Results 821-840 of 20,758 for speaker:Alan Kelly

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: I accept the spirit of what the Senator is saying but do not believe this proposal is necessary. Subsection 21(3) provides for consultation with the advisory committee on maximum fares. Section 56 requires that at least two members of the Taxi Advisory Committee shall be from organisations that, in the opinion of the Minister, represent the interest of consumers. That covers it. The...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: This is a technical amendment, tabled on the advice of the advisory council. Section 25 of the Bill deals with the regulation of passengers in SPSVs. The amendment removes paragraph (b) of the offences under section 25(6) concerning compliance with subsection 25(2). The offence, as it relates to paragraph (b) of the latter subsection, creates an overlap with an offence already under...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: This is a minor amendment to provide clarification. The principle of section 26 is not changed by this amendment. Simply, the amendment implies that the mandatory disqualification of a person in respect of which subsection 2(b)(i) applies under section 26 of the Bill, i.e., where a fine only or a suspended sentence are imposed, is from the date of conviction. This is in line with the...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: I thank the Senators for their contributions. The point at issue in this legislation is the safety of passengers, who are in a vulnerable position, while in a taxi. Due to the restriction that this places on persons to participate in the industry, the grounds for mandatory disqualification is, for legal reasons, narrowly defined. It is not possible in legislation to seek to further define...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: Applicants or licence holders are required under section 27 to declare to the licensing authorities their convictions for any of the offences set out in the Schedule or those listed in Section 26 (3), which relates to serious road traffic offences. This amendment provides that the Minister may specify in regulations other offences which must be notified to the licensing authorities for the...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: The Senator has raised a very important question. The licensing authorities, in the processing of applications, ask for information on previous convictions, as the Senator has stated. The authorities will use all available means to check with other jurisdictions for information on offences that would affect their decision to grant licences. The simple answer is that the authorities will...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: I will not be moving amendments Nos. 46 or 48, as they relate to section 11, which I intend to amend on Report Stage. However, I will reintroduce the substance of amendment No. 46 along with the amendment to section 11 on Report Stage.

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: Section 31(1) provides for demerits to be endorsed on driver licence records held by the National Transport Authority, NTA, where the alleged offender makes a payment pursuant to a notice for a fixed charge offence issued by the Garda or a fixed payment notice issued by the NTA. Amendment No. 49 relates to the demerits to be applied in respect of offences arising under the small public...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: These are technical amendments and provide for the reduction in the number of demerits from five to four, including upon conviction of an offence under sections 23(4) and 27(2), respectively, in line with other specified demerit offences. Those offences relate to the restrictions on the use of the word "taxi" and the failure to provide accurate information to the licensing authority with...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: This is a technical amendment on the advice of the advisory council. Section 37 provides for the prohibition on the use of unroadworthy or defective vehicles as SPSVs. This amendment allows for a more precisely worded legal expression of the degree of discretion to be exercised by an authorised person in finding an SPSV to be unroadworthy, defective or non-compliant with the standards...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: This is a minor textural amendment and does not change the principle of section 37, which relates to the prohibition on the use of unroadworthy or defective vehicles as SPSVs.

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: These are technical amendments that provide for a greater number of offences under the Bill to be specified as fixed payment offences under section 44. This will increase the on-street capability of enforcement officers and increase efficiency through a reduction in the number of prosecutions in the courts.

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: This amendment addresses a typographical error. The words "draw upon" are clearly out of place and undermine the meaning of the sentence in which they appear.

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: These amendments are necessary to ensure that the objectives of the authority under section 16 for the regulation of the taxi sector are included in the strategic planning processes already provided for under section 13 of the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008. The Bill makes reference to the authority's strategic transport plan, which it is required to produce under section 12 of the 2008...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: This amendment is unnecessary. Section 56 requires that at least two members of the taxi advisory committee shall be from organisations which, in the opinion of the Minister, represent the interests of consumers. The Consumers' Association of Ireland, the National Disability Authority and the Competition Authority are all represented on the committee. The Senator has referred to the...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: Amendment No. 62 provides for the insertion into section 34 of the Road Traffic Act 2010 of fixed payment offences under section 17 of the Bill and as otherwise prescribed in regulations by the Minister under the Taxi Regulation Bill so that these fixed payment offences can be enforced by members of An Garda Síochána. Amendment No. 63 allows 11 specific fixed payment small public service...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Taxi Regulations (28 Feb 2013)

Alan Kelly: The regulation of the taxi industry, including issues pertaining to the transfer of small public service vehicle (SPSV)  licences, is a matter for the National Transport Authority (NTA) under the provisions of the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009.   Since January 2009 SPSV licences, including vehicle licences for taxis, wheelchair accessible taxis, hackneys, wheelchair...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Taxi Regulations (5 Mar 2013)

Alan Kelly: The regulation of the small public service vehicle (SPSV) industry, including issues relating to suitability tests and the area knowledge test in particular, is a matter for the National Transport Authority (NTA) under the Taxi Regulation Act, 2003. I have referred your question to the NTA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Taxi Regulations (5 Mar 2013)

Alan Kelly: The transport requirements of people with disability and others living in rural areas was an important consideration of the Review Group responsible for the Taxi Regulation Review, which included representatives from rural areas and representative groups for consumers and people with disabilities. The view of the Review Group, giving rise to Action 40 of the Review Report, is that...

Topical Issue Debate: Road Safety (6 Mar 2013)

Alan Kelly: I thank Deputy Ann Phelan for raising this important issue. I know it is of concern to her as she has spoken to me about it privately. The poor fitting of replacement vehicle windscreens is currently a consumer affairs matter relating to the delivery of a service, for which the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport has no functional responsibility. However, if there are apparent flaws...