Results 5,641-5,660 of 26,014 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell

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

Kieran O'Donnell: So very few of them tested positive.

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

Kieran O'Donnell: I just had a look at one of the statistics in the Medical Bureau of Road Safety annual report for 2020. It states that in 30% of the 4,489 tests it did people had more than one drug in their systems. Some 2,241 tests were positive for one drug but 1,409, over 30%, were positive for two drugs in their systems. I presume that is outside of alcohol.

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

Kieran O'Donnell: Are there any statistics that show where people had both alcohol and drugs in their systems?

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

Kieran O'Donnell: Did the Medical Bureau of Road Safety recommend to the Department that it should increase the fines where there is more than one drug found in a test, be it a combination of drugs or alcohol? Did it recommend the use of interlocks?

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

Kieran O'Donnell: Have they gone into the-----

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

Kieran O'Donnell: Does Senator Horkan wish to come in?

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

Kieran O'Donnell: Dr. Bedford has been a surprise. I mean that in the nicest possible way and in terms of wealth of information.

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

Kieran O'Donnell: This is something we are going to follow up on. He has been very interactive. As a committee, we have made a general point regarding the role of chairpersons designate. That is a separate issue from our engagement with Dr. Bedford. I have read the annual report and Dr. Bedford is a key cog in the area of road safety so we will be following up with him.

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

Kieran O'Donnell: The Senator was double-tasking. That is good to hear.

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

Kieran O'Donnell: We will probably do some structured follow-up work with the CEO of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety as well. We on the committee are legislators and these matters are being brought up with us on the ground. We are probably all members of joint policing committees. One of the updates we get every month is from the chief superintendent in our area. In my case, in Limerick, I am tracking...

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

Kieran O'Donnell: The Senator may ask a brief question. We have time.

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

Kieran O'Donnell: Could we ask Dr. Bedford to go back to his board to see whether the preliminary results for 2021 could be published now? It would feed into the development of public policy and into how we look at matters as legislators and as a committee. We wish Dr. Bedford continued success in his role and thank him for his work as a public health specialist over many decades. We will write to the...

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

Kieran O'Donnell: I thank Dr. Bedford for assisting the committee today. We will now take a short break before this afternoon's second session, which will be with Mr. Conal Henry, chair designate of Shannon Group.

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

Kieran O'Donnell: The joint committee resumes in public session for an engagement with Mr. Conal Henry, chair-designate of Shannon Group. I welcome Mr. Henry to the committee and thank him for his patience. We look forward to hearing from him. Witnesses are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not criticise or make charges against any person or entity by name...

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

Kieran O'Donnell: Before I move to Members for questions, I acknowledge the presence of Irish Naval Association members from Limerick and Cork along with my colleague from Limerick City and County Council, Sarah Kiely, in the audience. I thank them for their work. It is great to have them here.

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

Kieran O'Donnell: You may wish to conclude, Deputy.

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

Kieran O'Donnell: And competing with Dublin.

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

Kieran O'Donnell: The terms of reference of the national aviation policy review will be key, and we will look to work with Shannon and Cork in that regard.

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

Kieran O'Donnell: Before we move on, I wish to welcome further members of the Irish Naval Association from Limerick and Cork. It is great to have them here. They are here in great numbers and bringing great colour to Leinster House.

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

Kieran O'Donnell: The Senator is always welcome.