Results 4,841-4,860 of 8,986 for speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The difficulty is that as the Minister has acknowledged, he is a member of the Cabinet, which has collective responsibility. The Minister's Department has sanctioned the overwhelming majority of licences that have allowed troops to pass through Shannon. I must ask the Minister for his opinion on the matter in his capacity as a member of the Cabinet. It is not just a matter for him but also...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: That is fair enough.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Can the Minister give us more information on what is meant by "indiscriminate in nature". We live in a world where there is an evolution of weaponry. Does the Minister have a list of what weaponry is acceptable or indiscriminate in nature?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: We are pursuing the same or similar information from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, but I thought they might have provided the Minister with the information today.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Can we take the Minister's reply to those questions first, and I will then let the Deputy back in?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I call Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: As long as the Deputy needs.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: As it is now 5.10 p.m., we have approximately 15 minutes left.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: When we visited Shannon Airport, we were told a diplomatic note was required for military aircraft. For civil and chartered aircraft, guidance would be sought. The US Department of Defense would notify the Minister's Department that there would be X amount of troops on an aeroplane and so on and he would then seek guidance from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on the matter. In...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade issues the diplomatic note. The gardaí whom we met at Shannon Airport told us that they compared a military aircraft with a diplomatic note to an embassy. Once a diplomatic note had been issued, as far as they were concerned, they had no jurisdiction, unless someone could prove with a degree of evidence that a crime was happening which, of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: If the Minister does not mind, we are nearing the close. I will allow Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett to ask a final question. He will be followed by Deputy Seamus Kirk who has been waiting patiently.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: When we met the management of the Shannon Airport Authority, it was at pains to point out that the overall percentage of US military personnel aircraft passing through Shannon Airport was low. This is confirmed by the Minister's last statement that the percentage of such traffic is approximately 4% of the airport's overall business. I understand the Minister has another commitment. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Effects of Gangland Crime: Discussion (18 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The committee was carrying out work separate from this recently and it was pointed out that there had been a noticeable increase in drug use and so on as the economy appeared to be on the upturn. Ms Metcalfe's evidence was powerful in this regard; it is almost as if she is starting again on the same challenge. Have any of the witnesses reflected on the failure of the war on drugs...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Effects of Gangland Crime: Discussion (18 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Around $100 billion is spent per year spent on fighting the war on drugs. It is estimated that the illicit drug trade is worth about $450 billion a year, all in the hands of criminals. Of course, that is what drives drugs gangs; that is what drives criminal gangs. This debate must be interlinked with policy on drugs. It is mostly disadvantaged inner city areas that are affected. I am a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Effects of Gangland Crime: Discussion (18 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Mr. O'Driscoll's comment that just because a decision is made to decriminalise a particular type of drug does not mean the criminal drugs gangs will not continue with their enterprise is very important. Cigarette smuggling was referenced in this regard. Retail Excellence Ireland appeared before the committee recently on a different matter. That agency stated that it would be willing to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Equality and Fairness of State Pension: (Resumed) Discussion (11 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The committee is now sitting in public session in its capacity as the Joint Sub-committee on Petitions. This petition is entitled equality and fairness regarding the raising of the State pension age to 66 and beyond. The petitioner was Mr. Henry Gaynor and it is petition No. 33 of 2013. Mr. Fergus Whelan, industrial officer in the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, is with us today. We are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Equality and Fairness of State Pension: (Resumed) Discussion (11 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I thank Mr. Whelan. I call Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Equality and Fairness of State Pension: (Resumed) Discussion (11 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I call Deputy McEntee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Equality and Fairness of State Pension: (Resumed) Discussion (11 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I call Senator Ó Clochartaigh.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Equality and Fairness of State Pension: (Resumed) Discussion (11 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I wish to make one point before I let in Deputy Kirk. It is clear that what Mr. Whelan wants is for the pension of €230 to be available at the age 65 years, and, therefore, that the people concerned would not have to avail of the jobseeker's benefit. Does he think the arrangement as it stands devalues the jobseeker's system? I declare an interest. Many years ago I worked for the...