92. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Transport if he will report on regional and local roads investment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9452/25]
Sentiment score: 0.01
Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Déanaim comhghairdeas leat as do phost nua.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I wanted to ask the Minister about regional and local roads investment, in particular, the local improvement schemes, and if he will make a statement in relation to it.
Sentiment score: 0.46
I thank the Minister for the reply. There are roads the length and breadth of the country that are in a serious state of disrepair. There is no city, town or village that is not impacted. Due to years of neglect by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments, road users in every corner of the State feel abandoned. It is especially true in rural Ireland where it must be remembered that 70% of road collisions occur. Instead of getting to grips with this situation, what we have heard recently is kite flying, whether it is in the implementation of the new speed limits without any ability to enforce them or announcing new road investments that are not really that new at all. The only new part of that €713 million investment recently announced is money that the Department failed to spend last year to the tune of €115 million. The story was the same in 2023 and 2022 when there was a capital carry-over of €140 million and €160 million, respectively. It is all well and good grandstanding about increased investment but there must be a plan to deal with it because it is not just money that is needed. We need a plan and a roadmap for delivery. Take my constituency of Kerry, where the LIS list has 625 roads on the priority list. As the council gets to about 20 roads per year, it would take about 30 years to complete that. What measures is the Minister taking to ensure the Department does not have a capital carry-over? What measures is the Department taking to speed up road maintenance under the LIS scheme?
Sentiment score: 0.01
There seems to be significant discrepancies between different county councils when it comes to road maintenance and repair. Some move at a much faster pace. What is the Minister going to do about that? If local authorities are expected to be responsible for the upkeep of our local and regional roads, they need resources. The Minister mentioned the Adare bypass. There is a strong suspicion. Local engineers spent an awful long time preparing documents for tender to improve the Ring of Kerry road near Glenbeigh school and the N86 from Lispole to Dingle but then, suddenly, the funding was cut despite all the efforts that were made. While the Adare bypass is necessary, there is a feeling that is where the money went to. Will he commit to restoring the funding on the roads where the tendering documents were prepared at the expense of a lot of cost and time by local engineers? Finally, the Minister has committed to solving the problems with local authorities and their funding but it has gone on too long. Collisions used to be mapped. There was a cost-benefit analysis and a response but this information seems to have been cut. It does not seem to be happening any more.
Sentiment score: 0.04
94. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Transport the steps he is taking to make electric vehicles more accessible to rural motorists. [9453/25]
Sentiment score: 0.00
The Government has ambitious targets when it comes to electric vehicles. Approximately 195,000 are supposed to be on the road by the end of 2025, growing to 845,000 by 2030. There is nothing wrong with that but with only 80,000 electric vehicles currently on the road, reaching these targets at the current rate of progress is a practical impossibility. If we do not meet the 2030 targets, the taxpayer could be footing a bill of up to €26 billion, according to the report today from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and the Climate Change Advisory Council.
Sentiment score: 0.36
I thank the Minister. As he said, the question related to making electric vehicles more accessible for rural motorists. He mentioned the 400 km figure, but that confidence is not shared by people who are selling electric vehicles in Kerry, who are not confident that motorists will be able to drive all the way to Dublin, for example, in an electric vehicle. The EV schemes seem to remain the preserve of affluent, urban households. Progress will continue to stagnate, and this is another example in a long line of regressive measures pursued by the Government. Research has shown that EVs used in rural Ireland have a bigger climate impact in that they remove 35% more emissions compared with their urban counterparts, but it is less affordable for rural households to own and operate an EV. Many people in rural areas are locked into car ownership and even though there have been improvements in BusConnects and rural transport schemes, there is still a severe lack of public transport. Will the Minister consider more targeted measures aimed at supporting rural drivers to transition away from fossil fuels, and will he consider extending the grant to second-hand EVs, as recommended in the report published this morning?
Sentiment score: 0.12
I am glad the Minister accepts that the works done to date are unacceptable and inadequate. The Government has slashed the EV grant and repeatedly failed to make it available for second-hand vehicles. Will the Minister consider re-establishing that or improving the grant for the purchase of second-hand vehicles? The Government wants just under 1 million electric vehicles to be on the road by 2030, or 30% of all registered vehicles, but that is unlikely to happen given the lack of progress to date. People are getting the raw end of the deal, as is borne out in the charging infrastructure. The figures do not lie. Under EU legislation, Ireland is required to have 6,210 publicly available charging points but, as the Minister said, we are a way off this and that more needs to be done. Some rural counties are charging deserts, and without the appropriate infrastructure in place, it is easy to see why people will be reluctant to transition away from petrol and diesel. What is the Government doing to ensure a regionally balanced roll-out of the charging infrastructure?
Sentiment score: 0.10
Carbon tax is unfair.
Sentiment score: -0.48
95. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Transport if he will report on service level requirements for private operators on public transport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9454/25]
Sentiment score: 0.01
What are the service level requirements for private operators on public transport and will the Minister make a statement on the matter? Commuters the length and breadth of the country are exasperated because of the shambolic service some of them have come to expect as normal. Week in, week out, we receive complaints about ghost buses, late buses and students who are trying to get home from the University of Limerick, for example, to Kerry, whereby the second bus does not turn up and they are very late coming home for the weekend. Everyone can agree it is not up to scratch. This is not just a minor inconvenience. It is seriously affecting people's daily lives.
Sentiment score: -0.09
We all agree that if the service is there, more people will use it. The Minister mentioned performance reviews. I am sure he will agree that the service provided to date is not up to scratch. I ask him to confirm that is the case. The Minister mentioned penalties. We have heard stories about the farcical situation where some bus drivers commence a route at stage eight or nine of the bus journey, rather than starting at the beginning. They drive straight through to stop eight or nine and complete the journey in order to avoid the inevitable fines that will accrue if the bus is late. It is unacceptable. To get a sense of the problem I reached out to some of my fellow TDs and received an avalanche of examples of services that were failing to deliver. It makes it all the more frustrating that the Government seems to be determined to continue with services that are failing to deliver. This was borne out by the recent chaos at Go-Ahead Ireland. In the response we received from the NTA, it agreed the service was inadequate and that Go-Ahead Ireland would be fined €5 million. It is not a new issue. Things are getting worse. Will the Minister outline why the contract has been renewed for a service that is so obviously failing to deliver?
Sentiment score: -0.20
The Minister mentioned a reduction in fares. Only last week, there was an outrageous proposal that commuters would be punished for the Government's failure to deliver essential transport infrastructure. Last Friday, it was reported that commuters would be subject to increased fares to pay for public transport infrastructure and some of these projects have already been in the pipeline for decades. When we are trying to encourage more people to take public transport the last thing the Government should do is blame the victim by punishing commuters who need to get to work, go to college and attend medical appointments by making public transport more expensive for them, Ordinary workers and families in the middle of this cost-of-living crisis can barely afford to make ends meet. They should not be forced to bear the burden of the decades of Government failures in public transport. In fact, it should be the opposite. The previous Government was dragged kicking and screaming by the former Minister to a better position but blaming and punishing commuters is a regressive step. It is not a zero-sum game and one set of priorities must not be sacrificed for another. The fare reductions must be kept in place.
Sentiment score: -0.32