Results 4,941-4,960 of 10,977 for speaker:Timmy Dooley

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: General Scheme of Road Traffic Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Timmy Dooley: Thank you Chairman. I welcome the deliberations of the gentlemen and thank them for their presence. Mr. Donohue stated: "Unfortunately, agreement could not be reached regarding random testing for alcohol and drugs, as no regulation was in place to cover such testing and the Health and Safety Authority issued guidelines saying that random testing was not provided for under the 2005 Act". Am...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: General Scheme of Road Traffic Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Timmy Dooley: Would Mr. Donohue suggest we also look at amending the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act? Is there a provision he might suggest to us?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: General Scheme of Road Traffic Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Timmy Dooley: Is Mr. Donohoe saying we should expand the element which would put greater emphasis on the employees' responsibilities?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: General Scheme of Road Traffic Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Timmy Dooley: To clarify the situation, I take the point that the Acting Chairman made at the outset of the meeting that the gentlemen concerned are here to deal with this pre-legislation matter, but I think in light of the fact that Mr. Nolan, who is chief executive of Bus Éireann, is here, it would be remiss of us not to take the opportunity to address that. I could accept the Acting Chairman's...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: General Scheme of Road Traffic Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Timmy Dooley: I accept the Acting Chairman's point but that is up to everybody concerned.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: General Scheme of Road Traffic Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Timmy Dooley: I accept that but I put to the Acting Chairman that the spokespersons for the Opposition parties are here and I think it is the business of the committee. If people choose not to be at the committee, that is their loss. Deputy Ellis and I are here. If Mr. Nolan is prepared to take a couple of questions on it, I think it would be a useful encounter; if he is not, clearly we will not pursue it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: General Scheme of Road Traffic Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Timmy Dooley: Let us have that and then when it is over maybe we will enter into a discussion with Mr. Nolan.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: General Scheme of Road Traffic Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Timmy Dooley: We are in the national Parliament. There is a strike about to take place and tens of thousands of people will be discommoded as a result of what is happening. I think there are people who are looking in today who will find it farcical that the parliamentarians cannot have a conversation about it when the forum is in existence and the personnel are here. I think it would make a laughing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: General Scheme of Road Traffic Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Timmy Dooley: I think the Acting Chairman will recognise that we operate on the basis of good faith here and we accept the privilege that has been bestowed upon us by the public. I think it would be an outrageous situation if the chief executive of Bus Éireann, the representative of the company, is with us today, when we are on the verge of a strike during which tens of thousands of people will be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: General Scheme of Road Traffic Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Timmy Dooley: For clarity, it is a discussion and a dialogue. It is not about the committee taking a position. It is not about filing a report at the end of it. It is not about making a judgment or issuing some kind of an opinion. It is a discussion where members of a diverse group of people from different parties have a conversation with the chief executive of Bus Éireann about an impending...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: General Scheme of Road Traffic Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Timmy Dooley: I thank Deputy O'Donovan for his desire to be helpful but I think Mr. Nolan should be in a position to take a question or two from each of us in a respectful way. It is not as if other people do not get access to the airwaves. It is not as if we live in Stalinist Russia and other representatives, be they union representatives or whatever, do not have access to the public airwaves. We have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: General Scheme of Road Traffic Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Timmy Dooley: So long as Mr. Nolan takes a couple of questions. I will respect if he tells the committee, as Mr. Walsh did in relation to the Aer Lingus issue, that there are areas beyond which he cannot go.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: General Scheme of Road Traffic Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Timmy Dooley: I think I got a response on that matter. It was covered in the response on the pre-legislative situation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: General Scheme of Road Traffic Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Timmy Dooley: I thank Mr. Nolan for taking the question. I do not want to stray into the direct industrial relations issue as that is a matter for the company and the unions. However, there are a couple of fundamental points involved. This situation has arisen as a result of the Government’s ideology where a decision was taken in the belief that there would be greater value for money achieved...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: General Scheme of Road Traffic Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Timmy Dooley: Mr. Nolan has clarified the matter. It is fundamentally an issue for the Government in terms of the ideology it is pursuing in its agenda to privatise initially 10% of the route network. Is it not the case that it was open to it to continue the direct award system?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: General Scheme of Road Traffic Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Timmy Dooley: This may be a question I cannot ask, but Bus Éireann must be dismayed that, despite recognising the reports which showed that the company was doing a very efficient job, the Government decided to hive off 10% of the routes and put them out to tender. It will be up to Bus Éireann to try to win them back.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: General Scheme of Road Traffic Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Timmy Dooley: I will take that as a yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: General Scheme of Road Traffic Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Timmy Dooley: If Bus Éireann loses the business in Waterford, it will not expect drivers in Waterford to relocate to Dublin. It seems to be a rushed decision by the Minister to try to quell the strike. It has not been properly though out, no more than the privatisation agenda has been properly thought out. The long-term implications for Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus are that they will end up with...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Aer Lingus Sale (29 Apr 2015)

Timmy Dooley: The Minister is correct that I am fully aware of the current position. However, to paraphrase an advertisement, when it is gone, it is gone. If the State decides to sell its stake in Aer Lingus, it will have no capacity whatsoever to influence the direction of the company. A shareholding of 25% is significant. I accept there are limitations to what a minority shareholder can do but...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Aer Lingus Sale (29 Apr 2015)

Timmy Dooley: That is why we held on to the 25%.