Results 3,821-3,840 of 24,555 for speaker:Jerry Buttimer

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 May 2022)

Jerry Buttimer: Ask the Opposition.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Jerry Buttimer: I welcome Dr. Bedford to the meeting. I have absolute confidence in his qualifications and experience. I propose that the committee engage further with the Medical Bureau of Road Safety following today's meeting. Its annual report for 2020 is an extraordinary piece of work that the committee should examine. A report earlier this year revealed a trebling in the number of drivers behind...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Jerry Buttimer: It is a very fair point.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Jerry Buttimer: In my next question, I will be putting Dr. Bedford on the spot although I do not mean to. I am confused by a statement on page 21 of the 2020 annual report. It states 86 station-based systems were available and that 43 of those were available for use outside the station. It adds that, in total, 87 analysers were available exclusively for mobile use. I am curious as to what that actually...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Jerry Buttimer: In preparing for today's meeting, I read the 2019 and 2020 reports on the bureau's website, which is fascinating. The amount of available data is unbelievable. That is why I asked the question. I was not in any way trying to trip up Dr. Bedford. There is analysis of difference by county and charts indicating what happens at different times of the day, including the mornings, afternoons...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Jerry Buttimer: Does Dr. Bedford support early morning breathalyser checks by An Garda Síochána?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Jerry Buttimer: I am conscious that my time is up.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Jerry Buttimer: I could stay for the day but I am cognisant of the time and the fact other members who wish to contribute. The work of the medical bureau on safety is something the committee should engage on more. As a member of the joint policing committee in Cork city, I am conscious that there are discrepancies between urban and rural areas as well. That is mentioned in the annual report and there is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Jerry Buttimer: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Jerry Buttimer: Deputy O'Rourke referenced earlier the operation of the bureau. Is there anything that we as a committee should be advocating on its behalf in terms of equipment, staffing or its operational matters. It is important. I am genuinely concerned by the increase in fatalities on the road in 2022. I would like to hear Dr. Bedford's views on that matter as well. In the context of the bureau's...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Jerry Buttimer: Is that sufficient?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Jerry Buttimer: Right.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Jerry Buttimer: May I ask one question if we have time?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Jerry Buttimer: In the introduction to Professor Cusack's report of 2020, on page 1, he speaks about the number of preliminary drug testing devices supplied to An Garda Síochána for roadside use having increased as a result of a further 43 devices having been released from Garda stations for roadside use. At the end of 2020, there were 130 devices available for roadside drug testing in comparison...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Shannon Group: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Jerry Buttimer: The Senator could mention Cork as well.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Shannon Group: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Jerry Buttimer: First, I wish to express my absolute confidence in Mr. Henry as chair. Despite his very modest assertion that he is not an aviation expert, he brings a wealth of experience to the position and has demonstrated that today in his presentation. We all come with competing interests in terms of Cork, Dublin and Shannon, but we should operate in the realm of policy change, as Mr. Henry said....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Shannon Group: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Jerry Buttimer: I agree. That is why, arising from our meeting in Shannon and, hopefully, from our meeting in Cork, we will see the importance of the points Mr. Henry made in his presentation and how advocating that all airports outside of Dublin remain in the regional airports programme is essential. The Shannon stopover was removed. The whole aviation policy has changed. IATA will tell us that there is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Shannon Group: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Jerry Buttimer: Cork is remarkable.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 May 2022)

Jerry Buttimer: Good man.