Results 29,241-29,260 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 am not sure what the Deputy means by its own budget.

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: Management and budgetary issues are matters for the board. They are not matters in which I get involved directly.

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: During my meetings with management in Cork I saw its financials, budgets and projections in terms of airport and commercial revenues, expenditure and so on and its projected losses factoring in the interest on the debt. In that sense, it has a budget. However, it does not file separate accounts.

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 absolutely a separate business unit.

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, the legislative provisions to allow Cork Airport to become a separate airport are provided for in the State Airports Act 2004, which are not being repealed and do not require to be reiterated in this legislation.

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: As far as I recall, it will be a fixed-term contract of five or seven years that can be renewed once.

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. That is generally the case. If one keeps rolling over fixed-term contracts, they can become contracts of indefinite duration. I will double-check that and let the Deputy know if I am incorrect.

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 completely understand where the Deputy is coming from. Passenger numbers at Shannon Airport increased very marginally last year. We are now projecting a 10% rise in passenger numbers this year, which is a very good outcome. It will mean that Shannon Airport is about one year behind on what was a very ambitious business plan, but to be a year behind on ambitious business plan is not a bad...

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 have absolutely nothing in mind at the moment. It is just a standard provision in legislation to allow the Minister to assign additional functions to the group by order should it be necessary. Obviously, that order would have to be laid before the Dáil.

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 €100 million limit was the limit sought by the board. It got the figure it wanted. There were initial concerns from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and other places that a borrowing limit of €100 million was too high.

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. Obviously, its job is to protect the public purse so it was doing its job in that regard. At Cabinet sub-committee level, we agreed to a limit of €100 million with which everyone was satisfied, including Shannon. It is not unusual for major borrowings to have to get consent from both the parent Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Even something as...

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 did take a look at the issue after Deputy Dooley raised it on Second Stage and asked for a submission from my officials about it. The matter had been raised and examined by other Ministers in the past, most extensively by Mr. Noel Dempsey who also sought the advice of the then Attorney General. The conclusion they came to was that the people concerned ceased to be civil servants when they...

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. 1: In page 7, line 14, to delete “subsequent”.This is a technical amendment to delete "subsequent".

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 not so much that the airport needs the rent-roll from the parks around the airport to survive or cover its operations. In fact, the airport operating as an airport with an airfield can break even, which it did last year, notwithstanding that it does not have 3 million passengers. As passenger numbers continue to increase, we are confident that the airport and airfield can 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: The Booz report informed the Government's thinking, but it did not dictate or determine it. Subsequent to the Booz report, the Shannon task force modified and built on that thinking and effort. What is envisaged is that the airport will operate at break even or in profit running as an airport. Also envisaged is that IASC and the facilities around the airport will be profitable. It is of...

Leaders' Questions (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: How was she appointed?

Leaders' Questions (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: It is like austerity - okay in the North but not in this State.

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Pilot Training Courses (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I refer the Deputy to the answer I provided to parliamentary questions, numbers 604 and 617 which I answered earlier this week.   It was upon an initiative of the private English language colleges involved in the recent task force that an offer was made for students to complete their education with the colleges at a discounted fee. This came at no cost to the Exchequer. The State...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Departmental Staff Sick Leave (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The information the deputy has requested for my Department is contained in the table below: Detail 2011 2012 2013 2014 (to date) Total Sick Leave days 5365 4318 4100 1984 Total of which Certified 4926 3954 3854 1784 of which part of long-term absence* 2991 2161 2244 904 Total of Self/Uncertified days 440 363 246 200 (* absence of 30 days or more.)

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Consultancy Contracts Data (3 Jul 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The information requested by the Deputy is published on my Department's website and can be found at the following link, which covers spending on all external services.