Results 5,281-5,300 of 11,242 for speaker:Noel Dempsey

Carbon Emissions. (5 Feb 2008)

Noel Dempsey: If economic prosperity continues, people will continue to buy cars. We have a plan in place called Transport 21 and it is being implemented despite what Deputy O'Dowd says. We are moving ahead with all the public transport infrastructure, including metro north and the Luas lines, so progress is being made. However, we cannot just wave magic wands and produce new Luas or metro lines...

Proposed Legislation. (5 Feb 2008)

Noel Dempsey: Driving while disqualified from doing so is deemed to be the same as driving without a licence. The Garda has powers under section 38 of the Road Traffic 1961 to deal with the offence of driving a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place without holding a valid driving licence. A driver detected driving while disqualified can be summonsed to appear before the courts to answer that...

Proposed Legislation. (5 Feb 2008)

Noel Dempsey: Anybody who has accumulated 12 penalty points should not drive and he or she should surrender his or her licence. The legislation governing this is the direct responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and it states clearly if the driver is brought before a court, the licence must be handed into the court and the judge should so order. I am not sure...

Proposed Legislation. (5 Feb 2008)

Noel Dempsey: The resourcing of the Garda is a matter for the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. I went to great pains on the day I announced the road safety strategy to point out the format of the strategy was stark and I felt strongly every agency should take its own responsibility in this regard. I take responsibility for the strategy and its implementation but everybody has bought into...

Road Safety. (5 Feb 2008)

Noel Dempsey: I have stated previously in the House that I do not want to distract the Road Safety Authority from the important work it has in hand by directing it to produce safety audits of roads. I am satisfied with the role being played by the authority, as well as by local authorities and council engineering staff, in highlighting and improving roads where safety is an issue. Over the past five...

Road Safety. (5 Feb 2008)

Noel Dempsey: Part of the road safety strategy is based on pursuing a number of different issues, with education, enforcement and engineering comprising three legs of a four-leg strategy. This concept includes improving roads and ensuring new roads are constructed to the safest possible standard. Specific moneys are available to deal with blackspots on existing non-national roads in each county. Our...

Road Safety. (5 Feb 2008)

Noel Dempsey: It was very progressive and all the moneys he promised were spent over the past decade. We are now into the second stage of the programme but difficulties remain on our roads. Regardless of what happens in the next ten or 20 years, we will always have difficulties on our roads. That is not to say we should be defeatist because we should target the funding. Local authorities have...

Road Safety. (5 Feb 2008)

Noel Dempsey: I propose to take Questions Nos. 109 and 166 together. The Road Safety Strategy for 2007-2012, which was launched in October 2007, identifies the need to legislate for and introduce a reduction in the legal blood alcohol content, BAC, level for drivers but it does not specify what that level should be. The Government has accepted the Road Safety Authority's recommendation that the BAC level...

Road Safety. (5 Feb 2008)

Noel Dempsey: I reiterate for the Deputy that the final version of the road safety strategy did not contain any recommendation other than the limit should be reduced and that the Road Safety Authority should advise me once it conducted its research on the matter. In regard to the 0.08% limit in the UK and Ireland, there is a belief that a reduction in the limit would automatically reduce the number of road...

Road Safety. (5 Feb 2008)

Noel Dempsey: There is no single answer to this problem. I am not saying blood alcohol levels are not a factor but they are not the only one. The UK and Ireland are alone in respect of the 80 m/g limit but the UK has some of the best road safety statistics of any country in Europe. Unlike older generations, young people are much more careful about drinking and driving, although I may be proven wrong when...

Road Safety. (5 Feb 2008)

Noel Dempsey: It has more to do with speed in the case of younger people. I have no statistics to support my opinion, which is based on experience and anecdotes. I am of the view that more young drivers are killed as a result of speed and drugs than are killed by the consumption of alcohol and that more older drivers are killed as a result of the latter. The research carried out by the RSA, with which I...

Road Safety. (5 Feb 2008)

Noel Dempsey: I do not know whether Opposition Deputies can be asked to stop misleading the House. I did not veto anything.

Road Safety. (5 Feb 2008)

Noel Dempsey: I accept that——

Road Safety. (5 Feb 2008)

Noel Dempsey: On a point of order, I was of the view that I could suggest someone was misleading the House but that I could not state that he or she was telling lies.

Road Safety. (5 Feb 2008)

Noel Dempsey: I will take what Deputy——

Road Safety. (5 Feb 2008)

Noel Dempsey: The Deputy made an accusation that I vetoed a proposal which was presented to me. I did not do so.

Road Safety. (5 Feb 2008)

Noel Dempsey: I have stated previously, since I became Minister for Transport and when I served as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, that I take road safety more seriously than any of my predecessors. We put in place the first road safety strategy when I was Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. I will not refer to crashes that occurred at the weekend or...

Road Safety. (5 Feb 2008)

Noel Dempsey: We have a serious problem. When I arrive at my office each morning, the first thing with which I am presented is a sheet listing the latest position in respect of road deaths and injuries. I requested that this information be provided as a matter of priority because I take this matter seriously.

Road Safety. (5 Feb 2008)

Noel Dempsey: I did not say that young people do not drink and drive.

Road Safety. (5 Feb 2008)

Noel Dempsey: I said what the Deputy alluded to in his second statement, namely, that young people are more likely to use taxis, select a designated driver or make some other arrangement. It is unfair to make a blanket criticism of young people because they are making——