Results 2,901-2,920 of 4,672 for speaker:Dessie Ellis

Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Report Stage (2 Oct 2013)

Dessie Ellis: I support this amendment. It would appear that the number of wheelchair-accessible taxis is reducing. In the past, the Government provided grants to taxi drivers to provide wheelchair-accessible services. I also have concerns about those organisations with charitable status which are undercutting taxi drivers. In my opinion, they are abusing their position and that should be examined...

Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Report Stage (2 Oct 2013)

Dessie Ellis: I agree with Deputy Boyd Barrett about amendment No. 5. It would not be a good idea to remove the ability to suspend taxi drivers. I am concerned about demerit points. Local authorities provide very few taxi ranks. The rank at the Gresham Hotel is to be removed. We will impose a system after the accumulation of eight points which could be for people parking illegally or otherwise but we...

Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Report Stage (2 Oct 2013)

Dessie Ellis: Judging drivers on the basis of having another job that involved driving would not necessarily work. They could have other jobs that would lead to fatigue and that is my worry. That needs to be examined further. The issue is not about part-time drivers. Nobody was saying part-time drivers should be excluded. However, taxi drivers who have part-time or full-time jobs use the bus lanes to...

Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Report Stage (2 Oct 2013)

Dessie Ellis: I have previously put down amendments very similar in nature to this and I support the principle of this amendment. The Minister of State has spoken about cutting down the numbers of taxis as there are too many at present. If people with full-time jobs are allowed to work in the industry, it amounts to double-jobbing, which can lead to people having problems with fatigue or other health...

Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Report Stage (2 Oct 2013)

Dessie Ellis: We keep raising the issue of the courts, the expense that would entail in bringing persons through that process and the time it would take if somebody was sought and brought through in this fashion. I asked the Minister of State previously about providing for some independent way of dealing with these issues so as not to have to refer to the courts all the time. It would be good if he...

Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Report Stage (2 Oct 2013)

Dessie Ellis: The Minister of State has repeatedly referred to the Seanad debate in terms of our tabling amendments; I have the evidence that we did.

Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Report Stage (2 Oct 2013)

Dessie Ellis: I am talking about the Seanad debate on the Taxi Regulation Bill 2012.

Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Report Stage (2 Oct 2013)

Dessie Ellis: Okay. Certainly, my party's position is clear. We have outlined it time out of number. The Minister of State is well aware of it and he has refused to do this, even though his party was a signatory of the Good Friday Agreement. In stating the Government will look at the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions) Bill 2012 he is passing the buck. I just do not accept that.

Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Report Stage (2 Oct 2013)

Dessie Ellis: I move amendment No. 2:In page 15, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following:“(d) excluding for consideration under this section any conviction covered by the terms of the Good Friday Agreement 1998;”.I have raised this with the Minister of State on numerous occasions. The amendment concerns the Good Friday Agreement and ex-prisoners. I have made the point many times...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Millenium Development Goals (2 Oct 2013)

Dessie Ellis: 46. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide more details on the UN special event on the millennium development goals that he attended in New York; the way it will it impact on the post-2015 development discussions. [41162/13]

Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill 2013: Second Stage (1 Oct 2013)

Dessie Ellis: Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an mBille seo. I welcome this Bill as it clearly intends to deal in new ways with the issue of road safety, a very important matter to many people on this island. Due to the small close-knit nature of our country, there are few people who have not lost someone on our roads or know someone who has. I will make much use of the word...

Other Questions: State Airports (1 Oct 2013)

Dessie Ellis: I thank the Minister for his response. I am disappointed that we will have to wait so long before debating the legislation. Shannon Airport was for many years the backbone of the west in the context of the passenger numbers that passed through it. There has been a massive decline in those numbers in recent years. The Minister indicated that no state aid is assigned to Shannon. Does he...

Other Questions: Public Transport Issues (1 Oct 2013)

Dessie Ellis: The Minister must never have met the unions so.

Other Questions: Public Transport Issues (1 Oct 2013)

Dessie Ellis: I listened to the Minister's earlier response to Deputy Dooley's priority question on this subject. Had the Minister's Government had a majority, we would be heading down a serious route of privatisation, much further then we are going. The Minister has made it very clear that he and his party are in favour of privatisation of the bus services. The incremental privatisation has already...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sport and Recreational Development (1 Oct 2013)

Dessie Ellis: 65. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he has had any discussions with the Department of Health, the sports authorities and the Health Service Executive regarding the possibility of establishing a sports and exercise department in the HSE, in order to ensure that the role of exercise fitness and well being is given adequate attention in our health care system. [40896/13]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Safety Issues (1 Oct 2013)

Dessie Ellis: 100. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the action he is taking to increase awareness of cyclists among motorists. [40903/13]

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (1 Oct 2013)

Dessie Ellis: 384. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the action she will take to ensure that those who have had their rent supplement reduced due to involvement with community employment, JobBridge or other similar schemes will have them reinstated to the previous level once these schemes have ended in the case where full employment is not the result. [40687/13]

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Shared Ownership Scheme (1 Oct 2013)

Dessie Ellis: 455. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to help support families who took up shared ownership mortgages but can no longer afford the rent portion of the agreement due to changes in their circumstances following the economic collapse. [41079/13]

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Shared Ownership Scheme (1 Oct 2013)

Dessie Ellis: 483. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to help support families who took up shared ownership mortgages but can no longer afford the rent portion of the agreement due to changes in their circumstances following the economic collapse. [41080/13]

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Traveller Accommodation (1 Oct 2013)

Dessie Ellis: 471. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the position regarding progress in fulfilling the request of the Oireachtas Environment Committee that he ask all local authorities to provide detailed explanations of the reason they have not drawn down their allocations for Traveller Housing and to request all local authorities to inform him of the...