Results 20,741-20,760 of 21,489 for speaker:Alan Kelly

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: I understand that. Section 7(4)(b) enables the NTA to make regulations, if needed, to address issues such as drivers operating in the voluntary sector or in other circumstances while section 7(4)(c) enables the authority to make regulations to address the area restrictions that currently exist in regard to standing or plying for hire. Some of the issues relate to making provisions to...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: I have very little to repeat, except to say there is no need for this in legislation. The market has been fully liberalised, as has already been stated. I can understand and appreciate the free marketeer approach. There must be a balance between a laissez-faire approach to regulation, where one believes that all forms of regulation are bad, and establishing a body that can ensure that...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: Amendment No. 7, to section 7, is to ensure vehicles or equipment under leasing arrangements are included in any regulations made by the NTA under subsection (2) which concerns restrictions on the rental of small public service vehicles, SPSVs. Similarly, amendment No. 10, which replaces subsection (6), prohibits the contravention of restrictions on rental and leasing arrangements for...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: How could one resist that?

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: Unfortunately, I cannot. I will not be agreeing to the amendment. The matter of quantitative controls in the taxi market was already addressed in the courts, as we previously discussed, and the outcome was the liberalisation of the taxi market. The Bill does not provide for any quantitative restrictions on the taxi market in line with the view taken by the review group in the Taxi...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: Have we dealt with amendment No. 12?

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: Amendments Nos. 5 and 12 are being taken together.

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: Section 6 is required to define a licensing authority for the purpose of the Bill. The section reflects the current situation, whereby the Garda has responsibility for small public service vehicle, SPSV, driver licensing. This section also allows for a future scenario whereby it is envisaged that the administration of the SPSV driver licensing functions will be transferred to the NTA in...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: I thought I had dealt with it. I said clearly that it is not a quantitative restriction and that is why there is provision for wheelchair accessible vehicles, WAVs. The National Transport Authority has facilitated and looked at different grant forms to provide more vehicles into the marketplace. We must get more vehicles like these into the marketplace and it should be the number one...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: Amendment No. 5 refers to regulations concerning the issue of licences for wheelchair accessible vehicles, WAVs, only. The restriction of the grant of new licences to WAVs seeks to ensure that the proportion of such vehicles in the overall fleet is increased. I am sure we all want that. The National Transport Authority, NTA, is now considering further measures to promote the use of such...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: I shall discuss amendments Nos. 2 to 4, inclusive, together. They are minor technical amendments to section 3 and I wish to delete the term "order". Matters in the Bill to be prescribed by the National Transport Authority will be by means of regulation.

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: It is a provision to make things by order.

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: It is a technical amendment. It is purely a drafting matter.

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: Not really, except to say the section is trying to ensure consistency in approach, in that dispatch operator services are licensed and appropriate licensing arrangements are included in the legislation. This is what we are trying to achieve. I accept the spirit in which the Senator tabled the amendment, but we need to ensure consistency in approach, which is why I will not accept the...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: I thank the Senator for withdrawing the amendment. I believe dispatch operators need to be regulated. If the NTA is not aware of who will operate these services one cannot manage quality or ensure certain sensitive information is channelled in the right direction. Later we will deal with the issue of wheelchair accessible vehicles. We need certain standards. I do not accept the NTA is...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: I thank the Senators. I cannot accept the amendment. For starters, I do not accept that the NTA is over-regulating this. We are ensuring there is the appropriate licensing of dispatch operators who have an intermediary function which needs to be regulated in some form. I accept wholly what the Senators stated on the disintermediation of such dispatch operators. The different applications,...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: Amendment No. 1 to section 2 provides for a more precise definition of "dispatch operator" who is involved in booking and dispatching taxis. This definition distinguishes services provided by a "dispatch operator" from other similar services, such as marshalling taxis in a public place, for which a licence under NTA regulations is not required. Government amendment No. 36 to section 19...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Local Authority Charges (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: The setting of parking charges on public roads and in local authority owned car parks is a matter for the relevant local authority and I have no function in this or the setting of parking charges in privately owned car parks. Smarter Travel, A Sustainable Transport Future includes as a recommended action, the consideration of parking charges in shopping centres under the Planning Guidelines....

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Cycle Network (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: Planning for the proposed Dublin-Galway cycle route is currently being carried out by the National Roads Authority (NRA) and National Transport Authority (NTA). The NTA is responsible for the provision of cycling infrastructure in the Greater Dublin Area and is therefore proceeding with the planning of the Dublin City Centre to Maynooth section of the proposed...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Smarter Transport (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: My Department works with the NTA to improve smarter travel, with the NTA funding local authority schemes in the Greater Dublin Area and regional cities, while my Department provides direct funding in the other counties and towns. In addition to NTA funding, we are investing €65 million in sustainable transport over the 5 year period...