Results 26,661-26,680 of 33,175 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: Of course we can agree to disagree. It also is worth stating to the Senator that I set the policy in these areas. While I listen to what my officials say, ultimately it is my responsibility and it is a responsibility I take extremely seriously. Any comments in this regard always should be addressed to the Minister with whom the responsibility sits. I am making this decision-----

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: The Senator is addressing them to me. I am making this decision because I believe it is the right thing to do and I am standing by this Bill and the way in which it has been drafted. The reason I do is because there is a fundamental difference between a local authority member being a director in an organisation, which of course they are entitled to be, and being a director of an...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: The potential conflict of interest to which I draw the Senator's attention is a scenario in which the financial accounts for a commercially-trading company are being laid before the local authority of which the director is a member. To my mind, this clearly is a potential conflict of interest, which is why I believe this is the correct approach to take. As the Senator will be aware, it is...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: Death row is quite a bleak description for somebody who has been lauding the ability of ports to trade successfully, although the Senator acknowledges the challenges that some of these ports face. It is correct that they face challenges and I am very familiar with them. The Senator will not be surprised to hear that I disagree with him on the amendment. I also disagree with any suggestion...

Other Questions: International Agreements (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: We have to acknowledge that the vast majority of road traffic cases are successfully prosecuted. To take the application of penalty points alone, more than 84% of penalty point cases before the courts-----

Other Questions: International Agreements (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: I can understand why the Deputy wants to make that point given that he made a number of statements on the matter. The Courts Service then had to clarify the interpretation of statistics.

Other Questions: International Agreements (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy has made his points. He put forward an analysis with respect to some of those statistics, which he is perfectly entitled to do. A week later the Courts Service gave a very different interpretation with respect to the figures he offered.

Other Questions: International Agreements (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: The advice the Deputy has just offered me is advice that goes both ways in regard to the analysis of statistics that come out of our court system. I stand by the point I made that any road traffic offence that goes before the courts is one the Judiciary independently has to evaluate and make its mind up on. The vast majority of such cases that go before the courts are successfully prosecuted.

Other Questions: Cross-Border Projects (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: I understand from the National Transport Authority, NTA, that it has held discussions with the Department of Regional Development and Translink in Northern Ireland in order to explore the possibilities for integrated cross-Border ticketing. The current ticketing systems are incompatible and the NTA understands that Translink is in the process of putting together a tender for new...

Other Questions: Cross-Border Projects (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: I agree that cross-Border co-operation in the transport area could deliver practical benefits to commuters in both jurisdictions. We need only consider what we are doing in the tourism area where both jurisdictions are working together successfully to deliver more than either could deliver on its own. In regard to fares and ticketing integration, discussions are under way but because the...

Other Questions: Public Transport Fares (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: I have outlined to the Deputy what my role is in how these decisions are made and how the fare structure is set. As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I expect that as our economy recovers, more public investment in public transport is made and the balance sheets of public transport companies begin to improve in line with increases in their passenger numbers, the frequency and...

Other Questions: Public Transport Fares (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: As I have said, I accept it is not good for public transport and for this country's climate change agenda if fares go up at such a rate that they clearly make the use of public transport unattractive, particularly for families. I remind the Deputy that the most recent fare determinations differ considerably from the fare determinations that were made earlier in the crisis with which this...

Other Questions: International Agreements (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy knows, saving lives by improving road behaviour is at the heart of the road safety measures that have been taken here and in the UK. In the past, it was possible for a driver who committed a serious road traffic offence in one jurisdiction and was detected and prosecuted, resulting in a driving disqualification, to return home and continue to drive without any recourse being...

Other Questions: International Agreements (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: Before I answer the Deputy's questions, I would like to anticipate the possibility that I will not get an opportunity to speak about all of these road safety matters after Christmas. I acknowledge that the Deputy and the other Deputies present today have made a significant contribution to addressing the issue of road safety in this Dáil. It is a matter that is treated differently from...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Climate Change Policy (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: It does not matter what I stand up and announce because it is never going to meet the Deputy's approval. She is flatly refusing to accept the reality that investment in public transport is increasing. She talks about plans and their delivery. Let us look at delivery for next year and the opening of the Phoenix Park tunnel, which will have the capacity to facilitate the carrying of an...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Climate Change Policy (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: It is because there has been a change in our economy that we have the ability to invest more. We are investing more in longer Luas carriages, new Luas services, including the opening up of Luas cross-city route, new improved train and DART frequencies and greater numbers of buses. In respect of private transport and the need to make private cars more efficient, we are putting in place, and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Climate Change Policy (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: We have had at least a partial epiphany today in that Deputy Clare Daly has acknowledged that a recovery is taking place.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Climate Change Policy (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: What we want is a recovery that can be made secure. We want to keep the recovery going and we want more people to participate in it. Perhaps the Deputy will be able to stand up later and acknowledge that an additional 130,000 jobs have been created. Everything is aimed at ensuring that more people can participate in the recovery. In the context of actual delivery, I am not sure the...

Other Questions: Public Transport Fares (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy knows, the National Transport Authority, NTA, is the statutory body charged with regulating public transport fares and I have no legal function in the matter. On 30 October 2015, the NTA published its fares determination for 2016. In setting fares, the NTA takes a number of factors into consideration including, of course, the financial contribution that fare revenue makes...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Climate Change Policy (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware, it is proposed to address emissions through a national mitigation plan, which will incorporate input from many sectors of government and society in the areas of electricity generation, the built environment, agriculture and transport.  The mitigation measures being considered for transport will be wide-ranging and will focus on policy...