Minister Varadkar publishes Annual Report 2013

Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar has published his Department’s Annual Report for 2013, which outlines key milestones achieved by the Department last year.

“At the start of 2013 I set out 25 key priorities. The Department’s annual report shows that 19 of these priorities were fully achieved during the year, with the remaining six substantially or partly achieved. The report also shows the progress made on targets set out in the Department’s Statement of Strategy 2011-2014,” Minister Varadkar said.

“Key successes included staging The Gathering, re-starting the PPP roads programme, launching a new Ports Policy, and starting work on Luas Cross City. Shannon Airport had an excellent first year as an independent airport, reversing five years of successive passenger decline with a marginal increase in passenger numbers on 2012 and justifying the Government’s decision to grant independence.”

Some of the results include:
Contributing to the Government’s deficit reduction and job creation efforts;
Staging The Gathering, which secured the highest number of overseas visits since 2008;
Starting work on the Luas Cross City project;
Re-starting the PPP roads programme after a four-year gap, with work underway on the N7 Newlands Cross and Arklow-Rathnew schemes;
The National Transport Authority announcing plans for the future operation of the PSO bus market including tendering 10% of the market;
Newly-independent Shannon Airport growing passenger numbers for the first time in five years;
New facilities developed at the National sports Campus including a new equestrian arena, gymnastics and pentathlon facilities, multi-sport pitches and a sport pavilion;
New Road Safety Strategy published, implementation underway;
The number of Leap card users increased to 378,000, exceeding targets.

“These priorities have helped us to show that even in tough times, real progress can be made,” Minister Varadkar said.