Results 8,361-8,380 of 11,242 for speaker:Noel Dempsey

Public Transport. (26 May 2009)

Noel Dempsey: As I said to the Deputy on a number of occasions and just a few minutes ago, all the public transport projects in Transport 21 are being advanced this year.

Public Transport. (26 May 2009)

Noel Dempsey: As I have tried to explain to the Deputy on a number of occasions, not all the roads or public transport budgets could be spent because of the number of projects still in planning. The crunch years for public transport projects and the decisions on whether they will go ahead will be next year and the year after.

Road Safety. (26 May 2009)

Noel Dempsey: State road grants totalling €447.7 million were allocated to local authorities on 14 April for the improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads. These grants, which supplement expenditure by local authorities from their own resources, represent a very significant investment at a time when public finances are under severe pressure. The capital budget for improvement works this...

Road Safety. (26 May 2009)

Noel Dempsey: As I said to the Deputy, the allocation for safety to local authorities has not been touched. It is the same as it was last year. Works will take place in 257 different locations across all the local authorities this year. Work has already taken place in approximately 1,700 or 1,800 danger spots, or accident blackspots as we used to call them. The Deputy wants to have it every way. His...

Road Safety. (26 May 2009)

Noel Dempsey: The Deputy is talking absolute nonsense again. I have made it quite clear to him that portion of the local authorities' allocation of €126 million, which is used for road surface dressing, maintenance, repair and restoration, has not been touched this year.

Light Rail Projects. (26 May 2009)

Noel Dempsey: I propose to take Questions Nos. 53 and 87 together. Good progress continues to be made on the metro north project. The oral hearing before An Bord Pleanála on the railway order application for the project commenced on 1 April. In addition, the procurement process is being advanced. Four bidding groups submitted the first round of tenders for the public private partnership contract to the...

Light Rail Projects. (26 May 2009)

Noel Dempsey: I do not believe anything can be done, in particular by Government, in the middle of a procurement process.

Light Rail Projects. (26 May 2009)

Noel Dempsey: I know the Deputy is trying to be helpful in this regard and I am not trying to be smart about it. However, I do not believe anything can be done in the middle of a tendering process. One of the criteria which must be used by the RPA in deciding on the preferred bidder will be whether or not it is financially able to support the project. The RPA and others would be in a position to talk to...

Light Rail Projects. (26 May 2009)

Noel Dempsey: I cannot answer the Deputy's last question off the top of my head. If he will accept a broad figure, it could be in the region of €30 million to €40 million but I will not be held to that. If he wants, I can ascertain the figure. The sense of nervousness which might be felt by the tenderers has nothing to do with the National Asset Management Agency or Government finances, rather it...

Light Rail Projects. (26 May 2009)

Noel Dempsey: I understand the city council has now decided the bus gate will operate from July. That decision was made about a week or ten days ago, two days after I met the city manager, the Dublin City Business Association, Dublin Chamber of Commerce, the CIE companies, the RPA and the Garda Síochána - in the stakeholders' group I meet on a quarterly basis, to keep myself updated on what is happening...

Road Traffic Offences. (26 May 2009)

Noel Dempsey: The issue of cross-Border enforcement for road traffic offences has proved to be a difficult one over the years. Given the variety and complexity of the legal systems in different states, the development of a common approach, whether bilaterally between two states or at an EU level, has always proved extremely difficult. The key issue is how to enforce penalties outside the jurisdiction,...

Road Traffic Offences. (26 May 2009)

Noel Dempsey: The Deputy has balanced the issue well, because apparently it is a problem for Northern Ireland as well regarding Republic of Ireland cars in the North. However, the number of Northern registered cars here being driven by Republic of Ireland drivers appears to be increasing by the day. I accept what the Deputy is saying in relation to this matter. I met with Mr. Jim Fitzpatrick, MP, my UK...

Road Traffic Offences. (26 May 2009)

Noel Dempsey: My understanding is that all 146,000 are recorded, but not on the vehicle driver file-----

Road Traffic Offences. (26 May 2009)

Noel Dempsey: They are actually recorded, in the event that they come to the attention of the Garda again. This comes back to Deputy O'Dowd's point to the effect that if they are persistent offenders, we should have a means of ensuring that this behaviour does not continue. This is well worthwhile pursuing. I cannot give the Deputy details about the other 50,000 because it is a matter for the Courts...

Road Traffic Offences. (26 May 2009)

Noel Dempsey: Some of it may relate to no licences, or perhaps invalid ones.

Departmental Agencies. (26 May 2009)

Noel Dempsey: Fatalities on our roads have fallen in recent years and the number of fatalities in 2008, at 279, was the lowest since records began. We are well on target to meet the overall strategy objective of reducing road deaths to no greater than 60 fatalities per 1 million of population by the end of 2012, which equates to 252 deaths per year. While road safety advertising campaigns are particularly...

Departmental Agencies. (26 May 2009)

Noel Dempsey: As the Deputy is aware, the question of Garda overtime is one for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. I would be surprised if the dedicated traffic corps, which has 1,200 members and which was established following a commitment given in the programme for Government, was operating on the basis of overtime. I am not sure-----

Departmental Agencies. (26 May 2009)

Noel Dempsey: With regard to the other matter to which the Deputy referred, he will be aware that quite a hullabaloo was kicked up in respect of advertising, PR, etc., in the middle of last year. The Department of Finance decided that the funding in this regard should be cut. Every Department and agency was obliged to make cuts and the RSA, the work of which is specifically focused on advertising, was no...

Departmental Agencies. (26 May 2009)

Noel Dempsey: I agree with the Deputy that one death on our roads is one death too many. His figure of approximately 3,000 deaths on the roads since the turn of the millennium is reasonably accurate. However, if we had not taken the actions that we did take, the death toll would, on the basis of the figures for 1999 and 2000, have been 4,000. I agree with the Deputy that it is hugely important to...

Official Engagements. (26 May 2009)

Noel Dempsey: I had a most constructive meeting with the UK Under Secretary of State for Transport on 21 May 2009. We discussed the delivery and development of the aids to navigation services in the UK and Ireland. We both appreciate the valuable work carried out by the service in both countries but stressed that we were anxious that optimum, cost-effective use should be made of the resources available...