Debate contribution: North/South Ministerial Council: Transport

Debate contribution by Ms Liz Kimmins on 11 March 2025.

MLA

Ms Liz Kimmins

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

11 March 2025

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Ministerial Statements

Heading

North/South Ministerial Council: Transport

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4855104

Read the official Assembly record

Text

In compliance with section 52 of the NI Act 1998, I wish to make the following statement on the meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC) in the transport sector held on Thursday 27 February 2025. The meeting took place in Dublin and was chaired by Darragh O'Brien, Minister for Transport. I attended the meeting with Mike Nesbitt MLA, Minister of Health, who attended as the accompanying Minister. The NSMC noted the significant progress made since the last meeting with the formal decision to proceed with the first phase of the A5 western transport corridor and that the A5, Donegal Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and N2 road infrastructure projects continue to progress, with the Administrations working collaboratively, including on the mitigation of impacts on the River Foyle floodplain.

Ministers noted the progress on the establishment of a cross-border working group, which is expected to be operational in the coming months, to ensure successful outcomes through the planning processes.

The Council welcomed progress on the implementation of commitments on infrastructure investment that were outlined in the New Decade, New Approach agreement of January 2020. Ministers commended the progress on cross-border greenways, including the Sligo to Enniskillen greenway, the Ulster canal greenway and the Carlingford lough greenway, and the completion of the north-west greenway network. The Council noted that an expert-led review commissioned by the Dublin Government on potential cross-border greenway opportunities is ongoing and is expected to be completed in quarter 2 of 2025. The NSMC welcomed the hourly Enterprise services between Dublin's Connolly station and Belfast Grand Central station that commenced in October 2024, with funding of €12·5 million provided through the Shared Island Fund and match funding provided by the Department of Transport. The Council also welcomed the publication in July 2024 of the all-island strategic rail review. The Council noted the ongoing review of the potential for government support for renewed viable air routes from Cork to Belfast and from Dublin to City of Derry Airport. The Council acknowledged collaboration to date on policies and projects related to sustainable mobility and decarbonisation and welcomed a commitment to continue that work by the relevant Departments in both jurisdictions. Ministers noted that officials from both Administrations will progress agreed cross-border sustainable travel and transport projects, continue to liaise on policy development and seek opportunities for further collaboration. Ministers noted that officials have progressed plans for an environment-themed workshop to showcase and share information on biodiversity best practice across the transport sector. The NSMC welcomed the continued sharing of knowledge and experience between officials in both jurisdictions on the delivery of road safety measures and the agreement that future engagement between the Department for Infrastructure and the Department of Transport will include structured working group engagement between relevant officials to support the delivery of positive road safety benefits in both jurisdictions. Ministers agreed to include an enhanced road safety item as an area of cooperation on the NSMC transport sector work programme. The Council recognised the progress that has been made in the delivery of the jurisdictions' respective road safety strategies. Ministers welcomed the presentation by Dr Kiran Sarma on mobile phone use while driving. The Council agreed to hold its next transport meeting in October 2025. My officials and I look forward to working with the Minister of Transport and his officials in all areas of cooperation in the transport sector.

I thank the Member for his question. Funding was discussed, and we hope to see further progress on that. The Minister of Transport did not provide any specifics, but we agreed to ongoing engagement. I am happy to answer his other question, which is not related to the statement, because I have provided a response to his colleague's question for written answer. That is an operational matter for Translink, as he will be aware, which has advised that it is linked to seating arrangements on the trains and buses and that tickets can be purchased on the bus or the train or at individual ticket stands. I raised it with Translink, and it provided that response.

I thank the Member for her question. The specifics for the working group are all being worked through. We recognise that engagement, North and South, has been strengthened over the past year. The working group is being set up. As more information on what the group will look like and what it will set out to do becomes available, we will make sure to share it with Members.

I thank the Member for his question. That is very important, particularly given that both the Health Minister and I were at the meeting. It is important to recognise that cross-border greenways encourage greater levels of active travel, whether that is walking or cycling. It takes people out of private cars. More people are getting out, and that has health and environmental benefits for all our communities. Six cross-border corridors have been identified in the national cycle network. Informal and statutory consultations were undertaken with the relevant authorities in the North during their development. They will inform and help deliver projects that will continue to benefit people's health and connectivity not just in border areas but right across our island.

I thank the Member for his suggestion. At this stage, that has not been considered, but it is something that we could certainly look at, given the design of the Narrow Water bridge. That is aimed at tourism and at more active travel. I am happy to consider that and to come back to the Member on it.

Throughout the development of the A5 project there has been strong and regular engagement with the relevant authorities in the South. As I said to a Member who previously spoke, that has strengthened over the past year with the development of the new working group. We have worked very closely with the Department of Transport on the release of funding in line with the relevant budgetary and approval processes in both jurisdictions and with the Donegal national roads office on the A5 Donegal Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) projects interface. We have also been working with the Office of Public Works (OPW) on the mitigation of impacts on the River Foyle floodplain, as well as working closely with Monaghan County Council on the continued development of the N2 Clontibret to the border road scheme.

I thank the Member for his question. Last night, I attended the primary-school road safety awards in the Glenavon House Hotel in Cookstown. It was fantastic to see 22 schools from right across the North at that event. This morning, I attended a similar event with business chief executives at the road safety police headquarters in Ravarnet. I concur with the Member. We have a huge job of work to do. As recently as last week we saw more road deaths. We need to work harder to tackle that, because more families have just had their world shattered before us. I do not have a specific date for publication of the action plan, but I hope that it will be made available as soon as possible. I will keep Members updated.

I know that the Member has submitted a number of questions for written answer on that issue, and I am in the process of coming back to him in more detail. We have a number of schemes in that area, including pollinator-friendly projects such as No Mow May. There is lots of work that we can and should be doing, and I am open to other suggestions. There is always more that we can do, and I am happy to look at that in more detail. I take the Member's point, but the statement is on one meeting and does not reflect the work of the Department as a whole.

Similar to the South, my Department is committed to a just transition to net zero and encourages everyone to make any little changes that they can, including the decarbonisation of private cars. That will be one of the most impactful transport measures when it comes to tackling the climate crisis, which is an issue with which we are all too familiar. My Department continues to work with other jurisdictions and the private sector to develop that process. However, we also need to provide attractive and sustainable transport alternatives such as public transport and walking, wheeling and cycling opportunities, which will give people cleaner, greener and healthier towns and cities in which they can thrive. That goes back to those points about the importance of our cross-border greenways and active travel routes. I am committed to working on an all-island basis, because we are one unit and should not be working in isolation on these important issues. I am working closely with my counterpart in the South and his Department.

I thank the Member for his kind words and well wishes. On further opportunities, we are considering quite a number of methods of tackling and addressing climate change through the improvement of sustainable travel and transport options. My Department is working on the transport strategy, and the transport plans are more divisional right across the North. As I mentioned in the statement, we are also improving cross-border greenways and active travel, and there is then the broader piece on the decarbonisation of our transport fleet and giving people more options for how they get about. There are lots of things that we are doing, including on the transition to electric vehicles, which is a huge amount of work, but it is about trying to change people's mindsets and help them understand the impact of their behaviour and of making small changes. Those are the things that we are doing, but they are always open to improvement, and we are looking across all jurisdictions, on a European basis and globally, to see what other options are available to us.

I thank the Member for raising that important point, because, to me, all-island cooperation on road safety is critical and will help to reduce the number of people killed and injured on our roads, particularly in those border areas. Coming from one of those border areas, I am all too familiar with the impacts of that. Last year, 69 people lost their lives on our roads. That is more than one person a week and more than one family a week who have had their lives changed for ever. So far this year — we are into the tenth week of the year, I think — 10 people have died, half of whom were pedestrians. Road traffic collisions have devastating consequences, and that is why it is not just an issue for one individual or for somebody else; it is an issue for all of us, as a society. It is a priority for me, and you will be aware that, back in September, my predecessor, John O'Dowd, launched the road safety strategy until 2030 and the supporting 2024-25 action plan. The action plan contains 10 strategic interventions and 35 in-year actions, and it is led by my Department and its road safety partners, including the PSNI, the Fire and Rescue Service, the Ambulance Service, DAERA and DOJ.

Those partners have also joined with my Department to form the strategic road safety forum, which looks at how we can work together to improve outcomes.

A lot of work is ongoing. The specifics in the statement were about cross-border cooperation. Work remains ongoing at a very high level. I am due to receive a further update today. I can come back to the Member in writing to provide him with the most recent update. You will be aware that legal proceedings are also ongoing. The court hearing is next Tuesday. We hope to be able to press ahead, after the court decision, at the earliest possible stage. I have said to officials that we need to be ready to move as soon as we can. I am keen to do that. A lot of work is ongoing, and I will get the most recent update to you.

I thank the Member for raising the issue. I spoke to Davy Jackson last night. He does fantastic work, as do Monica Heaney and Tricia O'Neill, who are from my local area and were also present last night. They do phenomenal work with young people right across the board and wider society in increasing their awareness of road safety. The presentation was fascinating. We have asked for it to be forwarded to us. It was about mobile phone use. We are all guilty of over-relying on our mobile phones in every aspect of life. We need to ask how we use the presentation to better inform people of the real consequences of simply lifting their mobile phone while driving. Perhaps we can put mitigations in place to prevent that natural reaction. Something that really struck me while coming out of the professor's presentation was that, in many cases, people make a conscious decision not to use their mobile phone while driving, but we are in the habit of using them for everything; it is not just about making calls or sending text messages. On many occasions, people use their phone while driving without even realising. It is about trying to change that culture and make people think twice before doing that. It is also about driving home the impact and consequences of that behaviour. We will see how we can use that to better inform what we do in that regard.

I did not catch all the questions. We had a brief conversation about Narrow Water bridge, which, as the Member will know, is progressing really well. The fact that it is moving at pace suggests that it is going according to plan.

As I said, the wider piece around decarbonisation is an all-island piece of work. We have to work together as one unit. My officials are working with officials in the Department of Transport on a Shared Island project on green hydrogen. There is also Shared Island funding for an EV charging scheme for sports clubs. Projects are already taking place to look at alternative fuels, other methods of transport and decarbonisation on an all-island basis.

I will have to come back to the Member in writing on that one, because I do not have all the details of who is involved. As I said, it is in its early stages. I will be happy to write to the Member when I have more detail on it.

As Minister for Infrastructure, my powers relating to the three main airports in the North are limited to the Airports (NI) Order 1994, which includes powers around land acquisition and airport management. Aviation management matters in the North, including airline safety whilst on board an aircraft, are the responsibility of the British Government's Department for Transport, but I am committed to continuing to work with Executive colleagues and our local airports to ensure that we protect the connectivity that we, as an island, rely on. My officials, along with officials from the Department for the Economy, are engaging with airports to improve relationships and explore ways to improve communications. I am committed to continuing that work, to listening to Derry City and Strabane District Council's case for supporting City of Derry Airport and to working with the rest of the Executive to identify ways to enhance support for our airports.

I disagree with the Member, which will be no surprise. Rail services on the island are already being developed towards the report's vision. It is ambitious, and we have discussed in the Chamber the fact that it will take a huge amount of money and work to achieve, but I am committed to doing that and to doing as much as I can within the mandate to move it forward. There has been ongoing engagement with the Irish Government on how we develop that further. Officials continue to work with their counterparts in the Department of Transport, supported by the European Investment Bank (EIB), to consider the recommendations of the review and identify the rail interventions that could be well advanced or delivered over the next decade to 2035. Translink has also conducted a number of feasibility studies linked to the recommendations which are due to report in the spring or early summer, so we hope to see the next steps on that at that stage. I will then have to consider which projects to prioritise as funding opportunities become available. The outcomes from the EIB work and the feasibility studies will help to inform that. The work is ongoing. We have to do it right. As we have said before in the House, whatever we do on this will leave a legacy. It will be there for many decades to come, so it has to be done not only at pace but in a sustainable way so that it will be there for future generations.

That did not come up at the meeting, as it was a cross-border, all-island meeting, but I am happy to come back to the Member on it. We are keen to move ahead and see progress on that. The Member will know better than I do the long history of that issue. We can take that up again.

I have outlined the four key areas. They relate to the transport plans that my Department is working through currently; active travel and the improvement and enhancement of the cross-border greenways and connections; our work together, on an all-island basis, on the decarbonisation of our transport fleet; and the broader projects, which I mentioned in response to my colleague Áine Murphy, relating to alternative fuels and EV charging points. Those are the four main areas, at this stage.

The work along the A5 is about saving lives. That is why that work is happening, as the Member will be aware. There are lots of things that we can do in relation to biodiversity. It is important to look across the whole transport sector, not just here in the North but in the South, across the water and, indeed, worldwide. There are lots of good examples from which we can draw, and we will continue to do that.

It was not an issue for the meeting, as Madam Principal Deputy Speaker has outlined. However, I have committed to meeting residents and the community there in relation to the issues. I am sure that that will come up at that engagement.

3,082 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:13 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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