Results 11,161-11,180 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Tourism Promotion (11 Oct 2017)

Shane Ross: Just one more second-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Tourism Promotion (11 Oct 2017)

Shane Ross: I will use it to give those figures because they are very important.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Tourism Promotion (11 Oct 2017)

Shane Ross: The Deputy is rightly acknowledging the work which has been done. I would like to be able to allocate large sums of money to every part of my Department. The competing interests are vast. I remind the Deputy that the tourism marketing fund for 2017 is not €2 million; rather, it is €36 million. Let us not pretend-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Tourism Promotion (11 Oct 2017)

Shane Ross: The Deputy is correct about the increase being only €2 million, but there is €36 million on top of that. It is a lot of money to spend on marketing and it has been used well. In some ways it has proved how successful it has been by having brought so many visitors to Ireland. I have no doubt it will continue to use the money successfully. I am glad that the Deputy has...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Industrial Relations (11 Oct 2017)

Shane Ross: I thank the Deputy for his question. He is anticipating something a little prematurely but I will, of course, take into account what he has to say. I share his disappointment regarding last week’s news that the discussions between unions and Iarnród Éireann led by the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, ended without agreement. I have responsibility for policy and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Industrial Relations (11 Oct 2017)

Shane Ross: I will not comment with such authority as Deputy Murphy on the negotiations which took place. I will not make any comment on the merits of the proposal which was made to both parties. That is a matter for both parties to resolve between themselves, as they have done in previous disputes involving the subsidiaries of CIE companies. I deeply regret that there is a dispute of this sort....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Industrial Relations (11 Oct 2017)

Shane Ross: I thank the Deputy for his contribution. I wish to once again nail the privatisation myth that he seems to peddle as some sort of mantra for his troops. Perhaps he has not heard what I have repeatedly said in this House and in joint committees, namely, that I am not pursuing the privatisation route in Iarnród Éireann, Bus Éireann or Dublin Bus. That is not the intention. The...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Road Safety (11 Oct 2017)

Shane Ross: Everything the Deputy said is correct. I am, as I suspect some of those who are present in the House know, totally behind this amendment. I accepted it from the Opposition on the day it was moved and I am still supportive of it. Let me explain what has happened in the meantime. I think Members will probably understand it. Deputy Munster, who proposed the amendment, is in the House. ...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Road Safety (11 Oct 2017)

Shane Ross: Deputy Broughan referred to the Estimates. We will come to that under another heading some other day.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Road Safety (11 Oct 2017)

Shane Ross: What he said is just not true as we got the most enormous injection of money, which I suspect is more than any transport Minister has ever had in terms of capital investment. I will address the point about rickshaws. That was the subject of another amendment I accepted in this House. I referred it to the people who know about it, namely, the NTA, and it is coming forward with proposals to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Road Safety (11 Oct 2017)

Shane Ross: I share the Deputy's frustration, and I would say, and I am saying, the same things in many ways. The problem arises if the Deputy wants me simply to defy advice on matters of this sort, as it would probably be grossly irresponsible, particularly where human lives are at stake. We are all on the same side. I want to make sure human lives are saved. I have spent a large amount of time this...

Other Questions: Sport and Recreational Development (11 Oct 2017)

Shane Ross: I will address this in a way that has arisen from consultation. I will certainly address the Deputy's supplementary questions without reading a script. This matter relates to the private sale of Claremont stadium in Navan. I understand the facility in question has been a voluntarily run social enterprise that is used by many local clubs in the area for sporting and other purposes. Sport...

Other Questions: Sport and Recreational Development (11 Oct 2017)

Shane Ross: The Deputy knows I have every sympathy but the problem is that the sports capital funding is not meant for rescuing anybody in financial difficulties, much as we would like to be able to do so. I accept what the Deputy says about the service given through this stadium to the community. I would love to be in a position to help. Claremont stadium is in receipt of funding from Pobal towards...

Other Questions: Sport and Recreational Development (11 Oct 2017)

Shane Ross: The Deputy has made a very good case but he must accept the explanations I think I have given to him. I have already received representations from other Deputies. The office of the Minister, Deputy Regina Doherty, has been in contact about this issue, as has Deputy McEntee's office. We will respond to the Deputy also. The responses to those representations have not yet been finalised but,...

Other Questions: Sport and Recreational Development (11 Oct 2017)

Shane Ross: It is something which we should recognise has a lot of public support and has done an enormous amount of work for the community there. As I said in my opening statement, while we recognise this is a very worthy cause and the loss of this to the community in Navan would be very difficult, I do not wish to involve myself in an operation which is in financial difficulties.

Other Questions: Bus Services (11 Oct 2017)

Shane Ross: Could I correct the Deputy? The views that are scripted are not pre-written by officials. They are written after consultation between me and officials. They are written and re-written, particularly with the Deputy in mind, and it is the same in this case.

Other Questions: Bus Services (11 Oct 2017)

Shane Ross: I ask the Deputy to take that in the spirit in which it is meant. The first reply is pre-written. The subsequent ones will not be, but they are written as a result of a discussion between me and the officials.

Other Questions: Bus Services (11 Oct 2017)

Shane Ross: Under the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 it is a statutory function of the National Transport Authority, NTA, to determine the appropriate mix of directly awarded and competitively tendered bus services.  Arising from this, it is the NTA's role to conduct the public procurement process relating to its decision to tender out of 10% of the PSO bus network.  In this...

Other Questions: Bus Services (11 Oct 2017)

Shane Ross: I believe I am right in saying that the international experience indicates that introducing competitive tension into our public service obligation, PSO, bus market, that is a mixture of direct award and competitively tendered contracts, should allow us to capture potential benefits as regards value for money and in terms of the use of taxpayers' money in securing the provision of PSO...

Other Questions: Bus Services (11 Oct 2017)

Shane Ross: What is happening is an attempt to improve efficiencies, improve frequencies on the routes compared to what is happening now, and the introduction of one new additional route, Citywest to UCD, in addition to the ones already listed. It must be to the advantage to the passenger public if we respond to the demand by increasing the numbers of operators of bus services.