Results 30,141-30,160 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Seanad: Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (18 Feb 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I take it the amendment is a proposed change to the penalties for driving without a licence. Section 38(1) of the principal Act makes it an offence to drive unlicensed. Under the law as it stands, the penalty for unlicensed drivers is split into two categories as set out in section 38(2) of the principal Act. If a person had a licence that expired in the previous 12 months, the maximum...

Other Questions: State Bodies Mergers (18 Feb 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy's point is well made. I did not know until I held this job - it does seem very strange - that the RPA could engage in preplanning consultation with An Bord Pleanála on a Luas project but that the NRA could not do so in the case of a road project. It can certainly be done in the case of a factory or other large development. It makes no sense to me and I am not sure why it is...

Other Questions: State Bodies Mergers (18 Feb 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I do not want to make a detailed comment on this issue. I know the NRA is considering afresh how the roads around Foynes and Adare could be improved. I have been stuck in Adare on several occasions and it is the major bottleneck on the way to County Kerry. I am very keen to make progress on the issue.

Other Questions: Road Projects (18 Feb 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I cannot give timelines and I cannot make a commitment or give a response on behalf of the Northern Ireland Executive. It will take however long it takes to get planning permission for the road. I cannot speak on behalf of the Northern Ireland Executive when it comes to its funding commitments. However, as far as the Government is concerned, we have renewed and reiterated our commitment to...

Other Questions: Road Projects (18 Feb 2014)

Leo Varadkar: As is the case with every major capital project, we have made no commitments for 2017, 2018 or 2019 or beyond. This is true in the case of the DART underground, the metro north, the bus rapid transit project and just about every other road project around the country. The only commitments we have made are up to 2016, except where a contract has already been signed or in the case of an...

Other Questions: State Bodies Mergers (18 Feb 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 98 and 797 together. The planning, design and implementation of individual national road schemes is a matter for the National Roads Authority under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2007 in conjunction with the relevant local authorities. The main purpose of the Roads Bill 2014, which is currently at Second Stage in the Dáil, is to facilitate the merger of the...

Other Questions: Airport Security (18 Feb 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The power to search aircraft lies with the Garda, so that is a matter that either Deputy can take up with the Minister for Justice and Equality. They engage with him regularly in Dáil debates so perhaps they can add that to the list of complaints they want to raise with him.

Other Questions: Airport Security (18 Feb 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I am disturbed by Deputy Clare Daly's mention of a "sacrifice". It seems she actually thinks it is to be encouraged for somebody to go out on a runway, sacrifice his or her life and maybe even cause the deaths of other people to make some political protest. I find it very disturbing that she would see it as some sort of blood sacrifice that an elderly lady should offer up her life and...

Other Questions: Airport Security (18 Feb 2014)

Leo Varadkar: Peaceful protest is fine-----

Other Questions: Airport Security (18 Feb 2014)

Leo Varadkar: -----but people should not engage in incursions on the runway, endangering their own lives and those of others.

Other Questions: Road Projects (18 Feb 2014)

Leo Varadkar: At the most recent North-South Ministerial Council transport sectoral meeting on 28 November 2013, both the Government and the Northern Ireland Executive reaffirmed their commitment to the A5 scheme and I confirmed the Government's funding commitment of £25 million per annum in 2015 and 2016. We have made no commitments for any project beyond 2016 in any part of the island....

Other Questions: Airport Security (18 Feb 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The Shannon Airport Authority, SAA, has statutory responsibility to operate, manage and develop Shannon Airport. I have no involvement in matters affecting its commercial operations. Primary responsibility for law and order, including the protection of the internal security of the State, rests with An Garda Síochána. When requested to so do, in what is referred to as aid to...

Other Questions: Airport Security (18 Feb 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I am unsure whether Deputy Clare Daly thinks security at Shannon Airport is too loose, too lax or too strict.

Other Questions: Airport Security (18 Feb 2014)

Leo Varadkar: She appears to be contradicting herself.

Other Questions: Airport Security (18 Feb 2014)

Leo Varadkar: To give her an idea of the number of aid to the civil power duties, the numbers in 2012, 2011 and 2010 were 381, 327 and 293, respectively. The number of occasions on which the Defence Forces have been called on to aid the civil power has increased in recent years, at a cost of €250,000 per year to the taxpayer. However, the number of munitions of war civilian flights landing at...

Other Questions: Road Projects Expenditure (18 Feb 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 95 and 99 together. The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority, in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on these roads are funded from local authorities' own resources, supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of...

Other Questions: Road Projects Expenditure (18 Feb 2014)

Leo Varadkar: While no definite decision has yet been made on this, next year I would like to make a block grant to each local authority and leave it up to them to decide how they want to allocate it. If we are serious about local government, this is what we should be doing. As I pointed out earlier, this is only one source of funds that local authorities can use to improve roads. They can also use...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Ports Policy (18 Feb 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I am not aware of that committee nor am I a member of it, but I will be happy to reply by correspondence.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Ports Policy (18 Feb 2014)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy is aware, Dublin Port Company is responsible for the State’s largest port and handles over 40% of the total tonnage in any given year at Irish ports. The company’s importance is recognised in the national ports policy, which designates the company as a tier 1 port of national significance and includes the continued commercial development of the company as a key...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Ports Policy (18 Feb 2014)

Leo Varadkar: It is worth pointing out that Dublin Port is now a very lean operation; it has only approximately 100 staff. Effectively, the port is now a landlord and estate management company. The terminals are operated by three different private companies, all of which are competing with one another. I am satisfied with the level of internal competition in the port. I do not recognise any major need...