I thank Deputy Ward. I assure him there are no delays. We published the review of the national development plan and we set out very clearly what projects we are going to deliver. I will go through some of the specifics. I thank Deputy Ward for the question and I thank him for acknowledging the number of homes being built in his constituency. His constituency colleague sometimes does not recognise it but it is good that he does. Deputy Ward has asked a good and valid question. The commitment we have on public transport was evidenced by the national development plan in which we allocated €24.3 billion in Exchequer funding to transport, and this is just from this year to 2030. This means €1 in every €4 in the national development plan review is going into transport. This is an unprecedented level of investment in transport. It is an almost 87% increase when compared to the five-year period under the previous national development plan. It is also a fact that in any funding envelope, no matter how big, decisions are required on sequencing and prioritisation. These are the decisions that come with the responsibility of being in government but we will deliver and we want to deliver these projects. There has been much commentary since the publication of the national development plan about certain projects, and I will use one or two as an example. There has been commentary that they have been allegedly delayed, and I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight. One project referred to in particular is the Luas to Finglas. Let me be very clear that under the last national development plan, and in the greater Dublin area transport strategy, delivery of this project was scheduled to start after 2030. The funding I have secured under the new national development plan will bring the delivery forward into this five-year period. That is one example. It is a major project. The extension of the Luas into that area will serve 56,000 additional homes. Similarly, funding secured under the new national development plan will see construction start before 2030 on the DART+ programme, beginning with DART+ West, which is a crucial enabler for the rest of the programme and particularly DART+ South West, which has also been the subject of some commentary. I will come back with more details in my supplementary reply.
Sentiment score: 0.24
To complement the national development plan, NDP, which we have published and in which we have detailed the projects, we have also published the capital investment plan for our grid, known as PR 6 or price review 6. That is up to €18.9 billion of investment in our grid between now and 2030. That takes into account all the major projects we are delivering. It also takes into account the new 300,000 homes we need to deliver and the need to further expand energy generation and distribution to enable further investment in things like data. About 185,000 jobs are supported in the tech sector and we need to continue to be at the cutting edge of new technologies like AI and others and data centres are critical to that. We will be able to manage that. That grid investment is critical. For example, the North-South interconnector project needs to start. It needs to get going. It is the most critical part of energy infrastructure that we need on this island - on an all-Ireland basis. I intend to get that project started this year. It has to happen. Further engagement will be happening in the next couple of weeks on that. I ask politicians of various parties in some of those areas to get on board with this. This piece of infrastructure is critical to deliver the things that Deputy Ward wants and I want.
Sentiment score: 0.08
We are. DART+ West and DART+ South West are interlinked and are both critical. I want to use this opportunity to set the record straight on this. Deputy Shane Moynihan, a constituency colleague of Deputy Mark Ward's, has been at the forefront in ensuring this project moves forward. DART+ South West must be advanced as it will provide the depot capacity for the new fleet on the south-west line as well. It also provides capacity in the city centre to allow for the DART+ South West services to proceed. On DART+ South West, we are commencing the compulsory purchase order, CPO, processes on that project this year. Aspects of the procurement framework put in place on DART+ West will also be used for DART+ South West. I can assure the Deputy there is no delay on it. That has to be done in advance of the main construction. CPOs and procurement will be done this year and I hope to accelerate that further through NDP funding, which will be made available from 2028 onwards. I agree with Deputy Ward that it is a critical service. We are committed to doing both DART+ West and DART+ South West. They are interlinked and complement each other. There are aspects of both projects that need to be delivered, some of which in DART+ West need to be delivered first to enable DART+ South West, particularly the docklands station and clearing up the bottlenecks in Connolly Station. It is a project we are absolutely committed to and will do.
Sentiment score: 0.13
I thank Deputy Ahern for raising this question. Ministers of State, Deputies Canney and Buttimer, and I had good discussions on this with officials yesterday in preparation for questions here. This issue of the new LED lights and high intensity discharge, HID, headlights are known to provide greater brightness, improved colour rendering, increase efficiency and, in the case of LED in particular, longer performance life. That is fine and that is good. However, I am aware of the concerns and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and I have discussed the concern expressed in some quarters in relation to glare particularly with LED and HID headlights. The Deputy might note that the use of these headlights in the EU is regulated by the European type-approval system. This system establishes the technical and safety standards required for a vehicle or component of a vehicle to be placed on the European market and to place a vehicle or a vehicle component on the market and used within any member state. Type-approval requires the vehicle or component to meet specific safety requirements. Accordingly,if a headlight has been approved and entered into service, it is considered safe to use within the EU. During roadworthiness testing, the lighting system in a vehicle is tested to ensure it is in full working order and, importantly, correctly aligned for the safe performance of the vehicle. Factors which can contribute headlamp glare include misaligned aim and various other things. I understand that the UNECE Working Party on Lighting and Light-Signalling is going to establish a task force to investigate this issue and I can assure Deputy Ahern that I, Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and my Department will be guided by that work. On a personal level, I have experienced this as well. I do think this is a matter which needs to be looked at. It is a European competence in relation to the specifications. However, the survey clearly shows that four in five motorists have experienced this. All of us have at this stage. It does merit further investigation. That working group will be important and we will be guided by its recommendations.
Sentiment score: 0.33
The Deputy is right but we do have a way of doing this now. As I mentioned, the UNECE Working Party on Lighting and Light-Signalling is going to establish that task force. That had to be done looking at European standards as opposed to British standards. As I said, I have discussed this with the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and he will be putting this on the agenda for work to be done at a European level because anecdotally and from my experience, I think it is an issue. I am not a lighting specialist. I do not set the standards either as they are set at an EU level but it does merits further investigation. The question the Deputy put down is not only very timely but is very apt too and is an important one. The Deputy mentioned road safety. Road safety for us is an absolutely critical priority. Last year was a terrible year for road fatalities and road injuries. All of us want to improve that. Every life lost on our roads is an absolute tragedy for families and communities across the country. We all must work together to do whatever we can to reverse that trend we have seen in the past couple of years of increasing road fatalities. Any measures, such as this one, which I am not saying is the reason for any of those fatalities, merits further investigation and work to be done in a structured way.
Sentiment score: -0.02
I will make a suggestion. It would be helpful to all of us working on this if the transport committee looked at it. Through the UNECE working group, it will be, and is, on the agenda. I do not have any data at this stage to support claims the changes in standards have led to road accidents, though I am not saying that has not happened either. The transport committee's input would be useful. It could get lighting experts, Department officials and the RSA in to discuss this. The next question, which the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, will take, relates to road safety. We all need to work together on that. We have responsibility and are acutely aware of that. We take it really seriously. Every party and individual has an input into doing everything possible to improve road safety. Core to that in many instances is driver behaviour. We have to address that. The State can only do so much. We need further resourcing - as the Minister of State will go through in more detail - and further measures in relation to speeding, which we are doing. We have to get extremely serious about this issue over the course of this year. I look forward to working with colleagues on it.
Sentiment score: 0.11
I thank the Deputy for his question. He will be aware that BusConnects is a transformative programme of investment in our bus network and system that will provide much better services across our cities, covering Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Limerick and Galway. It is the largest investment in our bus system in the history of the State and is managed by the NTA. The city programmes cover the construction of new bus corridors, new network services, bus electrification and the development of enhanced ticketing in an integrated manner to help maximise the benefits to the public, the customers. The network redesign as part of BusConnects Dublin will improve the existing bus network by providing high frequency spines and new local, orbital and radial routes. Orbital routes are a really important part of the new design as they offer an efficient way for passengers to travel without needing to pass through the city centre. New bus services in Dublin are already being delivered as part of BusConnects. Since 2021, we have rolled out the first seven phases of the network redesign in Dublin. This has included the northern orbital routes connecting Blanchardstown to the Point Village in 2022 and the western orbital routes connecting Blanchardstown to Tallaght in 2023. This new N8 route is really important. The Deputy raised it just before Christmas. It will connect Blanchardstown with Dublin Airport. It is still planned to have the service in place late this year, in 2026. We have just mentioned the NTA's service plan. We have to get that back. The Deputy will be aware of how this works. We will announce all the routes in the round. That has to be stepped through. We also need the human resources to do it. Blanchardstown and the Dublin 15 area is a major growth area. The Deputy and I represent different parts of Fingal. We will continue to improve the public transport offering there. We are seeing people's response to this in the record number of public transport journeys. The Dublin Bus figures for 2025 show a further increase. With Transdev and the Luas, we have an increase of a million journeys there alone. Overall, BusConnects will transform bus services in our cities. The N8 is a very important route and we intend to get that in later this year.
Sentiment score: 0.16
My answer today is consistent with the answer I gave the Deputy in September. I plan to get the N8 up and running in 2026. We have done other things with BusConnects as well. We have started the first two quality bus corridors. Liffey Valley corridor is under construction now. I have signed the contracts. There is major investment in that scheme, about €200 million. We have signed the contracts now for Ballymun-Finglas as well and that will start construction this year. Not only are the services going in but the infrastructure is going in, coupled with and complemented by active travel schemes along those routes. I want to get the service in place in 2026. As the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, outlined in response to a previous question, we need the NTA service plan. I expect that imminently. Three Ministers will go through that plan, taking into account the expert view with regard to the National Transport Authority. We will then assess that plan. We made a very significant step forward with regard to increases in the PSO of about 46% in this budget. That means not being dependent on constant supplementary budgets, which was the case over the previous five years. Myself and the Ministers of State, Deputies Buttimer and Canney, want to ensure that is not the way we move forward. I reiterate that the answer is 2026.
Sentiment score: 0.11
Those in the NTA are very good colleagues. We have a new chief executive in place now. They are very competent at what they do. I want this service in place 2026 and I will be saying that to them. I have said that to them. I do not control every letter that goes out from the NTA. It does a very good job and it has more resources now than it has ever had. Thankfully, because of the hard work of our people and the good economic management of the last Government and this one, we have moneys to invest and continue to invest in public transport. Our bus network is just one element of it. What needs to be understood, and is understood in the NTA, and I and the Ministers of State, Deputies Buttimer and Canney, will be reinforcing it, is that Dublin 15 and the Fingal area is a major growth area in our country. That is not just because I represent part of it. We can look at south Dublin as well. There are areas that have seen significant growth where we need to further improve the public transport offering. To answer the Deputy directly, will I be saying to the NTA that I want this service in place in 2026? Yes. I am saying it here on the floor of the House. My answer is consistent with what I said to the Deputy in September. I thank him for raising the matter. I know the importance of getting this route up and running. It will be very successful and heavily used, I have no doubt about it.
Sentiment score: 0.24
I fully acknowledge the impact of aircraft noise. I live beside the airport myself and have lived there my whole life. I represent a community and a constituency that sees the benefits of the airport but also communities that are impacted by it. It is really important that residents' and communities' views are taken into account and that the airport operates a good neighbour policy. I have met with the Deputy and with residents' groups on that and continue to engage with them. It is my understanding that the health costs report on aircraft noise from Dublin Airport that the Deputy is referring to was prepared by PMCA Economic Consulting on behalf of the St Margaret's and The Ward residents' group, and that the report attempts to quantify the health impacts of aircraft noise and the opinions therein. The second report and recently published journal article referenced by the Deputy have not been submitted to my Department. I would like to thank the Deputy for bringing them to my attention. I have asked my officials to consider the contents of the documents and communicate them to the relevant competent authority, the Aircraft Noise Competent Authority, ANCA. The Deputy will be aware the ANCA monitors the aircraft noise climate around Dublin Airport and publishes noise contours that show the geographical impact of aircraft noise on communities around the airport. These contours represent aircraft noise that is averaged over a full year for different periods of the day in a standardised European format. The noise level of individual aircraft events is also available publicly from an extensive network of DAA noise monitors around the airport. Every year, ANCA carries out an assessment of the effectiveness of the noise management measures at the airport and publishes a report on its findings. This is in addition to publishing annual reports by the airport authority on the compliance by airport users with the noise management measures. If regular review or an assessment of the potential impact of development at the airport indicates that new or amended measures are required to manage aircraft noise at the airport, ANCA will facilitate a period of public consultation on draft proposals to address any noise problem or potential noise problem.
Sentiment score: 0.14
I should say that ANCA is currently carrying out an assessment of the noise situation at Dublin Airport and the potential noise impact of planning applications that seek permission for infrastructure and increases to the permitted passenger capacity at the airport. The airport is a critical piece of national infrastructure, we know that. It underpins tens of thousands of jobs. I have always supported airport growth, but that being done in a sustainable manner. The airport has to operate a good neighbour policy and it has not always doe so. I have written to DAA on a number of occasions, including just before Christmas, asking it to further expand noise mitigation measures and looking at further insulation schemes. The Deputy has a very specific matter in her area, as there are communities being overflown now that were not expecting to be overflown. I have been on the public record as saying that airlines and the airport should operate under the granted planning permissions. They are subject of further retention applications now. We want the airport to develop and grow. I will be removing the cap on Dublin Airport. That is important. It must be done in a sustainable way. Communities need to be listened to. On the new report, I have not got it yet but I will make sure it goes to ANCA through the good offices of the Deputy.
Sentiment score: 0.15
All of us, including the Government, want the airport to continue to grow in a sustainable way. I want the false inhibitors to that growth, such as the airport cap brought in in 2007-08, to be removed. I will bring forward legislation to Cabinet very shortly. We want to get that through the Dáil as quickly as we can. That does not override concerns of residents. I grew up beside the airport and I see its benefits. People understand there will be a level of noise that people do get used to, but for those in close proximity, particularly to the western part, the opening of the new parallel runway has been a major change for them and other communities. I have asked for noise insulation to be further expanded, which it will be. As one example, we spent €23 million last year on buying homes and insulating homes and schools to date. A total of 227 homes were eligible of which 204 have been completed. That is not a bad outturn. The expedited noise insulation grant increased by 50% to €30,000, which will now be available to over 1,000 homes. I continue to engage with the DAA directly on that. We will bring in mitigation measures for those who are impacted. There will be some properties close to the airport for which the voluntary purchase scheme needs to be improved. I have asked for that too. I will continue to work with the Deputy. I thank her for her constructive approach on this important matter.
Sentiment score: 0.17