I thank the Deputy for his question on this important matter. As I have previously outlined to the House, the Chicago Convention of 1944 is the main international treaty governing the operation of international civil aviation. Article 35 of this convention provides that no civil aircraft may carry munitions of war in the sovereign territory of a state without that state’s permission. That pertains here in Ireland. This provision is implemented in Irish law in the Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous Goods) Orders of 1973 and 1989. Under these orders, the carriage of munitions of war is prohibited on any civil aircraft in Irish sovereign territory unless I, in my role as Minister for Transport, have granted an exemption that permits it. From October 2023 to date, no applications for exemptions have been received and no exemptions have been granted for the carriage of munitions of war to any point in Israel. I will reiterate that to be very clear to the House. There have been no applications and no exemptions granted for any carriage of munitions of war to the State of Israel. I want to clarify that the exemptions I grant as Minister for Transport to civil air operators are not permission to carry munitions of war from one sovereign state to another. The exemptions grant the civil aircraft concerned permission to carry its specific cargo in Irish sovereign territory, such as for an overflight or a non-traffic stop carried out to facilitate refuelling, crew rest or change and other technical issues that might arise. My Department is still engaged in examining the allegations that a number of air operators have carried munitions of war in Irish sovereign territory without the required exemption permitting them to do so. The issues raised are complex and require the examination of extensive documentation. I understand the frustration that might arise due to the perceived delay in completing this work. It is not intentional - I take this very seriously - but the examination must be carried out to a standard that would support any further action should that action be deemed necessary.
Sentiment score: -0.21
Yes.
Sentiment score: 0.40
I take the Deputy's question and statement in the manner in which it has been raised. The allegations, though, that any arms or weapons are going from Ireland to Israel are just wholly incorrect. Irish law is clear. On the examination of the draft report, we have sought legal advice. There is extensive documentation. I do not want to hide any of that but I need to allow it to be assessed properly, particularly should further action be required. On behalf of myself, colleagues and others, I too want to express my solidarity with those engaged in the humanitarian flotilla. All of us in Ireland abhor what is happening in Gaza and the occupied territories.
Sentiment score: 0.08
Ireland has led in Europe in that regard. There are others who wish to state otherwise - not the Deputy but others - purely for political points. This situation is far too serious for that.
Sentiment score: 0.05
Where complaints and allegations are made about the illegal transfer of either munitions, parts of munitions or dual goods, items that could be used for military use, that is taken very seriously. We have a process that is long-standing in Irish law. Our legislation is very clear in that regard, with domestic orders going all the way back to 1973 and reaffirmed in 1989. I take the allegations seriously. It is appropriate that those allegations are given due care and consideration in a structured and forensic way. That includes the legal advice that would be required. Should I as Minister determine, on the basis of the final report I receive and following legal advice, that we need to take further action, I think the Deputy would agree that has to stand up based on a proper process. That is what is happening now. The Deputy can be assured I will keep him informed of progress. I met my officials on this matter as recently as this week. I will keep the House informed because I know people have genuine concerns in this regard.
Sentiment score: 0.11
I never turned my back on Donegal.
Sentiment score: 0.00
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as ucht an cheist seo a ardú, ach níl sé ceart faoi ar chor ar bith. He is not correct at all in his assertion. We have the largest ever national development plan, with €105 billion of investment between now and the end of the decade, and €245 billion-plus in total. Those are the facts. Now it is about delivery and we are seeing lots of our projects across the country coming through planning and starting to commence. I am sure the Deputy shares our commitment under the NDP and welcomes the investments we are making. Since assuming office, I have seen the impact of those investments, which are happening on a regional basis and in rural communities right across the Republic. I will give a couple of examples. In Cork, I attended the contract signing for the M28 Ringaskiddy project, which will benefit the entire south-west region by providing much-needed improved access to the Port of Cork, thereby enhancing competitiveness for the region as a whole. In Limerick, I have been on site to see the progress being made on the Adare bypass. It is being delivered as the first phase of the overall N69 Foynes to Limerick project, which will play a similar role for the mid-west in improving access to the Port of Foynes and will be complemented by the work under way on reopening the rail link to the port as well. These are real projects that are actually happening. In the north west, we are funding Donegal County Council's trans-European transport network, TEN-T, improvement project - unfortunately, Deputy Charles Ward has left the Chamber - which will likely represent the largest single investment in infrastructure in the north west and the construction of which will be delivered through funding I have secured on behalf of our citizens as part of the NDP review. That is just a snapshot of the investments being made by the Government. Wherever I have been since assuming office, I have seen at first hand the impact of new and improved bus services in rural Ireland and connectivity between rural towns, as the Minister of State outlined in his response to the previous question. Yes, we need to do a lot more. The NDP is fully funded and the projects we deliver will be transformative and will build on the progress already made.
Sentiment score: 0.28
Capital has been secured through the NDP. It is a fully funded multi-annual plan. In the coming weeks, each Department, including my own, will publish departmental NDP plans setting out specific projects. I could stand here for the next two hours listing the projects that are under way but I will give only a couple of examples. Phase 1 of the Cork area commuter rail programme is scheduled to be completed next year. There are ongoing station upgrades at Galway Ceannt and Oranmore, as well as the construction of a new Waterford Plunkett Station. These investments will increase accessibility and reliability for passengers, provide interconnectivity of different transport networks and further develop the overall availability of efficient public transport across a number of regions. MetroLink is a critical project, which I understand the Deputy's party supports. This is the first Government to fund it. It is not just for Dublin, the north Dublin region, Swords or the airport. It will be an economic driver for the whole region. A number of projects are all under way right across the country. We can actually see that. To answer the Deputy's question directly, we will be publishing a departmental NDP in the coming weeks and listing projects that are under way and how we are going to complete them.
Sentiment score: 0.13
Last year we saw the highest number of public transport passenger journeys that we had ever seen. There were about 330 million passenger journeys. The good news is that in the month of August we were up about 10.5% on the comparable month last year. We want to maintain a sustainable and affordable public transport system. I advise the Deputy not to believe everything he reads in the newspapers in that regard. A balance is required to ensure that we continue investment in our public transport services and also investment in our roads. Along with the Ministers of State, Deputies Buttimer and Canney, later this year I intend to announce the 2026 roads programme, which will be a further increase on what we have been able to do this year. Delivery is key, and delivering faster and more efficiently. That is why the previous Government brought in the planning and development Act, which was opposed by others. That is fair enough. It is their right to do so. It is now about doing this efficiently and getting it done. We all share an absolute view that we need to maintain an affordable and sustainable public transport system for our people.
Sentiment score: 0.22
I thank the Deputy for his question, which follows on very much from the question asked by his party's spokesperson. The Deputy will be aware that transport was one of the four prioritised areas for investment under this NDP review and we secured a core allocation of €22.3 billion across the next five years, with a further €2 billion allocated from the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund to assist with the delivery of MetroLink. The allocation is significant both as a share of the overall NDP investment and in comparison with the last five years, which saw approximately €13 billion allocated toward transport between 2021 and 2025. It shows the much-needed and significant increase in that capital funding. As with all other Departments, we are now preparing a transport sectoral plan, as I mentioned to Deputy Daly, for publication in the coming weeks, which will provide further sectoral details in relation to the distribution of those investments and that allocation across the various programmes right across the Department. The Deputy asked about criteria. A clear focus of that plan will be on providing greater certainty on the projects and programmes that will advance and get delivered in the next five years. Deliverability and commencement of projects, and obviously making sure projects are moving through planning, are particularly important. In developing that plan, I will obviously take cognisance of commitments under the programme for Government, as well as overarching policy commitments already made under the national planning framework, the climate action plan and the sustainable mobility plan. Things like transport-orientated development are going to be critical to enable us to build more homes to add to the 135,000 homes we built in the past five years. A real area of focus for the Government is linking all our critical infrastructure investment to support the delivery of large-scale housing. We have a real opportunity to do that and transport-orientated development in that regard will greatly assist.
Sentiment score: 0.33
I thank the Deputy. He is advocating strongly for his own area and I believe he would agree that while a lot of progress has been made in the past five or ten years on infrastructural investment and infrastructure full stop, as our population - thankfully - continues to grow and as our economy thankfully is still in full employment because of the hard work of our people and the economic and policy decisions made by this Government and the previous one, we must make sure we catch up where there are infrastructural deficits. In the coming weeks, the Department of Transport and all Departments effectively will be publishing their own NDP. That will be a sectoral analysis, detailing the projects that will be included as we do in the roads programme. We see roads progressing, and we are seeing roads being built. We are seeing rail lines progress, as I mentioned in my response to Deputy Daly, such as Foynes, the Cork commuter rail and the work being done in Galway. I note Deputy Connolly is present as well. We have a lot to do in that space. We will be publishing each departmental plan around the NDP. One euro in four of investment secured is going into public transport.
Sentiment score: 0.28
To ensure balanced regional development, the national planning framework will guide that and the NDP itself. As for the commitments we have made in the programme for Government, the two parties and the Independents came together to ensure and commit to a balanced regional development and we will ensure that it happens. This morning, I met the incoming new chief executive of Iarnród Éireann at Heuston Station. That was on the occasion of our announcement of the companion pass for the over-70s that means over 500,000 additional people will be able to avail of free transport when accompanying the over-70s. We introduced the five-to-eight-year-old free travel card across all our networks. We want more and more people to use our public transport. That is happening but we must make sure we have more capacity. That is not just capacity in the lines themselves, it is in the carriages. We have secured the first phase of the new carriages, which were purchased by the last Government. They will be initially rolled out on the northern line and then all the way across the country. That will add to the rolling stock we have. The passing loop will happen. The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, gave the Deputy a very detailed response in our last oral questions here on transport about matters specifically in the Deputy's constituency. During the coming weeks, we will publish the transport sectoral plan
Sentiment score: 0.23
I thank Deputy Boland. Like the Deputy, I am eager to see next generation ticketing rolled out on the Irish public transport system. This will be across the whole Twenty-six Counties, across our whole transport system, that is, rail, bus and Luas. I look forward to seeing its introduction as part of BusConnects Dublin before ultimately being delivered across the entire public transport network. I acknowledge there is a sense of frustration among many that contactless systems of payment are not available here as they are in other countries, as well as a sense of frustration at the time it is taking to deliver the system here at home. The fact is we introduced a new ticketing system, Leap, just as the financial crisis took hold and investment in ticketing technology was cut back and took a long time to recover. That is just the truth of it. The good news, however, is that we do now have the funding available to make the move to new technology and the National Transport Authority has entered into a contract with Indra to deliver the project. The initial focus of the project is on the greater Dublin area, rolled out across four phases. This is a major, complex project, with an estimated capital cost of over €160 million to implement it in the greater Dublin area alone. Phase 1 is due to launch in summer 2027, which will test contactless payment on a small number of new validators or ticket machines. As we do this, obviously, we have to keep Leap running as well. Phase 2 will be ready in the summer of 2028, allowing passengers on bus and Luas services to use the next generation ticketing technology, including contactless payments on validators. Plans for phases 3 and 4 are under development. I met Indra and the NTA only a number of weeks ago. I am watching the project very closely myself. I gave a commitment to the House prior to the recess that I would meet the developers of the system and I have done so. I will continue to do so.
Sentiment score: 0.12
To be fair, the contract was only awarded in August 2024, so that is how long we have been waiting. It is now the end of September 2025. I met the chief executive who came to my offices in Leeson Lane. I put to him the very point the Deputy put about the national train control centre. There are many reasons for that overrun, but it will deliver a state-of-the-art centre. Having said that, the company has delivered ticketless systems across the world and done so very well. I have confidence that it will be able to do so here. I have asked the NTA for monthly reports to give me progress updates. I am also pleased that Indra is now opening new European offices in Dublin, showing commitment to Ireland. While it had staff here, it is now opening full-time offices here, including a new office in Dublin. That is a commitment not only to this project, but to further work it may do. The Deputy can be assured that I am getting monthly reports. I will be meeting the company again early in the new year and we have to hit those timeframes of the phase 1 roll-out.
Sentiment score: 0.24
The NTA has a lot under its remit. I have confidence it will deliver it. I have met the programme manager and have asked many of the questions the Deputy just put. That is my job and I should do so. It is a significant investment on the part of the Exchequer. It will make a big difference to commuters. I mentioned earlier in responses to colleagues in the House the significant increase in public transport journeys we are seeing. People are responding to affordable, sustainable and punctual public transport. We can always improve and we need to continue to improve. This system will be better than the one that operates in London. People always use the example of Britain. The system that operates in London and other parts of Britain is not countrywide. This will be countrywide on all public transport. It will be on Bus Átha Cliath, Bus Éireann, Luas, DART and intercity rail. It is a significant roll-out and we have to do it while keeping the existing system fully operational. It will also require the replacement of a lot of validators. We will be watching it carefully.
Sentiment score: 0.16