Results 3,861-3,880 of 26,006 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: I presume our guests deal with national car test, NCT, centres as well, so there is interaction in that regard. How long would it take to recruit someone to be able to drive a bus who has no experience but who has an ordinary driving licence?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Is that training system defined by the RSA?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: The tests to allow someone to become a bus driver.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Where is the uncertainty, in that case?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: How long are drivers waiting at the moment?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Representatives of the RSA appeared before the committee last week in respect of general driving licences. The wait for them can be up to 15 weeks. For our guests' industry, it is slightly shorter than that but, with all the documentation, it can take 12 to 14 weeks.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: We will follow up on this with the RSA. We have covered the skills shortages and the funding. Is there any other area our guests wish to raise?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Will our guests write to us specifically on the licensing system? As I understand it, a person has to apply and then agree a route with the NTA, which can take a considerable period. He or she is then required to get all the bus stops signed off by the local authority or whoever, which might be IDA Ireland or another body. How long is that typically taking?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: I am familiar with that. My local authority in Limerick was exceptional in fast-tracking such cases but even then, they took time. Will our guests come up with an effective protocol based on what is happening elsewhere? If it is too complicated, it will not happen. I ask them to give timescales and come back with something with which we can approach the NTA. We would certainly like it to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: I thank Mr. Conway, Mr. Crowley and Mr. Lynch for coming before us. We ask them to write to us on those matters. We see our committee very much as one that is looking to get solutions and being proactive. We are in the process of writing to the RSA and we held off on that until our guests had appeared before us because we felt that elements of this meeting would cover its sector as well....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: The purpose of this session is to discuss TII's report, Impact of National Road Speed Limit Reductions on Greenhouse Gas Emissions. I welcome Mr. Derek Brady, head of strategic and transport planning, and Ms Helen Hughes, director of professional services, TII. I thank the witnesses for their forbearance as the other session ran over; nonetheless it will be just as illuminating. I will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: I am sorry; what will that analysis entail?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Is Mr. Brady talking then about a kind of hierarchy in terms of speed limits going from motorways to national and regional roads?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: TII's report is saying in layman's terms that reducing the speed on motorways drives people onto the national roads and reducing the speed on national roads drives people onto the regional roads.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Did TII factor reducing the speeds and cascading down along into that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Did TII not look at speed limits below that tier?.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Has TII been able to measure the greenhouse gas emissions on the various forms of roads in Ireland, for instance, what percentage comes from motorways, national roads and regional roads? Does TII have that kind of empirical work done?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: That would obviously be a big factor as well.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Is there a direct correlation from that figure to the greenhouse gas emissions generated by both or does a much higher percentage come from motorways?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Coach Sector: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: I will keep going. Appendix A of the report makes for very interesting reading. For the ordinary layperson out there, when we look at the different types of cars, we see that a small petrol car is most efficient when it is doing approximately 60 km/h. A medium-sized petrol car is best when it is doing approximately 70 km/h. A large petrol car, interestingly, is better when it is doing 80...