Results 10,321-10,340 of 10,980 for speaker:Timmy Dooley

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Timmy Dooley: I welcome Mr. Waide and Mr. Walsh and thank them for their attendance and the presentation. We have always had good interaction between their organisation and the committee so hopefully we can continue with that. On the NCT side, there are a number of reasons. We know some of the problems and staffing seems to be one of them. I have had a concern for a while about the level of pay for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Timmy Dooley: Will Mr. Waide give me that again? Is he saying there is an unprecedented demand based on cars coming in from the UK?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Timmy Dooley: The taxation changes on Brexit have significantly reduced the number of cars coming in from the UK. We had the statistics recently. They have gone through the floor. If you talk to the industry, there is a shortage of cars.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Timmy Dooley: Sure.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Timmy Dooley: The point I am making, with respect, is that if the rates of pay were attractive, the provider would not have to go to Spain, the Philippines and elsewhere. If RSA is engaging with Applus+, will it look at the rates of pay? Issues have been raised with me by people working in those centres about overtime. They are paid per car rather than per hour. There are issues around whether new...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Timmy Dooley: I will throw one question before Mr. Waide goes to Mr. Walsh. It has been suggested to me that some of the backlog is associated with car lift issues and that there were faulty car lifts in place prior to Covid that resulted in significant delays. Were the witnesses aware of that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Timmy Dooley: Was it an issue at a certain stage?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Timmy Dooley: Did Applus+ suffer any penalty, loss or sanction for allowing that situation to develop?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Timmy Dooley: Fair enough. Mr. Walsh can make the comparison but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. They are not getting the staff and the customer is suffering as a result because the delays are there. Mr. Walsh made a comparison across the industry but it is a unique system. I suggest he goes back and reviews the pay grades based on supply and demand, rather than looking across the industry.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Timmy Dooley: That certainly seems like a good approach. Moving to driver licences, one issue we all are challenged with on a daily basis is the number of young people approaching us who, for one reason or another but often because they cannot find accommodation close to their college or university, are driving or carpooling. They have to do so because the accommodation is not there. I met recently...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Timmy Dooley: When does the RSA hope to be in a position whereby a person who applies for the test will have to wait only two weeks? What do the witnesses consider their goal to be in terms of the time people have to wait for a test?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Timmy Dooley: What would it take to get the waiting time down to a fortnight or even four weeks?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Timmy Dooley: I accept that but it is a separate issue. In terms of the time from when people apply for the test to the time they sit it, whether they pass or fail, what would it take to get that down to four weeks? If there were a policy decision in the morning whereby the Government set that timeframe, what would it take to achieve it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Timmy Dooley: Mr. Walsh may not have the details to hand but will he come back to us detailing what the RSA would need if a policy decision were taken by the Government to have tests delivered within four weeks of application? Regarding the NDLS offices around the country, there was a particular problem at the facility in County Clare. I do not want to get into the specifics but the witnesses are well...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Timmy Dooley: I thank Mr. Walsh.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Oct 2022)

Timmy Dooley: I ask that the Leader would organise a debate in this House on the issue of forestry. Forestry and the continued planting of trees is really important to our economy from a couple of perspectives. First, there is a shortage of timber in Europe for construction and Ireland could benefit handsomely into the future if an appropriate level of planting is done to meet the needs of the next...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Timmy Dooley: There are a couple of areas that I want to zone in on. Deputy Carey has already covered the licensing issue. There are good reasons for some aspects of licensing in order that it is not a free for all. That is being reasonably well handled. There are areas, from a rural perspective, where we would like to see a much quicker roll-out of some of the services. I know that when the powers...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Timmy Dooley: I am not in any way against the idea of competition in these services but that is one of the fallouts from having a more competitive environment. The State companies that would ordinarily have had the capacity and funding to do that now have to operate in the lean and commercial environment that Mr. Crowley's company operates in.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Timmy Dooley: I definitely get that. It seems there is a role for the State to have a better training programme, if possible.