Written Answers Nos. 135-157
135. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Transport the average waiting time for a driving test at the Ennis, Kilrush and Shannon driving test centres in each of the past three years; the current waiting time, in tabular form; and the measures being taken to reduce delays. [53024/26]
View answer136. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Transport the pass rate for driving tests during 2026 at the Ennis, Kilrush and Shannon driving test centres, in tabular form. [53025/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 135 and 136 together.
Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for all aspects of the National Driver Testing Service. Given the RSA's responsibility in this matter, I have referred the Deputy's questions to the Authority for direct response. Please contact my office if a reply is not received within ten days.
Pending this response, the latest information provided to me by the RSA indicates that, as of end June, the average waiting time for an invitation to book a driving test at the Ennis, Kilrush, and Shannon test centres was 11-weeks, 12-weeks, and 11-weeks respectively. I am assured by the RSA that work is continuing to reduce the waiting time in line with the target 10-week service level agreement.
With regard to driver testers, I am pleased that as of end June, the full sanctioned complement of 200 testers is employed by the RSA, which is a significant increase on the 151 testers available at the beginning of 2025 and a doubling of permanent posts since June 2022.
I would encourage learner drivers awaiting a test to monitor the driver testing booking system which makes available cancelled test slots for candidates to take up at short notice across the service.
The Deputy may wish to note that detailed statistics on the National Driver Testing Service, by county and test centre, are made available on the CSO website on a monthly basis and can be accessed via the following link: www.data.cso.ie/product/rsadts
137. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Transport the number of road traffic collisions resulting in fatalities and serious injuries in County Clare during each of the past five years, broken down by road type. [53026/26]
View answer139. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Transport the number of road traffic collisions involving tractors or agricultural machinery in County Clare during each of the past ten years. [53028/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 137 and 139 together.
Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the RSA has responsibility for the promotion of public awareness of road safety and of measures, including the advancement of education, relating to the promotion of the safe use of roads. In order to inform these road safety measures, the RSA receives both coronial data and collision data from An Garda Síochána.
Given the RSA's responsibility in this matter, I have referred the Deputy's questions to the RSA for direct, detailed reply. I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response has not been received within ten days.
I would also direct the Deputy to the RSA's website, specifically the road traffic collision data section which can be accessed at -
www.rsa.ie/road-safety/statistics/road-traffic-collision-data
This section of the RSA website contains a number of relevant reports published by the RSA in relation to fatalities. In addition, the CSO website provides statistics on road collisions, fatalities, and serious injuries which can be accessed at: www.data.cso.ie/
138. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Transport the measures being undertaken by his Department to prevent road traffic collisions across Ireland. [53027/26]
View answerThe current framework for road safety is set out in the Government’s fifth Road Safety Strategy which has the target of reducing road deaths and serious injuries by 50% this decade.
The Phase 2 Action Plan under this Strategy was published last July, for the period 2025–2027. This Action Plan comprises 12 primary transformative actions and 77 supporting actions. My Department is responsible for the central co-ordination of the Road Safety Strategy and it is overseen at Ministerial level by the Road Safety Leadership Group (RSLG). Minister Sean Canney chairs this Group and it is attended by the Minister for Justice and Home Affairs and Migration.
Delivering the Action Plan is a collaborative effort involving my Department, the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration together with An Garda Síochána, the Road Safety Authority, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, National Transport Authority, the Courts Service, Medical Bureau of Road Safety, Health and Safety Authority and the Local Authorities.
The Deputy will note there are many experts across a range of partners collaborating to take action and deliver positive road safety outcomes, and I would like to assure the Deputy that progress is being made.
Key deliverables for this year include passing the National Vehicle and Driver File Bill 2025 to allow Local Authorities to resume accepting and processing collision data. We are also addressing the long-standing issue relating to repeat renewal of learner permits with regulations coming into effect this November.
The National Safety Camera Strategy was published in April, fulfilling a Programme for Government Commitment. It provides a framework for increased deployment of cameras across the road network in urban and rural locations. The Strategy focuses on speeding, red light running, and bus lane infringements, with flexibility for the enforcement of other types of offence in future. A Camera Enforcement Oversight Group (CEOG) has been established to deliver the strategy, chaired by Anne Shaw, the CEO of the National Transport Authority and comprising senior leaders from AGS, NTA, TII, RSA, the Courts Service and the Local Authority sector. The inaugural meeting of the Group took place in June.
The Deputy might wish to know that this year €14 million has been allocated under the Low-Cost Safety Improvement Scheme to support small-scale engineering measures to address identified road safety issues, representing an increase of €1 million (approximately 8%) on 2025 allocations.
We know that education is a critical factor to changing behaviour and I am pleased to note that this year, the RSA has again ringfenced funding of €18 million for road safety awareness, education and promotional campaigns focused on making our roads safer for all road users, including and especially vulnerable road users.
My focus as Minister, the focus of my Department and of all the road safety stakeholders who we work with, is on the delivery of the Phase 2 Action Plan. This Action Plan was developed by experts, based on Irish experience while considering best practice in other countries and our focus must be on the delivery of these agreed actions.
140. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Transport the annual passenger numbers on each Local Link route serving County Clare since the launch of the services. [53029/26]
View answerAs Minister of State at the Department of Transport with special responsibility for Rural Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to rural public transport service provision; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally including the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan and TFI Local Link services. In light of the NTA responsibilities I have referred your question to the NTA for direct reply to you. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.
141. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Transport the amount spent on winter road maintenance in County Clare in each of the past five years. [53030/26]
View answerAs Minister for Transport I have responsibility for overall policy and exchequer funding in relation to the National Roads Programme. Under the Roads Acts 1993-2015, and in line with the National Development Plan, the operation and management of individual national roads is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. This is also subject to the Infrastructure Guidelines and the necessary statutory approvals.
National roads allocations for 2021 to 2025 are available at: www.tii.ie/en/tii-library/reports-accounts/
Full details of national roads allocations for 2026 are available on the TII website: www.tii.ie/media/luma0wdk/2026-tii-la-national-roads-allocations-booklet.pdf
In accordance with Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993, as amended, the improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority. Work on such roads is funded from Councils' own resources, supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of work to be funded is a matter for local authorities.
Under the Regional and Local Roads Grant Programme, my Department's Discretionary Grant, allows eligible local authorities to exercise discretion in its use for eligible winter maintenance work. It is a matter for those local authorities to determine their winter road treatment programmes, including the prioritisation of routes for salting/gritting.
142. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Transport to urgently provide the necessary funding to deliver significant new connectivity between east Kerry, north Cork and Mallow (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53040/26]
View answerAs Minister of State at the Department of Transport with special responsibility for Rural Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to rural public transport service provision; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally including the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan and TFI Local Link services. In light of the NTA responsibilities I have referred your question to the NTA for direct reply to you. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.
143. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Transport to urgently provide the necessary funding to deliver an additional service on route 276 (details supplied). [53041/26]
View answerAs Minister of State at the Department of Transport with special responsibility for Rural Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to rural public transport service provision; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally including the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan and TFI Local Link services. In light of the NTA responsibilities I have referred your question to the NTA for direct reply to you. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.
144. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Transport if he has engaged with the DAA regarding concerns raised by importers and freight operators on congestion, access and cargo handling infrastructure at Dublin Airport; and whether any improvements are planned. [53052/26]
View answerThe Department of Transport has engaged extensively with daa, cargo handlers, and freight forwarders through meetings, site visits, and stakeholder engagement to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges affecting cargo operations and to identify potential solutions.
Following a stakeholder meeting convened by Department of Transport in February 2025, a number of recommendations were circulated based on feedback from industry participants. These focused on improving coordination, communication, and operational efficiency across the sector.
The daa submitted a planning application in December 2025 for a cargo project to the east of Dublin Airport as part of their Capital Investment Programme 2027-2031 which recognises the facilitation of cargo as a key strategic objective. The East Lands project contains cargo enabling infrastructure, including the safeguarding of new belly-hold cargo facilities with direct access to the South Apron. These sites will more than double the existing belly-hold cargo space, providing sufficient capacity to accommodate future growth.
The Department of Transport continues to engage with daa on longer-term cargo infrastructure requirements and has encouraged greater collaboration between the airport and cargo stakeholders to address current operational pressures.
145. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Transport the total cost to date of the bottled water that has been distributed by Irish Rail on Dublin to Rosslare trains freely to passengers to date this year to deal with the problem of no air conditioning on trains; his views on the situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53066/26]
View answerAs Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport.
The query raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for Iarnród Éireann. I have, therefore, referred the Deputy's question to the company for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.
146. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Transport if any mechanism exists to allow a late application to the road transport support scheme to be considered in exceptional circumstances where the application deadline was missed; if an appeals process, administrative review or other discretionary process is available; if he will give consideration to the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53067/26]
View answerThe Road Transporters Support Scheme (RTSS) opened at noon on 20 May 2026 and closed at noon on 12 June 2026. 4,406 applications were submitted to my Department by licenced hauliers, licenced passenger operators, and the own account sector. The applications are now being assessed against the Scheme eligibility criteria to ensure that payments are only made to eligible businesses in respect of eligible vehicles. This will be finalised as quickly as possible and payments made to successful applicants in the coming weeks.
My Department will be establishing an appeals process for applicants and will be giving consideration to allow those who missed the application deadline to make an appeal for a late application, if substantive evidence of why they could not apply is provided. Further detail on this will be made available as soon as possible.
147. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Transport to provide a detailed progress report on the introduction of a limousine wheelchair accessible grant to cater for disabled clients who visit here (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53069/26]
View answerThe regulation of the small public service vehicle (SPSV) industry, including the administration of the wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV) grant, is a matter for the independent transport regulator, the National Transport Authority (NTA), under the provisions of the Consolidated Taxi Regulation Acts 2013 and 2016. I have no role in the day-to-day operations of the SPSV sector.
Accordingly, I have referred your question to the NTA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you have not received a reply within 10 working days.
149. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Transport if minimum welfare facilities, including public toilet facilities, are available for drivers collecting cargo from Dublin Airport; whether any complaints have been received regarding the adequacy of such facilities; and his plans to improve services for freight operators. [53108/26]
View answerMy Department of Transport has engaged extensively with daa, cargo handlers, and freight forwarders through meetings, site visits, and stakeholder engagement to gain a deeper understanding of issues affecting the efficiency cargo operations at Dublin Airport. My Department continues to engage with daa on longer-term cargo infrastructure requirements and has encouraged greater collaboration between the airport and cargo stakeholders to address current operational issues. Cargo operations are a standing agenda item for the National Aviation Facilitation Committee.
The daa submitted a planning application in December 2025 for a cargo project to the east of Dublin Airport as part of their Capital Investment Programme 2027-2031 which recognises the facilitation of cargo as a key strategic objective. The East Lands project contains cargo enabling infrastructure, including the safeguarding of new belly-hold cargo facilities with direct access to the South Apron. These sites will more than double the existing belly-hold cargo space, providing sufficient capacity to accommodate future growth.
As the Deputy will be aware, daa has statutory responsibility for the operation and management of Dublin Airport. The issue relating to toilet facilities is operational in nature so I have arranged to have the Deputy's question forwarded to daa for direct response.
If the Deputy has not received a reply within ten working days, I would be grateful if he would bring the matter to the attention of my Private Office.
150. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Transport the actions he is taking to ensure that all public transport is fully accessible for people with disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53190/26]
View answerAs Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport.
Under the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 and the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009, the Oireachtas assigned statutory responsibility to the National Transport Authority (NTA) for promoting the development of an integrated, accessible public transport network and public transport infrastructure. The NTA in turn works with the relevant public transport operators, for example Bus Éireann, who have responsibility for day-to-day operational issues, to progressively make public transport accessible.
In light of the NTA's over-arching statutory responsibilities for accessible public transport, including bus and rail infrastructure and vehicles, I have referred your question to the NTA for direct reply to you. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.
151. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Transport the position regarding any engagement he has had with Irish Rail in relation to improving accessibility on all train and DART services for people with disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53191/26]
View answer152. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Transport if his attention has been drawn to concerns related to accessibility on DART services (details supplied); the actions he will take to address cases of this nature; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53192/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 151 and 152 together.
As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport.
From a policy perspective, I am fully committed to improving accessibility across our public transport system, in line with the Programme for Government and the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025–2030. A key part of this is reducing, and ultimately eliminating, the need for Advance Notice for disabled passengers, including on DART services.
I am pleased to state that clear and tangible progress is being made. Last year, Iarnród Éireann reduced the Advance Notice requirement to just one hour at 15 of the busiest stations across the network, covering almost all terminus stations and the majority of assistance requests. Looking ahead, beginning next year, each carriage in the new DART+ fleet will have an automatic sliding doorstep that deploys every time the doors open, significantly reducing the platform gap. This feature should eliminate the need for Advance Notice for most passengers using the new trains.
Under the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 and the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009, the Oireachtas assigned statutory responsibility to the National Transport Authority (NTA) for promoting the development of an integrated, accessible public transport network and public transport infrastructure. The NTA in turn works with the relevant public transport operators, for example Iarnród Éireann, who have responsibility for day-to-day operational issues, to progressively make public transport accessible.
As queries relating to the accessibility of the rail fleets, including Advance Notice requirements, are a matter for Iarnród Éireann in the first instance, I have referred your questions to the company for direct reply to you. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.
153. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Transport his plans to upgrade or make safer the R725 between Gorey, County Wexford and Tullow, County Carlow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53205/26]
View answerFor this year, Carlow County Council received an allocation of €75,000, under the Regional and Local Roads Grant Programme, for the R418/R725 Tullow Safety Enhancement Scheme.
This scheme, which is at the early design stage, aims to provide a new link road between the R725 and R418, with improved cycle and pedestrian facilities. It is further intended to streamline the transportation of heavy goods vehicles originating from the business park and other local businesses in Tullow itself.
My Department has not received any further applications from local authorities for road improvement works on the R725 between Gorey, County Wexford and Tullow, County Carlow.
In accordance with Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993, as amended, the improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority. Work on such roads is funded from Councils' own resources, supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of work to be funded is a matter for local authorities.
The primary focus for capital investment under my Department's Regional and Local Roads Grant Programme continues to be the protection and renewal of the regional and local road network, with limited investment in road improvement projects.
Any road improvement projects proposed by local authorities for consideration for funding are assessed by my Department on a case-by-case basis. All projects put forward by local authorities for consideration must comply with the requirements of the Infrastructure Guidelines and my Department's Transport Appraisal Framework. Given the limited funding available for regional and local road improvement works it is important for local authorities to prioritise projects within their overall area of responsibility with these requirements in mind.
154. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Transport for an update on expanding the Southern part of the M50 to three lanes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53206/26]
View answer155. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Transport to provide an update on improving traffic flow at the M50/M11 southbound bottleneck; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53207/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 154 and 155 together.
As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and exchequer funding in relation to the National Roads Programme. Under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 and in line with the National Development Plan (NDP), the operation and management of individual national roads is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. This is also subject to the Infrastructure Guidelines and the necessary statutory approvals. In this context, TII is best placed to advise you in relation to the M50.
Noting the above position, I have referred your questions to TII for a direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.
157. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Transport if the Department collects or maintains a national dataset on e-scooter-related injuries and hospitalisations, disaggregated by age; if any review has been conducted of enforcement levels for the statutory prohibition on use by persons under 16 years of age since the relevant provisions came into effect; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53244/26]
View answerAs Minister of State with responsibility for Road Safety, I have no direct role in the recording of incidents or injuries. Responsibility for the collection and collation of such data rests with An Garda Síochana, the Road Safety Authority as well as the Department of Health and its agencies, which are best placed to compile and disseminate relevant datasets as appropriate. Work is ongoing to in this area in relation to development and use of such data.
Enforcement of the legislation is, as for all road traffic law, under the remit of An Garda Síochána, who have the power to issue fixed charge notices and seize e-scooters operated by any person under the age of 16.
