Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has warned that road funding is insufficient to protect Ireland’s \u20ac31 billion network.<\/p>\n
Its chief executive told the Oireachtas Committee on Transport that funding levels are “insufficient” to renew ageing assets.<\/p>\n
Lorcan O\u2019Connor said motorways, the railway network, and Ireland\u2019s roads need “steady and reasonable investment” to be kept safe and useable.<\/p>\n
He said the level of funding available to maintain the asset value of the roads network and improve efficiency and safety is “challenging”.<\/p>\n
He said, as a result, programmes are prioritised based on safety surveys and assessments.<\/p>\n
TII is facing challenges around ageing infrastructure, increased congestion and the need for climate adaptation, he said.<\/p>\n
Mr O\u2019Connor said additional funding is now required to “effectively maintain the network and address the challenges of resilience and climate change”.<\/p>\n
He said the review of the National Development Plan requires “important investment decisions” to ensure maximum value for the State.<\/p>\n
He told the committee that since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, traffic on the M50 has increased by around 10%.<\/p>\n
The number of people using Luas services is also continuing to grow, with around 60 million passengers expected to travel on the Luas in 2026.<\/p>\n
He said TII is planning further timetable changes for next year “to try to cater for increasingly high levels of demand”.<\/p>\n
Mr O\u2019Connor said the country\u2019s light rail network is worth around \u20ac2bn, with TII currently spending around \u20ac115 million per year to run trains and maintain the network.<\/p>\n
It will bring in ticket revenues of around \u20ac60 million this year, the committee heard.<\/p>\n
However, the chief executive said around \u20ac1.8bn over the next 20 years will need to be spent renewing rail infrastructure and vehicles around the country.<\/p>\n
‘Level of concern\u2019 around Greenway programme<\/p>\n
TII acknowledged the “level of concern” around the delivery of the Greenway programme.<\/p>\n
Farmers previously highlighted concerns around compulsory purchase orders for the development of greenways around the country.<\/p>\n
Mr O\u2019Connor told the committee that TII is working with the Department of Transport to address these concerns.<\/p>\n
The department is also reviewing its Greenway Strategy which will involve consultation with local authorities and interest groups, he said.<\/p>\n
The transport operator will also review the Code of Practice for Greenways to consider route selection, safety standards, accessibility, environmental stewardship, and user experience.<\/p>\n
Sinn F\u00e9in TD Louis O\u2019Hara said he has received complaints from landowners who feel they have not been involved in the process, adding they are the “most important stakeholders”.<\/p>\n
Labour senator Nessa Cosgrove said landowners feel “frustrated” and “not listened to”.<\/p>\n
Mr O\u2019Connor also told TDs and senators that there has been a “notable uptick” in electric vehicles (EVs) “in parallel” with the conflict in the Middle East and its subsequent impact on the fuel industry.<\/p>\n
He said demand for electric vehicles is growing and there are now around a quarter of million electric vehicles in Ireland.<\/p>\n
The number of EVs grew by over 63,000 last year, Mr O\u2019Connor said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has warned that road funding is insufficient to protect Ireland’s \u20ac31 billion network. Its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-469819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}