Results 10,701-10,720 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Seanad: Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 May 2014)

Leo Varadkar: This is a simple amendment. Currently, the person responsible must put the port in which the ship is registered underneath the name of the vessel on the stern. Now that we are going to require jet skis and other things to be licensed, we have no wish to prescribe that it must be written on the stern. This is because it is not necessarily clear where the stern of a jet ski is, for example....

Seanad: Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 May 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I am all thumbs today.

Seanad: Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 May 2014)

Leo Varadkar: Section 35 sets out the requirements for the hoisting of national colours or the Irish flag on a ship in different circumstances. Section 35(1) sets out the circumstances where the national colours are required to be hoisted on Irish ships. Section 35(2) clarifies that fishing boats are exempt from the requirements of section 35(1) and continues an existing exemption in section 12 of the...

Seanad: Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 May 2014)

Leo Varadkar: This amendment will mean that the section will not apply in the case of a ship using the letters "IRL" with a number issued for sports purposes. For example, a sports craft might be registered in another state but the person sailing it could be representing Ireland. This will allow the person to display the letters "IRL" to show they are representing Ireland without being prosecuted for...

Seanad: Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 May 2014)

Leo Varadkar: These amendments arise from an issue brought to my attention on Second Stage by Senator Hildegarde Naughton and by some of the representative bodies. They relate to the powers of the harbour master under the Harbours Act 1996 to give certain directions to the master of a ship using the harbour for the purpose of regulating the navigation of that ship. In response to the points raised,...

Seanad: Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 May 2014)

Leo Varadkar: This is a technical amendment to address the fact that the reference in subsection (3) should be to both subsections (1) and (2).

Seanad: Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 May 2014)

Leo Varadkar: Section 56 deals with notices by intending mortgagees. Subsection (3) provides for regulations in regard to the giving of "priority notices" by intending mortgagees of ships that are to be registered on specified parts of the register. The existing provision does not include a reference to intending mortgagees of ships registered on the register, although subsection (1) does allow such...

Seanad: Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 May 2014)

Leo Varadkar: Section 60 relates to the transfer of a registered mortgage of a ship. Amendment No. 23 is a technical amendment to revise the wording in subsection 60(1) so as to be consistent with the other "an approved form" references in the Bill. Instead of "a form approved by the Minister", we want to use "an approved form" consistently throughout the Bill.

Seanad: Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 May 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Senators for their interest, co-operation and efficiency in allowing us to bring this important Bill through the House. Maritime legislation is very complicated and difficult to get one's head around when one is not dealing with it every day. I am confident, however, between our deliberations here and subsequently in the Dáil, that we will emerge with an improved Bill which...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme (15 May 2014)

Leo Varadkar: Efforts to address the future funding of the Irish airlines superannuation scheme date back many years and span the terms of several Governments.  As it is not a public sector pension scheme, I do not have the authority to prescribe or impose a solution.  While I want to help, this is primarily a matter for the trustees, the members of the scheme, the companies participating in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme (15 May 2014)

Leo Varadkar: There is no point in publishing a draft solution if it is not going to get the support of parties. The whole point of a negotiation like this is to try to identify the gaps between the various parties - a number of gaps exist in this case - and come to a solution step by step. That is what the expert panel is doing. The panel will report to us again at the end of the month. I hope that in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme (15 May 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate and share the Deputy's concern for tourism. I am delighted to report that since the Government made up of Fianna Fáil, the Green Party and Independents was replaced by this Administration, the number of international visitors to Ireland has increased by 1 million, with further increases expected. There has been a great deal of traffic at Dublin and Shannon airports in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Dublin Port Tunnel (15 May 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I join the Deputy in extending my condolences and those of the Government to the Turkish people and the families involved. As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in regard to the national roads programme.  The Dublin Port tunnel is the responsibility of the National Roads Authority, NRA, under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2007....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Dublin Port Tunnel (15 May 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The key issue when it comes to safety in transport, whether in respect of roads, aviation or the railways, is the need to be always vigilant and never complacent. The NRA has detailed to me the safety measures are in place in the Dublin Port tunnel, which I am pleased to outline to the Deputy. The tunnel is equipped with an extensive range of safety features, including mechanical and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Dublin Port Tunnel (15 May 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy's point is well made. When it comes to air traffic control and tunnel safety, the authorities look at what has gone wrong in other locations and the lessons that can be learned from that. I have visited the Dublin Port tunnel control centre myself and, as I said, the Deputy is welcome to do the same and receive a briefing from staff.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Ministerial Staff (15 May 2014)

Leo Varadkar: There are 15 non-Civil Service staff employed in my office and the offices of the Ministers of State, Deputies Michael Ring and Alan Kelly.   In my departmental duties and responsibilities, I am aided by one special adviser, Mr. Brian Murphy, and one press adviser, Mr. Nick Miller. Furthermore, in lieu of a personal assistant, I appointed a policy adviser, Mr. John...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Ministerial Staff (15 May 2014)

Leo Varadkar: They are certainly not doing so, at least not during working hours. The person to whom Deputy Dooley is referring is former Deputy Paul McGrath. It is important that Ministers have advisory staff. The key difference between such staff and civil servants is that they must leave their employment when one loses one's job. They operate on a different basis to civil servants, who are always in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Ministerial Staff (15 May 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The allocations are made by the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, and signed off by me. In that context, our decisions are informed by advice provided by officials in the Department's sports division. The role occupied by Mr. Paul McGrath does not involve decision making, rather it involves providing advice on tourism and sport and all matters relating thereto. The setting of the criteria...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Penalty Points System (15 May 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The fixed charge notice-penalty points system has been a very effective part of the suite of measures to address road safety since it was established in 2002.  The introduction of the system, random breath-testing for alcohol, lower permissible alcohol limits and safety cameras, the establishment of the Road Safety Authority and the Garda Traffic Corps and the enactment of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Penalty Points System (15 May 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The matters to which the Deputy refers are ones for the Garda. Clearly, however, I pay attention to such matters in the context of how they relate to road safety. I do not believe that what the Deputy says reflects the actual position. Similar remarks are also often made in respect of safety cameras and GoSafe vans. People often tell me they are just a revenue-raising measure and are just...