Results 20,801-20,820 of 21,489 for speaker:Alan Kelly

Topical Issue Debate: Taxi Regulations (20 Dec 2012)

Alan Kelly: The last thing the Irish taxi industry needs is more time. Nobody has consulted more with the taxi industry and its drivers than I have. I get taxis all the time and I have met representatives of all the groups on multiple occasions. The taxi industry has many great people working in it but it is not an homogeneous group, and nothing I say will completely satisfy the entire group. We have...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Air Services (20 Dec 2012)

Alan Kelly: The question relates to the Minister's intentions concerning the State's shareholding in Aer Lingus. This shareholding is one of the assets included in the State asset disposal programme and the Government has agreed that the shareholding is to be sold at an appropriate time but only when market conditions are favourable and at an acceptable price to be...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Air Services (20 Dec 2012)

Alan Kelly: I am glad the Deputy welcomes the Government's decision, which was correct. In one sense the Government very much needed to consider the case and make the decision and there was no delay in making the announcement. No information is available on how the Commission will act and I would not have expected the Deputy to believe such information is available. We know there is a defined time for...

Topical Issue Debate: Taxi Regulations (20 Dec 2012)

Alan Kelly: I thank the Deputy for raising this question. When I first came into office, one of my key priorities was to tackle rogue operators in the taxi sector. There has been unfair competition in the taxi market to date as those full-time professional drivers who do their business well have been obliged to compete with those who consistently flout the rules. The system of regulation needed to...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Taxi Regulations (20 Dec 2012)

Alan Kelly: The National Transport Authority (NTA) has responsibility for the regulation of the taxi industry under the Taxi Regulation Act, 2003, and is also the lead agency with responsibility for implementation of the recommendations of the Taxi Regulation Review Report 2011, including the implementation of the taxi “branding” as set out in that Report.   ...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Rail Services (20 Dec 2012)

Alan Kelly: The National Transport Authority was established on 1st December 2009 and responsibility for the provision of infrastructure projects in the Greater Dublin Area, such as LUAS Broombridge, now comes under the remit of the Authority. There has been extensive engagement between the Railway Procurement Agency, Dublin City Council, Dublin Bus and other stakeholders over...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycle Facilities (20 Dec 2012)

Alan Kelly: This question is about the expansion of the Dublin Bikes scheme. Currently, I understand that the National Transport Authority is working with Dublin City Council  to enable the first phase of this expansion to progress.  I am informed that this phase is focussed on expanding the scheme eastwards into the Docklands and westwards to Heuston Station.  Discussions are...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Maintenance (20 Dec 2012)

Alan Kelly: This Question concerns the maintenance and upkeep of the roads network. The Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport has responsibility for overall policy and funding in relation to the national roads programme. Specifically, the improvement and maintenance of individual national roads is a matter for the National Roads Authority (NRA) under sections 17 and 19 of the Roads...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Rail Services (20 Dec 2012)

Alan Kelly: The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport.  Following the establishment of the National Transport Authority (NTA) in December 2009, the implementation and development of infrastructure projects in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA), such as LUAS, comes under the remit of the NTA. ...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Departmental Budgets (20 Dec 2012)

Alan Kelly: My Department’s 2013 Budget allocations are published and available on the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform website. My Departments Vote 31 Gross allocation for 2013 is €1,658m comprising of a Capital expenditure allocation of €900m and a Current expenditure allocation of €758m. As part of the Estimates and...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Safety Strategy (20 Dec 2012)

Alan Kelly: The Road Safety Authority is in the process of preparing the next Road Safety Strategy, which will cover an 8-year period from 2013 to 2020. The aim of the Strategy, like all previous, will be to save lives and prevent injuries by reducing the number and severity of collisions on our roads. The Strategy will contain key, definable actions that will seek to achieve this...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Tolls (20 Dec 2012)

Alan Kelly: This Question is about outlining the income from road tolling.   The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, has responsibility for overall policy and funding in relation to the national roads programme. The implementation of individual national road schemes, including Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects which provide for tolling, are matters for the National Roads...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Aviation Sector (20 Dec 2012)

Alan Kelly: My Department's Statement of Strategy 2011-2014 outlines the over-arching goal for the aviation sector, which is to ensure that it supports Ireland's economic and social goals in a safe, competitive, cost-effective and sustainable manner and to ensure maximum connectivity for Ireland with the rest of the world. Within this context, one of my key priorities for next year is the...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (20 Dec 2012)

Alan Kelly: The Deputy’s question relates to comments by Minister Varadkar regarding flights related to the on-going transiting of military personnel through Shannon airport. While they are often described as military flights, they are in fact civilian flights as they are civilian charter aircraft. Because they carry military personnel and equipment, the flights are subject to the...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Search and Rescue Service (20 Dec 2012)

Alan Kelly: The Deputy' question relates to the development of the action plan relating in response to Value for Money (VFM) reports on the Irish Coast Guard (IRCG) and the Marine Survey Office (MSO). The recommendations of the two reports focus on achieving efficiencies through better utilisation of existing resources and the deployment of resources to areas they believe constitute...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Taxi Regulations (20 Dec 2012)

Alan Kelly: As part of the Taxi Regulation Review 2011, the examination of the broad issues for future regulatory policy was assisted by an economic analysis of the taxi market carried out by the consultants, Indecon. The analysis found that a fall in demand for SPSV services over a 3-4 year period had not been matched by a corresponding level of exit from the industry, leading to a clear problem of...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Public Transport (20 Dec 2012)

Alan Kelly: Responsibility to develop, procure, implement, operate and maintain the integrated ticketing Leap Card system in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) became a function of the National Transport Authority (NTA) with effect from 30th September 2010. I understand from the NTA, however, that they have had initial discussions with the Dublin Bikes scheme and are currently...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Taxi Regulations (20 Dec 2012)

Alan Kelly: The National Transport Authority (NTA) has responsibility for the regulation of the taxi industry under the Taxi Regulation Act, 2003 . Among the principal functions of the NTA, as provided for under Section 9 of that Act, is the promotion of access to small public service vehicles by persons with disabilities. It is a matter for the NTA to decide on the future approach to...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycle Facilities (20 Dec 2012)

Alan Kelly: The development of interurban cycle routes is being progressed through the National Cycle Network funding scheme. Just over €7 million has been allocated to fund 16 projects, each in a different Local Authority area. A wide variety of route types have been allocated funding, including canal tow path routes, routes along disused rail lines and routes which make use of bypassed national...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Taxi Regulations (20 Dec 2012)

Alan Kelly: Overall the thrust of the reforms contained in the Taxi Regulation Review Report 2011 will mean better services for consumers and improvements to the operating environment for taxi drivers generally.  It is acknowledged that some of the measures proposed by the Taxi Review may lead to increased costs for individuals. However these should be offset by...