (EV) charging network over the coming years. A draft national charging infrastructure strategy for the development of EV charging infrastructure, covering the crucial period out to 2025 was published for consultation in March. The draft strategy sets out the government’s ambition regarding the delivery of a public EV charging network to support up to 194,000 electric cars and vans by the middle of the decade. Responses and submissions received as part of the consultation are currently being considered in the development of the final Strategy for publication.
Preparations are underway to establish Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI). This Office will play an important role in our transition to zero emission vehicles. It will co-ordinate measures to support the uptake of EVs and the rollout of charge point infrastructure.
Home charging is the primary charging method for most Irish EV owners as it’s convenient and cheaper for the consumer as well assists in the overall management of the national grid. Over 80% of charging is expected to happen at home. There is also a need for a seamless public charging network that will provide for situations or instances where home charging is not possible such as neighbourhood or residential charging, destination charging, and en-route or motorway charging.
A grant is available from the SEAI for those individuals seeking to install a home charger. Work is currently being progressed to expand the EV home charger grant to include shared parking in apartment blocks and similar developments. My Department is working closely with the SEAI and expects a scheme for apartments to open shortly.
€10 million was committed from the Climate Action Fund to support ESB investment in the charging network and this has leveraged a further €10 million investment from ESB, with the infrastructure to be in place by the end of 2022. This intervention alone will result in:
- 90 additional high power chargers, each capable of charging two vehicles
- Seventeen high-power chargers distributed across 14 multi-vehicle hubs have been delivered as part of the programme to date.
- 52 additional fast chargers, which may replace existing standard chargers - This work is completed at 36 locations and delivery of new, faster and higher capacity technology is awaited to complete this element of the program, due in August and the upgrade program will resume then. The remaining locations have all been identified and surveyed.
- 264 replacement standard chargers with more modern technology and with each consisting of two charge points - This work is substantially complete. 258 of the chargers have now been successfully replaced.
Further details on the progression of this project including the rollout of charge points in each county can be found at esb.ie/ecars/our-network/network-upgrades.
The Public Charge Point Scheme continues to be available during 2022 to provide local authorities with a grant of up to €5,000 to support the development of on-street public chargers. My Department has reviewed the Scheme and the draft Charging Infrastructure Strategy sets out a number of additional actions to support delivery by local authorities, such as funding capital costs for civil and electrics works, as well as charge point installation, through a new Residential Charging Scheme.
My Department is developing new grant schemes which will support the installation of destination charge points in locations including hotels, car parks and visitor and tourist attractions, both State-owned and commercial sites. This new initiative will be open for applications from both the public and private sector and help provide another critical link in the overall network for public charging.
As well as the ESB ecars network there are a number of private charge point operators with sites already live in Ireland. Once established, ZEVI will be tasked with developing a single interactive portal for mapping the location and availability of all publicly accessible EV charging points and provide offer a central source of information to EV owners.
Bus Services
Ceisteanna (184)
Bríd Smith
Ceist:184. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Transport if a company (details supplied) and Dublin Bus are unable to provide their full scheduled bus services in Dublin as a result of staff shortages; the reason that in the absence of the company having its required staffing numbers the National Transport Authority has proceeded to expand services with new routes such as the N6 and N4; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33422/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. Under the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 it is a statutory function of the National Transport Authority (NTA) to procure public transport services by means of Public Service Obligation (PSO) contracts.
In light of the Authority's responsibility in this area, I have forwarded the Deputy's question in relation to both Dublin Bus and Go Ahead Ireland to the NTA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.
A referred reply was forwarded to the Deputy under Standing Order 51
Sports Events
Ceisteanna (185)
Éamon Ó Cuív
Ceist:185. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Transport if he plans to develop a policy to ensure that as far as possible patrons of large sporting events will be able to travel to these events on public transport; the discussions that he has had with the sporting bodies and the National Transport Authority in relation to this matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33436/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
As the Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally and for the scheduling of those services in conjunction with the relevant transport operators.
In light of the Authority's responsibility in this area, I have forwarded the Deputy's question regarding the provision of adequate public transport for patrons travelling to large sporting events including any discussions the NTA may have had with sporting bodies in this regard, to the Authority for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.
A referred reply was forwarded to the Deputy under Standing Order 51
Driver Licences
Ceisteanna (186)
Niamh Smyth
Ceist:186. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Transport if a driving test will be urgently rescheduled for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33464/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The operation of the national driving test service is the statutory responsibility of the Road Safety Authority and the information requested is held by them. 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.
A referred reply was forwarded to the Deputy under Standing Order 51
Taxi Licences
Ceisteanna (187)
Neale Richmond
Ceist:187. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Transport if he believes that age limits on taxi licences should be extended to keep more drivers in the industry; if he intends to extend these age limits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33489/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The regulation of the small public service vehicle (SPSV) sector, including age limits for SPSVs, is a matter for the independent transport regulator, the National Transport Authority (NTA), under the provisions of the Taxi Regulation Act 2013.
Accordingly, 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.
A referred reply was forwarded to the Deputy under Standing Order 51