Results 1,681-1,700 of 8,245 for speaker:Bríd Smith

Other Questions: Bus Services (11 Oct 2017)

Bríd Smith: I would love to hear the Minister's views on the decision by the National Transport Authority, NTA, to award Go-Ahead, a British based global bus company, 10% of Dublin bus routes and not Dublin Bus. The Minister's views are probably limited because in response to anything to do with the NTA, he usually says that it is the authority's business and not his, but I would love to hear his own...

Other Questions: Bus Services (11 Oct 2017)

Bríd Smith: Lucky me.

Other Questions: Bus Services (11 Oct 2017)

Bríd Smith: That is a more substantial reply than the one I thought I would get. However, the main point is that the level of investment put into this service will not make the service more competitive. What makes the service more competitive is from the point of view of Go-Ahead, not from the point of view of the Minister, this State or the passengers who use the buses. Go-Ahead will make it more...

Other Questions: Bus Services (11 Oct 2017)

Bríd Smith: It is not underhand. It is blatant. There is nothing underhand about it.

Other Questions: Bus Services (11 Oct 2017)

Bríd Smith: I will drive a coach and horses through everything the Minister said because the Dublin Bus tender came in at a lower price than the Go-Ahead tender. What competition can Go-Ahead engage in? Can it reduce the cost of fuel, hiring, servicing or maintaining a fleet? It cannot. The only costs it can reduce are labour costs and conditions within the company. In case the NTA did not tell...

Other Questions: Bus Services (11 Oct 2017)

Bríd Smith: They are not mad.

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Rail Network (11 Oct 2017)

Bríd Smith: 26. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will assure workers in Irish Rail and the travelling public that the Government does not support the closure of any of the existing rail network or lines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42135/17]

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Planning Guidelines (17 Oct 2017)

Bríd Smith: 267. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her views on statements made by Kerry County Council in the planning zoning document, Landscape Character Assessment of Kerry, that the majority of landscapes in north County Kerry are not important for scenery, tourism or recreation (details supplied). [43987/17]

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Planning Guidelines (17 Oct 2017)

Bríd Smith: 268. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her plans to call an inquiry into the landscape character assessment of Kerry and the related renewable energy strategy for County Kerry and planning zoning (details supplied). [43988/17]

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Planning Issues (17 Oct 2017)

Bríd Smith: 269. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of unbuilt wind turbines that have live planning permission or permission granted but not yet used throughout the country by county. [43989/17]

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Strength (18 Oct 2017)

Bríd Smith: 31. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence his plans to address the chronic staff shortages in the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44188/17]

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Strength (18 Oct 2017)

Bríd Smith: The Minister of State will probably repeat much of what he said to other Deputies. I ask him to outline how he will try to improve the chronic staff shortages in his Department. What steps will he take to ensure more recruitment takes place and staff shortages are addressed?

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Strength (18 Oct 2017)

Bríd Smith: I have to reject the idea that what the Minister of State has proposed will work. A second recruitment campaign took place this year and, as other Deputies have pointed out, there is an exodus from the Defence Forces, as well as significant staff turnover. I refer to conditions. The Public Sector Pay Commission reported that there was a reduction in expressions of interest in the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Strength (18 Oct 2017)

Bríd Smith: The men and women who are defending human rights throughout the world, whether it is in the Mediterranean, Mali or the Golan Heights, are being denied their human rights by the Government due to the level of inappropriate pay for the amount of hours they work, the lack of access to proper trade union organisation and a range of other complaints which have been brought before the Minister of...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Strength (18 Oct 2017)

Bríd Smith: Any level is unacceptable.

Correcting Pension Inequities: Motion [Private Members] (18 Oct 2017)

Bríd Smith: Once again, the House has before it a Fianna Fáil motion that addresses a very real issue, in this case one which impacts cruelly on 35,000 pensioners and there will be more in the future, who have had inflicted on them a cut of between €15 and €30 weekly. That is a lot of money over the course of a year, never mind over the course of however many years a person has left...

Leaders' Questions (19 Oct 2017)

Bríd Smith: I do not know if the Minister is aware that the European Commissioner for Transport is due in Ireland today or tomorrow to meet the Irish Aviation Authority, IAA. Coincidentally, the meeting of the Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport was cancelled this week. We were due to hear from representatives of the Irish Air Line Pilots' Association, IALPA, but for the second time the...

Leaders' Questions (19 Oct 2017)

Bríd Smith: I dispute that this is common practice as Ireland has the only aviation authority in Europe using this model. It is possible to separate the authorities that collect revenue from airlines through the taxation system, for example, and the authority that regulates how the airlines operate. This goes to a bigger issue. The Minister states the safety of passengers was at the heart of the...

Leaders' Questions (19 Oct 2017)

Bríd Smith: Perhaps somebody could have a word with the Minister, Deputy Ross, and tell him to hold them to account.

Leaders' Questions (19 Oct 2017)

Bríd Smith: They are not being held to account.