Results 29,221-29,240 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I move amendment No. 11: In page 39, lines 13 and 14, to delete "or, with the consent of the Minister, an airport which is not a company,".This is a technical amendment which removes an unintended reference to ministerial consent in the establishment of parking facilities at non-State airports.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I move amendment No. 12: In page 39, between lines 35 and 36, to insert the following: "Powers of authorised officers at airport 48. (1) An authorised officer, in the interest of the proper operation, or the security or safety, of an airport, or the security or safety of persons, aircraft or other property at an airport, may do all or any of the following things:(a) stop a person at the...

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: It is no longer relevant.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: Amendment No. 4 deals with replacement schemes-----

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: It does not have an impact at all. Any proposal by the DAA to amend that scheme - we are not aware of any - would require ministerial approval under section 32(6). That is nothing new. It is not envisaged. With regard to Shannon Development, it is important to bear in mind that Shannon Airport Authority staff will remain as Shannon Airport Authority staff, and the staff in Shannon...

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The briefing note I have states a rule amendment requires the support of all the members. With regard to providing a pension fund for new airport workers, the legislation is necessary to provide an alternative pension fund for the new airport workers. I accept there are other ways it could be done, for example by a different amendment on Report Stage or some convoluted means of moving...

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: Lest there be any doubt, everyone in the Government wants to encourage people to contribute to pension schemes. What has arisen is a ballot by staff who wanted to be able to withdraw their contributions because they did not want to continue paying money into a black hole, as Deputy Clare Daly described it. It is not that we do not want people to invest in their own pensions. I understand...

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: Yes. The section passed by the Seanad contained a provision to allow the employers to involuntarily remove staff from the IAS and include them in a new scheme. That provision is being dropped by this amendment. On the 1,250 staff who do not have access to a pension scheme, it probably is the case that there are potential dissolutions. The Deputy is correct that their employment could be...

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I was referring to the five years up to 2011.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I was referring to the data from the last census.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I will comment on a few issues which perhaps I did not cover fully in my initial remarks. The section allows people who are already paying into the scheme to cease doing so, if they so wish. This is a real issue for people. After the Dublin-Laois match a couple of weeks ago, I met a man from Swords, probably a constituent of Deputy Daly, whose major concern is that he has to pay a couple...

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I would have been interested to hear the Deputy's suggestions. Incidentally, there were some nice suggestions.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The reason for the change in name is exactly what the Deputy outlined. DAA is not just Dublin. It includes Cork and has business internationally. It is not just about airports; it has a consulting arm and a retail arm as well. It is not an authority but a company. The original intention was either to return to the old name, Aer Rianta, or to rename it by giving it a new name. When that...

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: This section is consequential on the previous ones. It is the same issue.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I wish to point out that there is an incorrect reference in subsection(2)(b) in this section. The correct reference is section 22(4) of the 2004 Act. I am giving the committee notice that I will table an amendment on Report Stage to correct that technical error.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I move amendment No. 3: In page 26, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following:“Amendment to superannuation schemes 34. (1) Section 32 (as amended by paragraph 16 of the Schedule to the Act of 2004) of the Act of 1998 is substituted by the following:“Superannuation schemes 32. (1) A company may prepare and submit to the Minister a scheme or schemes for the granting or...

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I am inserting a new section. It is correct that those provisions did not provide for the consent of employees, but I remind Deputies that in the scenario we were discussing - a possible forced wind-up of the scheme by the Pensions Authority - employee consent would also not have been appropriate at that point. In any event, the provisions contained in subsections (3) to (10) of section...

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: For clarity, we are not ruling out the potential separation of Cork Airport and its also becoming an independent airport. What we are doing now is dissolving the Cork Airport Authority plc as it stands but retaining the provision to re-establish it should the conditions for re-establishment of it as an independent entity be right. Currently, the conditions are not right because of the large...

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: Yes, the management structure has changed such that Cork Airport runs its own show and the CEO of Cork Airport reports directly to the top man in DAA. In the past, the CEO had to report to middle management within the company.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: It does not get a budget but it does have its own accounts.