Results 3,921-3,940 of 32,569 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Seanad: Restructuring of Pensions at Aer Lingus: Statements (10 Dec 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I will begin by making one point very clear. If I had not signed the enactment order here, had gone against the wishes of the trustees and the recommendation of an expert panel and had taken a fund upon which 15,000 people rely that has a deficit of between €700 million and €750 million into absolutely unknown territory with potentially huge risks to them, Senators Power and...

Seanad: Restructuring of Pensions at Aer Lingus: Statements (10 Dec 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: The Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2009.

Seanad: Restructuring of Pensions at Aer Lingus: Statements (10 Dec 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I will go on to answer the questions posed by Senator Darragh O'Brien, but he made a number of political charges. The Act that put in place the legislative status of deferred members was introduced by Senator Darragh O'Brien's party in government. In all the meetings I have had with deferred members, they say to me that Fianna Fáil caused this.

Seanad: Restructuring of Pensions at Aer Lingus: Statements (10 Dec 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: They look at the 2009 Act and say it was the root cause of this difficulty from a legislative perspective.

Seanad: Restructuring of Pensions at Aer Lingus: Statements (10 Dec 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I wanted to respond to the political charges Senator O'Brien made to me on those two areas. With regard to what I have done, I was privileged to have been appointed to this role and I was faced with a choice about taking a decision that would have created serious and unknown consequences for the members of the scheme. Let me say what they are. I will repeat that this is based on the...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Road Safety (10 Dec 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank Senator Higgins for raising this matter. I am pleased to take this debate in the Seanad this evening and to take the opportunity again to respond to the Senator's request. I wish to re-emphasise the position regarding the funding of regional and local roads. I understand the Senator's motion refers to a non-continuous footpath and, separately, to a railway bridge, both of which are...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Road Safety (10 Dec 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Senator for her response. My challenge in dealing with issues like this is that as Minister my role, as the Senator well knows, is to determine the funding that is available and allocate that to local authorities. With the knowledge they have of their localities, which is not available to me, they would spend that money in the best way possible for their areas and be able to...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Projects (11 Dec 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: The commissioning of artistic features on road projects under the 'Per Cent for Art' scheme is a matter for the local authority concerned in conjunction with the National Roads Authority. The overall responsibility for the Per Cent for Art scheme rests with the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Car Test (11 Dec 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I understand that the Road Safety Authority responded directly to the Deputy in relation to this matter in June last and I will forward the Deputy's current Question to the RSA for an update of the situation and direct reply.

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Severe Weather Events Expenditure (11 Dec 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: There were a number of severe weather events from late 2013 into 2014.   After the December/January damage the Government acknowledged that the budgets of Local Authorities and relevant Departments/Offices did not provide for the estimated direct financial costs for clean-up and infrastructure repair and restoration works, and agreed that additional funding would be...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Driver Licence Applications (16 Dec 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: Irish driver licensing law operates within the framework of EU driver licensing law.  Under EU law, licences can only be issued to those whose normal residence is in this jurisdiction. The EU allows one exception, namely that people normally resident in one Member State but residing temporarily in another Member State for study purposes may apply for a licence in the State where they...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Network (16 Dec 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: As Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in relation to the national roads programme.  The planning, design and implementation of individual road projects (such as the N21) is a matter for the National Roads Authority (NRA) under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2007 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. Noting...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Improvement Schemes (16 Dec 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads (including lighting) is the statutory responsibility of each local authority, in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. In view of this, I would suggest to the Deputy that he pursue the matter directly with the Local Authority as I have no function in respect of this matter.

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Fáilte Ireland Issues (16 Dec 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy may be aware, the role of Fáilte Ireland is to support the tourism industry and work to sustain Ireland as a high-quality and competitive tourism destination.  In that context the operation of tourism attractions is not a core function of the Agency nor is the leasing of facilities or land to third parties and it has in recent years been...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Departmental Meetings (16 Dec 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: Neither I or my Ministerial colleagues within the Department held any separate meetings with the Management Board, as a whole, outside of the monthly Ministerial Management Board meetings. We would of course on a day-to-day basis have various formal and informal meetings involving one or more members of the Management Board on issues across the range of their...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Departmental Meetings (16 Dec 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I refer the Deputy to Dáil Question No:167 of the 26th November 2014.  The position remains the same.   The information requested by the Deputy would require an inordinate time to compile as the number of meetings involved is quite substantial. The Management Board (MB) of the Department would normally meet every Tuesday morning except for the month of August...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Roadworthiness Testing (16 Dec 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006 (Conferral of Functions) Order 2006 (S.I. No. 477 of 2006) the Road Safety Authority has the overall responsibility for the operation, oversight, development, quality assurance and delivery of commercial vehicle roadworthiness testing arrangements. I have therefore forwarded this Question to the RSA  for direct reply to the Deputy....

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Smarter Transport (16 Dec 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: While my Department has no  plans to develop a specific National Walking Policy, I am satisfied that the government's investment in sustainable travel under 3 key programmes will achieve a number of the objectives for the creation of a culture of walking in Ireland as set out in the Transport Policy for Ireland - A Sustainable Transport Future: Smarter...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Driver Licences (16 Dec 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: The requirement to provide a PPS number as part of the driver licensing process relates to identity security. The driver licensing service is designed to operate to the Government SAFE (Standard Authentication Framework Environment) 2 standard.  This standard was developed by the Department of Social Protection.  ID is verified in the driver licensing process through a number of...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Driving Test Regulations (16 Dec 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: The operation of the driver testing service is the statutory responsibility of the Road Safety Authority.  I have therefore referred this question to the Authority for direct reply.  I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response has not been received within ten days.