Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:12. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee that deals with transport will next meet. [6662/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 21 February 2024
Ceisteanna (12, 13, 14)
Paul Murphy
Ceist:13. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee that deals with transport will next meet. [6664/24]
Amharc ar fhreagra
James O'Connor
Ceist:14. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee that deals with transport will next meet. [7801/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí ó Béal (16 píosaí cainte)
Deputies will be happy to hear that we have 12 minutes and 40 seconds left for these questions.
Do they relate to transport?
Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna Uimh. 12 go 14, go huile, le chéile.
The economic division of my Department assists me and the Government in developing and implementing policy across relevant areas, including economic growth and job creation, infrastructure and housing and climate action and social dialogue. The work especially focuses on the deliver of commitments in the programme for Government and co-ordination of issues that cut across multiple Departments. The division also supports the work of the Cabinet committees on economy and investment, housing and the environment and climate change.
Transport-related issues can arise at each of these committees and others, given their relevance to multiple policy areas, such as climate action, economic growth and provision of housing. For example, the Cabinet committee on the environment and climate change considers environmental and climate change dimensions of transport, as well as the implementation of transport-related policies and measures contained in the Government's climate action plan. The Cabinet committee on the economy and investment oversees the implementation of the programme for Government commitments aimed at sustainable economic recovery, investment and job creation. The Cabinet committee on housing deals with matters of transport as they relate to the support of large scale delivery of housing under Housing for All. This includes the monitoring of the progress of major transport oriented development opportunities. Issues relevant to the sector can arise at other Cabinet committees, such as the Cabinet committee on Northern Ireland and, as with all policy areas, they are regularly discussed at full Cabinet meetings where all formal Government decisions are made. In addition to meetings of the Cabinet and Cabinet committees, I regularly meet Ministers, including the Minister for Transport, to discuss particular issues of concern.
Deputy Boyd Barrett has a minute and a half or two minutes.
We have ten minutes for these questions.
The Deputies will have two minutes each. The Taoiseach might have to cede some time in respect of what I am sure will be the Deputy's substantial contribution.
Are we going on to another group of questions?
I ask for a bit more latitude, given that no one else is here.
I have no objection if the Deputy wants to take three minutes.
I will raise two issues. First, and as the Taoiseach will be aware, I have raised the issue of taxi drivers many times. There is deep concern among taxi drivers about a campaign that seems to involve some of the ride-hailing apps, including Uber and others, suggesting that we are chronically short of taxis and implying we need to deregulate the taxi industry and develop the Uber model that exists elsewhere. Taxi drivers are concerned about that. They would like to be assured that we will not go down that road.
If you were to go out of this building now, you would find lines of taxis on many taxi ranks for which there are no fares. For much of the time, there is no work available for taxi drivers. They acknowledge that there are pinch points, but they feel it is completely wrong that the lack of public transport such as buses, especially at night, in a sufficient quantity and at a sufficient frequency should not land at their door. It is not fair to blame them for that problem. If we deregulate - there was deregulation in this area previously and it had quite disastrous consequences - people who, for example, forked out huge amounts of money to buy new electric vehicles or other new vehicles to use as taxis will not be able to make the income to repay the loans they took out.
It has also been stated that the reluctance of some taxi drivers to work at night is to do with safety issues. Indeed we have heard bus workers talking about similar safety issues. Again, safety problems late at night are not the fault of taxi drivers any more than they are the fault of bus workers. These issues have to be addressed by the Government, the National Transport Authority, NTA, An Garda Síochána and so on, rather than land at the door or taxi drivers. Critically, regarding passenger safety, it has been pointed that when you get into a properly regulated taxi, you know who your taxi driver is, that they are the person supposed to be, that they have the knowledge and so on, but that if we go down the totally deregulated Uber route, the safety of passengers could be compromised. For all these reasons, taxi drivers are asking that if issues need to be addressed in this area, that the NTA and other bodies engage with taxi representative groups that are more than willing to discuss these issues. There should be no question of the totally deregulated model being introduced.
I will briefly mention one other matter. There is a massive backlog regarding driving tests. In my area, it takes a year to get a test. Sometimes, this means that people cannot take up jobs they have been offered and so on. One of the problems is that we are relying too much on temporary contracts for driving testers-----
Thank you Deputy.
-----and they are not taking on enough full-time staff. The union has raised the matter. I ask the Taoiseach to look at that as well.
I raise the post-Storm Babet issues in Midleton and the wider area of east Cork. The Taoiseach will be familiar with the damage that was done to our road infrastructure. Approximately €50 million worth of damage was done to local roads across the east Cork area. That is according to Cork County Council. Several roads remain closed, especially rural and secondary routes and quite a significant amount of infrastructure, including bridges, drains and embankments, need sufficient funding if they are to be fixed.
We saw a huge reaction from the Government in October when this happened. Many members of the Government, including the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste, came to visit, but we need to get the level of resources necessary to tackle the issue. Only €14 million has been made available through a severe weather allocation during a recent round of allocations. This is despite the fact that it will cost more than €50 million to repair the damage. Will the Taoiseach bring the issue of the impact the flooding has had to the attention of the Department of Transport and the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, and ask why there is a deficit of approximately €40 million in respect of what is needed. This needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Unfortunately, the damage that was done is having an adverse impact, especially on some of the rural areas I represent where agricultural vehicles and heavy goods vehicles cannot access roads to get to and from some farms and other businesses. I would appreciate if this could be done. Deputy Stanton and I met the director of services in the relevant areas and the chief executive of Cork County Council to gauge their concerns. Unfortunately, I report to the House that Cork County Council has a significant issue with the lack of funding that is being provided to deal with the post-Storm Babet issues, especially around road infrastructure. I would appreciate if the Government could comment on this.
Once again, I thank the Deputies for their questions. Deputy Boyd Barrett raised the issue of ride sharing. Perhaps I can give some assurance to taxi drivers in that regard. It is something we have all used when we were abroad. Generally speaking, it is a good service. I have used Uber, Bolt and Lyft. With one exception, I found the service provided to be good. However, I have concerns around deregulation. First, it would mean drivers are not vetted or regulated, at least by a public authority, and would mean that the vehicles involved would not be checked by a public authority. We do not propose to go down that road. However, we should try to make it easier for people to provide a service, particularly at peak times when it is most needed., but that is not full deregulation. We do not propose that and I would not support it.
We are working on the driving test backlogs at the moment. Staffing has been increased. There is a backlog that relates to the pandemic, but also, like with so many things, there is a big increase in demand for tests. However, I am now confident waiting times will come down in the next few months.
On Deputy O'Connor's question about Midleton and the Cork floods after Storm Babet, I understand the council has calculated that approximately €54 million would be needed to repair the roads and other public infrastructure. So far, a special allocation of €14 million has been made to the council. It is possible for more to be provided, and I expect that to happen. However, the Department of Transport will have to cross-check the council's assessment. Ultimately, these are central funds and taxpayers' money so due diligence will have to be done, but I am sure a further allocation can be made and it should be. I would be happy to follow up with Deputies O'Connor and Stanton.
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Cuireadh an Dáil ar fionraí ar 2 p.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 3 p.m.
Sitting suspended at 2 p.m. and resumed at 3 p.m.