Results 741-760 of 20,758 for speaker:Alan Kelly

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: 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: 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: 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: The amendments deal with the issues referred to by the Senator in the rental market. The market needs to change. Members will have watched the television programmes and read newspaper articles about the way in which the rental market developed willy nilly. A licence holder could rent out his or her plate and the person driving the car did not have to ensure standards were maintained. A...

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

Alan Kelly: Taxi licences are held in company names and provision for the grant of further licences to companies is contained in section 9(7). All applicants for licences are required to meet the suitability requirements set out in section 10. Section 10(2)(e) contains specific measures relating to the suitability of members of companies. This technical amendment allows the NTA to make licensing...

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

Alan Kelly: I cannot agree to amendment No. 9. It allows the NTA to make regulations setting different requirements and conditions relating to different categories and classes of vehicles, SPS drivers and licences as well as-----

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: Adjournment Matters: Rural Transport Scheme (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: The programme for Government commits to maintaining and extending the rural transport programme with other local transport services in as much as that is practicable. The Government recognises that this programme, which was launched in 2007 following a pilot project between 2002 and 2007, can play a major role in combatting rural isolation and enhancing the mobility, accessibility and...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Rural Transport Scheme (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: I am well aware of the rural transport issues in Kerry. As Senator Daly will be well aware, I know the area-----

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Rural Transport Scheme (12 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: -----including his own town, extremely well. I also visited the group a year or more ago. We are stuck in a structure where there is a value-for-money report of which we need to meet certain requirements. There is a defined amount of funding. There is a defined requirement that we must meet given the financial circumstances. However, I am a committed supporter of rural transport groups and...

Promissory Notes Arrangement: Motion (Resumed) (13 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: The Deputy should quote what he said about the promissory notes.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Taxi Regulations (19 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: The Taxi Regulation Bill 2012, published last December, is a major step in the process of implementing the recommendations of the taxi regulation review report published earlier last year.  In line with the recommendations of the review report, the Bill restates and strengthens the proportionality of the existing legislative provision for mandatory disqualification of persons convicted...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Taxi Regulations (19 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: I thank Deputy Ellis, who has raised this issue on previous occasions. The Bill is proportionate. I have suggested to the Deputy previously that he raise the issue in the context of other legislation. He asks if we have rigorously checked the legality of the Bill. Of course we have. The Attorney General went through the legislation and is satisfied with its drafting, the manner in which...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Taxi Regulations (19 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: I have plenty of correspondence on this issue and will take any more the Deputy wants to send me. I stand over the reason for the retrospective nature of these provisions. There are people driving taxis in this country who should not be behind the wheel of a taxi. It is simple as that and needs no further explanation. That is why the legislation must be retrospective. No one in this...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rail Services (19 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: My Department and the National Transport Authority are working with Iarnród Éireann to increase the efficiency and attractiveness of existing rail services. The Government continues to provide substantial Exchequer investment in the rail network despite the significant financial challenges. In the past two years almost €385 million has been invested in Iarnród...