Results 7,641-7,660 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Harbours and Piers (26 Oct 2016)

Shane Ross: I thank the Senator for the opportunity to address the House on this matter. The national ports policy, published in March 2013, provides that the five designated ports of regional significance - Drogheda, Dún Laoghaire, Galway, New Ross and Wicklow - will be transferred to more appropriate local authority-led governance structures. These five ports of regional significance retain...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Harbours and Piers (26 Oct 2016)

Shane Ross: I am sorry about the Senator's sensitivities over the spelling of his name. I know that is important to him. It was a misprint, which can happen from time to time. The name is spelt correctly at the top of the document before me. Elsewhere in the document there are references to the Senator as "Boylan", but it is not an insult or a matter of great importance. I am well aware of the...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Harbours and Piers (26 Oct 2016)

Shane Ross: Senator Boyhan brought it up.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Harbours and Piers (26 Oct 2016)

Shane Ross: Senator Boyhan can be absolutely certain that this is under constant review in my Department. It is a difficult problem. Senator Boyhan may not be aware of it, but this problem has caused extraordinary difficulties in the local area. This is something which I have to listen to as well and it is something of which am acutely conscious. That is why I agreed to meet representatives of the...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Noise Pollution (27 Oct 2016)

Shane Ross: In accordance with EU Regulation 598/2014 establishing rules and procedures with regard to the introduction of noise-related operating restrictions at EU airports, it is required of all EU Member States to designate a Competent Authority to carry out specific functions prescribed in the Regulations.  As the Deputy will be aware from my announcement on the 22nd of...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Airport Development Projects (27 Oct 2016)

Shane Ross: ​As the Deputy will be aware, the daa has statutory responsibility to manage, operate and develop Dublin Airport. In April 2016 daa announced plans to proceed with a second parallel runway; the North Runway project, with the intention of having the runway operational by the end of 2020.   I have welcomed daa's decision to develop this critical piece of airport infrastructure,...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Traffic Fines (27 Oct 2016)

Shane Ross: ​Change of vehicle ownership notifications are recorded on the National Vehicle and Driver File (NVDF) at my Departments office in Shannon' Co. Clare. According to records on the NVDF' on the date of the offence' 1 August 2016' Ms. Lawlor was the registered owner of the vehicle in question' and hence she received the Fixed Charge Notice. Subsequent to this' the Department received...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Rail Services Provision (27 Oct 2016)

Shane Ross: ​The position regarding the opening of Kishogue Station will be reviewed by the National Transport Authority following the opening of the Phoenix Park Tunnel to passenger services' when service and usage patterns have bedded down.   Works to upgrade the Phoenix Park Tunnel to facilitate train services running from the Kildare line into Connolly' Tara' Pearse and Grand...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rail Network (2 Nov 2016)

Shane Ross: I congratulate Deputy Troy on finishing the Dublin marathon in four hours and 15 minutes. It was an extraordinary achievement. The Deputy will only have to stay here for the next hour and a half, so he should be able to manage that. The question before the House is very fair in many ways. I have no idea about the leak. I regret the leak and I think it is a great pity that it happened....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rail Network (2 Nov 2016)

Shane Ross: I totally reject any suggestion that it was in the interests of anyone to leak the report. It was highly inconvenient that the report was leaked. I have not sat on it for months. Deputy Troy should be more accurate about the matter. The reality is that I had intended to bring it to Cabinet this week. The Cabinet meeting was curtailed and a one-hour discussion was arranged because of the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rail Network (2 Nov 2016)

Shane Ross: Decisions will be made after that consultation.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rail Network (2 Nov 2016)

Shane Ross: The Deputy will know perfectly well that I do not and cannot get involved in the day-to-day running or operational activities of Iarnród Éireann in any way. We make policy, we do not interfere with what the company does in car parks or anywhere else. That is not our business and it would be absolutely wrong if we did interfere. The Deputy addressed the issue of funding....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Bus Services (2 Nov 2016)

Shane Ross: I thank Deputy Munster for the question. It is topical because of the critical situation in which Bus Éireann finds itself. Since December 2010 the NTA has operated as the regulator of licensed bus services and all commercial operators must apply for a licence under the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009. I am unaware of the forum as referred to by the Deputy. It is worth noting...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Bus Services (2 Nov 2016)

Shane Ross: I thank the Deputy for her supplementary questions. It is very omniscient of her to be able to tell me what I have and have not thought about. She can tell me what I have said, not what I have thought about.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Bus Services (2 Nov 2016)

Shane Ross: I certainly have not done it. The idea of a consultative forum has merit. There are possibilities in having one. I want to be guaranteed that we do not have the kind of megaphone diplomacy that has been going on during the industrial relations problems we have at the moment. There are certain State bodies which deal with those. What was conspicuous in the last industrial dispute, in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Bus Services (2 Nov 2016)

Shane Ross: I have already answered the Deputy's question. I will consider it. Nobody in this House has a monopoly on sympathy for those whose jobs are threatened: no party, no group, no individual. We all have exactly the same sympathy. I do not want to address the operational issues faced by Bus Éireann but it is a company in an expanding market that last year lost €5 million and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Airport Development Projects (2 Nov 2016)

Shane Ross: ​I am somewhat confused by the question. There is no review of the second runway. I will answer what I think the Deputy meant by his question. The second runway has been decided on and given the go-ahead quite a long time ago. The review to which he refers is, I suspect, something different. If the Deputy will forgive me I will answer the question I think he wished to ask. He is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Airport Development Projects (2 Nov 2016)

Shane Ross: I thank Deputy Troy. I agree with much of what he said. The interests of the residents are immensely important on this issue of noise regulation in particular but also on the development of the second runway generally. I do not know whether the Deputy is aware that I have met several of the residents' groups individually. Some of them were brought by members of the Deputy's party to meet...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Airport Development Projects (2 Nov 2016)

Shane Ross: Absolutely. The Deputy is being a little bit alarmist. There is one certainty. The runway will be built. What is uncertain, as the Deputy correctly said, is the exact timeframe because we are not certain that primary legislation will not be required. It is unlikely, but it is possible. If this is done by way of a statutory instrument, it will all be over by Christmas. If primary...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: EU Regulations (2 Nov 2016)

Shane Ross: I thank Deputy Ryan for his question. The current regime for managing airport noise is based on EU legislation dating back to 2002 where the responsibility rests primarily with the airport operator. The entry into force in June of this year of EU Regulation No. 598/2014, to which Deputy Troy referred, represents a shift in responsibility from the airport operator to a separate, independent...