Debate contribution: North/South Ministerial Council: Transport

Debate contribution by Ms Liz Kimmins on 1 December 2025.

MLA

Ms Liz Kimmins

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

1 December 2025

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Ministerial Statements

Heading

North/South Ministerial Council: Transport

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5268761

Read the official Assembly record

Text

In compliance with section 52 of the NI Act 1998, I wish to make a statement on the meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC) in the transport sector, which was held on Thursday 23 October 2025. I chaired the meeting, which took place in the offices of the NSMC joint secretariat in Armagh. Minister Darragh O’Brien, the Minister for Transport, attended the meeting, and Mike Nesbitt MLA, Minister of Health, attended as the accompanying Minister. This statement has been agreed with Minister Nesbitt, and I make it on behalf of us both. Ministers welcomed the recent completion of the Carlingford lough greenway and acknowledged that there had been an official launch event on 12 September. The NSMC recognised the positive ongoing cross-border collaboration between officials and councils on various greenway projects, including an expert-led report on opportunities to support the development of cross-border greenways that is being reviewed by both Departments. The Council noted the Department for Infrastructure's decision to appeal the judgement against the A5 western transport corridor and the fact that the appeal is scheduled to be heard in December 2025. Ministers welcomed the setting up of a cross-border working group to ensure alignment of all aspects of the delivery of sections on both sides of the border and noted that the Donegal Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and N2 road infrastructure projects continue to progress, with both Administrations working collaboratively on them. The NSMC noted that both Administrations are fully committed to the delivery of the A5 project.

Ministers welcomed progress on the development of a project prioritisation strategy for the all-island strategic rail review and the intention to publish that strategy later this year. Ministers noted the significant stakeholder engagement that has been undertaken by the Government of Ireland and the progression of the market-sounding exercise to support their Programme for Government commitment to:

"establish air connectivity between Dublin and Derry City airports."

The Council welcomed the collaboration that there had been on organising the transport biodiversity workshop, which involved stakeholders from various modes of transport, and the fact that a summary of the discussion and findings from the workshop will be provided at a future NSMC meeting. Ministers noted that engagements between officials on reducing emissions and mitigating the causes of climate change will continue and that a report will be provided at a future NSMC meeting. The NSMC noted that a panel of three operators has been appointed for the Shared Island sports club EV charging infrastructure scheme and that the panel is actively engaging with sports clubs. Ministers welcomed the collaboration on the procurement process for the new train sets for the Enterprise fleet. The Council noted collaboration between Departments in sharing best practice and advancements in transport policy, planning and modelling. Ministers noted that Departments have engaged and will continue to engage on the development of relevant plans and strategies such as the transport strategy 2035, the national sustainable mobility action plan and the Moving Together strategy. The NSMC noted that an information-sharing session had occurred in March 2025 between officials working in sustainable mobility and other climate-related areas. Ministers agreed that officials will continue to participate in further in-person information-sharing sessions. The Council noted the Departments’ engagement on research and innovation, with a specific focus on road safety and hydrogen refuelling. The Council meeting examined two areas on which research and innovation is ongoing: road safety and hydrogen refuelling. The NSMC welcomed the substantive engagement on road safety between officials in the Department of Infrastructure and the Department of Transport that there has been during 2025. Ministers noted that road safety officials have met twice since the previous sectoral meeting to discuss their road safety initiatives and that they have discussed areas in which further exploration and collaboration could take place as part of their commitment to enhancing their working relationship. The Council agreed that officials will exchange information papers outlining their respective experiences of setting speed limits and installing and operating road safety cameras. The NSMC welcomed the fact that the Departments will work together to explore the potential for a workshop on road safety communications.

The Council welcomed the progress made on the Belfast-Dublin hydrogen refuelling study, which moved into phase 3 in August. The NSMC noted that the contract for the pre-procurement market engagement report and the business cases have been awarded and agreed that Ministers would return to the matter at the next sectoral meeting. The Council agreed to hold its next transport meeting in spring 2026. My officials and I look forward to working with the Minister for Transport and their officials in all areas of cooperation in the transport sector.

That was not specifically discussed at that meeting. However, I am aware of comments that have come from the Government in Dublin. I intend to watch that situation closely. When we talk about the A5 and look at the significant delays to what is a project to save lives, we see that it has been stopped time and time again by those objecting to it and JRs. As an Executive, we will need to monitor that closely. It is not specific to my Department to tackle the issue, because the use of JRs or, in some cases, the abuse of JRs to stop projects is important for everyone. We will watch what happens in the South closely.

As I was not in post at that time, I did not ask him for anything. That probably answers your question.

I thank the Member for his question. Sadly, over the past week or so, we have seen a significant number of road deaths across the Six Counties. I attended the NI Road Safety Awards on Friday a week ago. Sadly, the figures that were quoted at that have increased dramatically in just about a week. That brings to 47 the number of people who have been killed in road traffic collisions this year. A total of 69 people lost their lives last year. It is almost an understatement to say that the devastation that road traffic collisions cause is huge not just for the people who are directly involved but in the ripple effect that it has across all our communities. That is why road safety is an issue for us all as a society. It is an absolute priority for me. The Member will be aware that my Department launched our road safety strategy in the North in 2024. Working with our road safety partners, we aim to reduce road deaths by 50% by 2030. The strategy is steered by the road safety strategic forum, which includes representatives from the PSNI, the Fire and Rescue Service, the Ambulance Service, DAERA, DOJ, DFE and the Public Health Agency (PHA). Road safety is a key measure in the Programme for Government, and, together with our partners across road safety, we are working on a strategic action plan to take us into 2027. A report on the progress of the 2024-25 action plan was published on 30 October. I approved an allocation of just under £2 million to road safety promotion for this financial year. In addition, the road safety partnership has allocated half a million pounds in sponsorship, bringing the total budget to almost £2·5 million. My officials have reinstated a full advertising programme. We have added to our "RoadWise Up" advertising campaign series and have included information on pedestrian safety, motorcyclist safety, drink-driving and a new point-of-danger radio campaign on the safety of children getting on and off school buses. In recent weeks, I have commissioned a new drug-driving campaign, and that will run from 20 November to the end of December. From January until the end of March, my Department will run campaigns that address careless, inattentive driving; mobile phone use; speeding; cyclist safety; and general driver behaviour and the impact of poor choices while driving.

The Member asked about the work that we are doing with partners in the South. I will soon announce a consultation on a review of speed limits. That will be of particular interest to most MLAs. We have been working closely at official level with our counterparts in the South to monitor the impact of the changes that have been made in the South and to monitor the progress that has been made. We are also looking at sharing research and knowledge on the use of speed cameras. I am doing a vast range of things in that regard in my role. I am also working collaboratively, because many of our roads cross the border. We share those roads every day. Those of us who represent border consistencies know that, essentially, there is no border because those roads are part and parcel of everyday life. Therefore, it is important that we work as closely as possible and align our key objectives.

We have had those conversations already. As I have just said, I will soon launch a consultation on a review of speed limits. My Department is actively working on that. I hope to make that announcement fairly soon.

I think that there were three questions there.

The Irish Government have reiterated their commitment to funding the A5. There is no indication that there is any risk to that funding. I am grateful for their support, particularly given the uncertainty that we have experienced for some time. I hope that we will see a positive conclusion to the appeal. The all-island rail review is continually referenced and is very much kept on the agenda of every meeting that I have, whether it is the North/South Ministerial Council or any other engagement that I have as Minister. We will continue to monitor and assess that in the time ahead.

I usually have my iPad with me. Bear with me. On 18 November 2025, my officials hosted a knowledge-sharing workshop with officials from Dublin City Council, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the National Transport Authority (NTA). That workshop had a transport planning and delivery focus. My officials organised and facilitated the session, including delivering a presentation on the approach and indicative timelines for the transport strategy and draft transport plans. That provided an opportunity to outline our methodology and strategic direction. The workshop also created a valuable forum for collaboration, enabling officials to share experiences, discuss what works well and what does not and to learn from delivery challenges faced by other organisations. My team led discussions on practical steps for organising data-sharing, modelling and the use of analytical tools. Those exchanges will help to ensure consistency, improve decision-making and strengthen the evidence base for our plans. On the basis of the success of the session, we have agreed to continue that style of engagement through 2026, providing regular opportunities for officials to collaborate, share knowledge and embed best practice.

As the Member will be aware, hydrogen refuelling is being looked at globally now. There are really good opportunities to make the shift to using hydrogen refuelling methods, particularly when you look at HGVs and some of the options. Some major companies have already put that in place, so we are keen to look at that. In some of the other sectoral meetings, we have heard about how other areas of work, on a North/South basis, are exploring what solutions are out there and what the benefits of those will be. We are watching that continually to see how we can embed it into good practice across the island.

That issue has been brought to my attention in recent months. We are looking at that with officials because we recognise that there have been specific cases, and some Members in the Chamber have raised it with me directly. My view is that there are potential discrepancies that need to be addressed, so, at this time, officials are working on it to see how we can address it and close that gap.

DFI officials have been working closely with colleagues in the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Dublin City Council to explore how we can share information and approaches to transport planning. Those discussions have focused on practical ways to make data and tools easier to use across organisations and, in learning from one another's experiences, to improve how my Department can plan and deliver projects. An example of that working relationship is how my officials have recently collaborated on the introduction of smart-sensor technology in Belfast city centre. That technology was initially trialled in Dublin city centre, and my officials have engaged with NTA and Dublin City Council to understand which systems work best and how they can be used to monitor and evaluate transport activity. That partnership has helped my officials to ensure that we can make the most of those innovations in Belfast. In particular, those innovations are a key part of the announcements that I have made on traffic congestion alleviation measures leading up to the Christmas period: how we can tweak the measures that we are putting in place for this year, based on last year's experience. That means that, if those measures are not working as well as we hoped that they would, the sensors will allow us to pick that up in real time so that we can make adjustments where needed.

Despite its not being explicitly linked to the statement, I am happy to answer the Member's question. As he is aware, there have been delays beyond my control that meant that we were not able to get the pedestrianisation started on the date on which we had hoped that we would. Those were important issues that we needed to address. I am happy that we have overcome those issues and have found a solution, but it has resulted in needing some tweaks to be made to some of the signage. I hope that that will be imminent, and as soon as we have an update, I will make that announcement. However, at this point, the delays are out of my control. Please be assured that my officials have been working extremely hard to get the scheme up and running as soon as possible.

The Sligo-Enniskillen greenway project is in development, as the Member will know. An early design and route selection phase for the greenway, including the 18-kilometre northern section between Enniskillen and Belcoo, is being led by Leitrim County Council, with funding provided by the Department of Transport. The preferred corridor was published in October 2025, and an appraisal of route options to determine a preferred route within that corridor will now commence. My Department has issued a letter of offer for 50% of the funding, which is £126,000, to Fermanagh and Omagh District Council to support geotechnical survey work to inform the design development process in the North. Subject to the completion of a procurement process, it is anticipated that works will commence in 2026. My officials are also engaged with all parties with regard to funding for the future stages of the project.

As I said in a previous answer and in the statement, we are waiting on the outcome of the prioritisation, but we will be factoring that into any future budget discussions.

I have had numerous engagements with the various committees and cross-border groups that are working on the A5/N2 project. The Member may be aware that work continues to address the Planning Appeals Commission recommendations for the remaining two sections of the scheme. Those recommendations will be subject to separate consultations and decisions in due course. The cross-border working group that has been established to reinforce collaboration on the continued development of the N2 from Clontibret to the border and phase 3 of the A5 from Ballygawley to the border is up and running. Both Administrations continue to collaborate closely on the A5/Donegal TEN-T project interface, including on the mitigation of impacts on the River Foyle floodplain. Regular meetings are taking place with Donegal County Council and the Office of Public Works.

There is a balance to be struck in all these things, including air connectivity and creating connectivity across the island, and other routes are already in use. Many people who are not using air connectivity are potentially driving up and down those routes, so if we are able to cut down on some of those emissions. However, with everything that we do, it does not mean that we absolutely eliminate; we have to look at things sensibly and try to create a balance with what else we are doing to reduce emissions while giving people a range of options.

Anything that we can do collaboratively is good. As I said earlier, our roads do not stop at the border. You can see how we worked it out on the A5, and the various sections and the working group that has been set up to address that. There has to be collaboration on all schemes because we have to bring it to the point where we are fulfilling our responsibility and, likewise, where the roads meet. Where we have a joint or shared interest in something that serves our citizens right across the island, we will continue to work with the Southern Government.

I thank the Member for his comments. I also thank him and his colleague for facilitating the meeting with Jaidyn's grandmother. I pay tribute to the Rice family for the commitment and strength that they are showing to ensure that Jaidyn's life will not have been lost in vain. They are channelling their grief into making our roads safer for all road users. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to meet Mrs Rice. That ties into the Member's broader question. I am looking at everything that is available to me to see what we can do to make our roads safer. I mentioned the collaboration and shared working around reducing speed limits and having speed cameras on the roads. We discussed that as part of the engagement last week. Anything that I bring forward will inform future action plans to make sure that we continually narrow the gaps. That feeds into the broader piece around road safety advertising and campaigning to make sure that people realise that we all have a responsibility to play our part. As the House has heard me say before, over 95% of collisions are down to human error, so there are always things that we can do to ensure that, when we drive, we protect not just ourselves and the people with us but other road users, in line with anything else that we can do as a Department.

3,091 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:02 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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