Results 5,921-5,940 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: I appeal-----

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: I will answer Deputy Mattie McGrath's questions.

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: I have plenty of time, as the Deputy will probably appreciate.

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: Deputy Mattie McGrath raised several questions today and yesterday. They were the same on several occasions.

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: He did not get an answer because I have only just stood up. It would be very difficult for me to answer when I was not speaking.

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: Let me answer the Deputy's question about people who failed the test umpteen times. He is suggesting that people who failed the test umpteen times are apparently being victimised. They failed the test for very good reasons. They failed the test because they are not safe on the roads on their own. The Deputy is suggesting to me that somehow if they fail the test even more times, they...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: I am not prepared to accept that.

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: They are either qualified to drive or they are not qualified to drive.

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: Thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I hope the House will notice that I have sat through many hours of this and have not interrupted anybody at any stage. I have not been unprovoked.

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: I say that through the Chair. Deputy Mattie McGrath condemned the 1.5 m distance for bicycles. That is an argument he may certainly make, but-----

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: -----he must acknowledge that this is there to save the lives of cyclists.

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: I will not involve myself in a dialogue with the Deputy. I am sorry, but I have serious things to address and not to be interrupted.

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: Deputy Mattie McGrath went on to say things about the RSA. He is absolutely right that the RSA is not a perfect body and it never has been a perfect body. However, he went on to say that I have appointed more board members and increased the size of the board. That is just inaccurate. The board of the RSA is smaller now than it was when I came to office. I have appointed two members.

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: Deputy McGrath, please-----

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: Thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I have appointed two members, at least, to the board of the RSA. I appointed two members who are victims of road tragedies. I have appointed two members who will speak with authority on this issue because they have suffered on this issue. They have suffered and lost loved ones. They are influential. Are you opposing that?

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: Is Deputy Mattie McGrath opposing that? They are there to represent the voices of those who have suffered. I believe that will bring more success to our drive for the reduction of road deaths. I believe Deputy Eamon Ryan pointed out that 159 people died on the roads last year. A large number of those were alcohol-related deaths. It is absolutely unacceptable that 159 people died, but...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: I am very sorry that this debate has taken the turn it has, particularly in the recent speech. It is imperative that I point that this is a very serious matter. I take very seriously the views of people on the other side of this House and I respect them. I respect the claim of many of them to speak for rural Ireland and to hold sincerely held views which are not held by the majority of...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: Even to say that an inconvenience to people, who are breaking the law, by the way, is in some way is of equal importance to the deaths they cause is quite farcical and holds no water. There may be arguments about levels. There may be justifiable arguments, and there are, about rural Ireland. I think Deputy Michael Healy-Rae said that the problem was there beforehand, and it is. I...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: I agree that we must recognise and tackle them. That is our duty as a Government, but that does not mean that we should allow people to drive up and down the roads of Dublin or rural Ireland when they have had too much to drink. To say, as so many speakers have said, that this is not rural-proofed is, again, dishonest. If we are talking about it numerically, several speakers have quite...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Parking Regulations (25 Apr 2018)

Shane Ross: The Road Traffic Act provides local authorities and county councils the power to make bye-laws governing the type of parking controls operating within their own regions. It is a matter for each individual authority to consider how it wishes to charge for parking, including EVs while parked at charge points. Enforcement procedures also lie directly with each local authority or county...