Results 6,021-6,040 of 11,242 for speaker:Noel Dempsey

Aer Lingus Proposal. (18 Oct 2007)

Noel Dempsey: I will go through this one more time. The official who saw the information in the newspaper on 13 June tried himself to make contact with Aer Lingus to establish the truth of the matter. He was unable to make contact directly. Another official was asked to do it because the first official had a number of meetings that morning. The second official made contact with a person in Aer Lingus...

Aer Lingus Proposal. (18 Oct 2007)

Noel Dempsey: The official made an attempt to ring the chief executive of Aer Lingus in the morning——

Aer Lingus Proposal. (18 Oct 2007)

Noel Dempsey: ——but did not succeed in making contact. He told the principal officer to make contact, which was initiated. There was a conversation. I do not want to be accused of misleading the House, because I am not sure of this, but there was a conversation in the afternoon between the assistant secretary and the chief executive of Aer Lingus in which the information about the Belfast hub was...

Aer Lingus Proposal. (18 Oct 2007)

Noel Dempsey: He knew that this would have implications and that anything to do with Shannon Airport was sensitive. Any issue such as this would come under the remit of Government policy in the areas of aviation, regional development and so on.

Aer Lingus Proposal. (18 Oct 2007)

Noel Dempsey: He asked the chief executive——

Aer Lingus Proposal. (18 Oct 2007)

Noel Dempsey: ——to consider all of these matters——

Aer Lingus Proposal. (18 Oct 2007)

Noel Dempsey: ——which the chief executive agreed to do. As I said, the next contact was initiated by the Department on 27 July. To answer the specific question again, neither that conversation nor the memo was brought to my attention.

Aer Lingus Proposal. (18 Oct 2007)

Noel Dempsey: It is normal procedure to brief a Minister. I got a brief and the Deputies opposite have a copy of that brief. On 19 June I had a divisional briefing, which was verbal and around a table. I was not told at that stage——

Aer Lingus Proposal. (18 Oct 2007)

Noel Dempsey: I do not really care whether Deputies on the opposite side want to make a political football out of this.

Aer Lingus Proposal. (18 Oct 2007)

Noel Dempsey: As I stated, I do not expect anybody in the Opposition to believe anything — it does not suit them.

Aer Lingus Proposal. (18 Oct 2007)

Noel Dempsey: Deputy Coveney asked if there was a briefing and stated that I am an experienced Minister. There was a briefing. There was a briefing document and there was a briefing session. I can tell the Deputy that I was not told of the contents of that information.

Aer Lingus Proposal. (18 Oct 2007)

Noel Dempsey: If Deputy Quinn wants to call me a liar, he should come out and be man enough to do it.

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (17 Oct 2007)

Noel Dempsey: The information requested by the Deputy is contained in the tables. Name Establishment Date 1997-2007 No. of Members No. of Staff Budget €m Córas Iompair Éireann 01/01/1945 2007 12 283 *See below 2006 12 290 2005 12 298 2004 12 303 2003 12 302 2002 12 315 2001 12 444 2000 12 407 1999 12 314 1998 12 299 1997 12 311 Bus Éireann 11/12/1986...

Written Answers — Anti-Poverty Strategy: Anti-Poverty Strategy (17 Oct 2007)

Noel Dempsey: My Department takes account of the revised guidelines for Poverty Impact Assessment that were published by the Office for Social Inclusion in July this year when assessing policy proposals.

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (17 Oct 2007)

Noel Dempsey: I propose to take Questions Nos. 263 and 264 together. The public information campaign One Small Step encourages drivers in the Greater Dublin Area to examine their car usage patterns and to think about using other ways of getting around, such as walking, cycling or public transport, whenever they can. The campaign targets car drivers specifically. The campaign promotes cycling and walking...

Written Answers — Public Transport: Public Transport (17 Oct 2007)

Noel Dempsey: The area referred to by Deputy is primarily served by bus-based public transport. The deployment of buses is an operational matter for Dublin Bus but I understand that as part of the allocation of the 100 additional buses, Dublin Bus has put additional buses on Route 54A which services Harold's Cross and this has resulted in a 25% increase in frequency on the route. In addition, Dublin Bus...

Written Answers — Airport Development Projects: Airport Development Projects (17 Oct 2007)

Noel Dempsey: The State Airports Act, 2004 provides the framework for the establishment of Shannon and Cork as independent airports. Under the Act, both the Minister for Finance and I will have to be satisfied as to the state of operational and financial readiness of the three airports before any vesting of assets can take place. The actual timing of airport restructuring will continue to depend on the...

Written Answers — Air Services: Air Services (17 Oct 2007)

Noel Dempsey: A media article on 13th June 2007 reported the possibility of Aer Lingus opening a new base at Belfast. Following a query to the Company by my Department on foot of that article, the Company, on 13th June, indicated that it was considering opening a new base at Belfast and that, if the proposal proceeded, there would be implications for Shannon. An official conveyed the concerns of the...

Written Answers — Air Services: Air Services (17 Oct 2007)

Noel Dempsey: The legal advice available to the Government is that shareholders do not have the power to over-rule management decisions on business matters. Even if the Government on its own or in conjunction with other shareholders called an EGM and voted for the restoration of the Shannon Heathrow service, the management of Aer Lingus would not be obliged to follow any such direction from its...

Written Answers — Tourism Industry: Tourism Industry (17 Oct 2007)

Noel Dempsey: My Department is currently finalising an Economic and Tourism Development Plan for the Shannon Airport catchment area. The Plan has been prepared in consultation with the Department of Finance, the Department of Arts, Sport & Tourism, the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment and the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. The purpose of the plan is to ensure that...