Darragh O'Brien

I cannot give Deputy O'Hara a timeline, and I am not at all being evasive, because we have commenced the preparatory work for the review. There will also be an updating and there is a clear commitment in the programme for Government on updating the regional airports programme. There will be a new programme for 2026 to 2030. This means we would need most of the work concluded this year or by the en…

Public transport connectivity and services to our airports are obviously critical. They are served relatively well. This can always be improved. I would expect it to be part of the input into our national aviation policy. While the existing policy from 2015 needs to be updated, it is not redundant at all. If anything, if we look at the growth in numbers in our airports throughout the regions and f…

I thank the Deputy for his question. There is no doubt that the very strong passenger growth in recent years poses some challenges at certain times for the public transport network, including the InterCity rail network. Like the Deputy, I am eager to see improved rail services rolled out across the network. We know that when people are offered reliable and frequent services, they are more likely …

The new InterCity railcars are being tested right now. We have received them. As the Deputy correctly said, Iarnród Éireann mentioned to him that once they come into use in 2026 additional railcars will then be provided to other routes. Two carriages on a train at peak times is, I would suggest, insufficient. I am sure the Deputy has raised that specific issue about that train service with Iarnró…

The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, has direct responsibility for the all-island rail review. I expect that matters such as the double-tracking the Deputy has mentioned will be considered as part of that. On timetables, punctuality and reliability, the management of timetables is a matter for Iarnród Éireann. Where specific matters are raised in questions here, we note them and feed them back to…

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding for public transport. The NTA has responsibility for the development of public transport infrastructure including ticketing and technology projects. The next generation ticketing project is very significant and will provide a transformative upgrade to the ticketing system for public transport passengers in Ireland. The…

I am also very anxious to see this. The Deputy is right; the Leap card is great. That is fine but, if you go to London or other parts of Britain, you can tap on or off with a debit card or credit card, which works fantastically well. When we bring in our system, it will be ahead of those in Britain and most of Europe because it will also involve account-based ticketing. I have asked for a timeline…

I know the Deputy will be raising this issue regularly and he is right to do so because it will make a very significant difference. We will certainly be putting as much positive pressure as possible on to ensure delivery. I will be watching the timeline very closely and, as it becomes firmer, I will keep the Deputy informed. It will not be necessary for someone who is visiting to have an account t…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 13, 51, 90 and 265 together. A lot of Deputies have raised this matter. There are questions here from Deputies McGettigan, Cathal Crowe, Quinlivan and Pa Daly. It speaks to the importance, which all of us understand, of our aviation sector. Ireland has done extremely well from a connectivity perspective. For example, Dublin Airport is the fifth best connected airp…

I thank the Deputy and will let him take a breath.

It would have. He could have used the bike. I have answered the Deputy's colleagues earlier. We are updating the national aviation policy and we will be bringing forward a new one, on which I will need all inputs. The Deputy and his colleagues have regularly championed Shannon Airport. Shannon is a fine airport. I raise the growth in the airport since 2019. In 2019, 1.72 million passengers travel…

I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh for her contribution. In response to Deputy Crowe, I want to see all our airports grow. I would like to see more flights out of Shannon, Cork and Ireland West. We see growth in all those airports as well as further projected growth this year in Cork, Shannon, Ireland West and Kerry and small growth in Donegal. For the information of the House, I am working on the prepa…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as a cheist. The national heat study, published by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, contains a detailed analysis that is being used by my Department to inform the development of policies and measures to decarbonise Ireland's heating and cooling sectors by 2050. I assure the Deputy that the study considered several potential decarbonisation option…

I am considering all options. There is a new Administration and new Minister. I can see where we have done very well in retrofitting. I have already said very clearly that heat pumps represent the optimal solution but not the only one. We have got to carry out a very detailed assessment of the supply of biofuels, including biofuels used in transportation. If we are to accelerate their use across …

The local authorities are doing a good job retrofitting social housing stock. I had experience of that in my previous portfolio. We have an exacting target of retrofitting 500,000 homes by 2030. At the last count, the figure stood at approximately 165,000 across the country, both public and private. However, there is work to do be done. To answer the Deputy's question on the grant offering, I hav…

I thank the Deputy for his question. As outlined in the programme for Government, we committed to taking decisive action to radically reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and achieve a 51% reduction in emissions by 2030, while achieving net zero by no later than 2050. We have been making significant progress in that regard. We also committed to achieving 80% of Ireland's electricity generation from…

No.

I need to get clarification from the Deputy's own party on whether it supports the State-led strategic gas reserve. I am not sure where the Labour Party stands on that. All parties should support it because there is a risk to our country, society and economy if we do not build it. We have an oil reserve but we do not have a gas reserve and we need that. It will be State-led. On the other matters,…

We are absolutely committed to continuing the transition to renewable energy. We are making progress on that with onshore wind. We have created the infrastructure, which I set up in my previous Department under the marine planning Act and the creation of the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, MARA. We have six planning applications in for offshore renewables. I will bring forward proposals to Gov…

To answer the Deputy's question directly at the start, the analysis conducted by CEPA is under review in the Department now and I must review that. However, I can confirm the study finds Ireland will not meet the N-1 infrastructure standard for gas during the 2030s. The report finds the addition of an FSRU will allow Ireland to meet that standard and I will publish that in the coming weeks. I do n…

Yes.

The Deputy is aware of this, but I restate An Bord Pleanála is independent of Government. Applications are made. The potential development she refers to is a matter that has been before the courts and has been with An Bord Pleanála. I am not going to comment further other than to say Government will not intervene in that instance. It would not be appropriate for us to do so. Our focus is on the FS…

The Department engaged Cambridge Economic Policy Associates Limited to carry out an updated analysis of security of energy supply in Ireland covering the period beyond 2030 and up to 2040. This study builds on CEPA's technical analysis of the security of supply of Ireland's electricity and natural gas systems up to 2030, published in September 2022. That helped inform the review of Ireland's energ…

I did. I will come back to it in the supplementary.

To answer the Deputy's question directly at the start, the analysis conducted by CEPA is under review in the Department now and I must review that. However, I can confirm the study finds Ireland will not meet the N-1 infrastructure standard for gas during the 2030s. The report finds the addition of an FSRU will allow Ireland to meet that standard and I will publish that in the coming weeks. I do n…