Results 6,301-6,320 of 11,242 for speaker:Noel Dempsey

[i]Roads Bill 2007 [/i][[i]Seanad[/i]][b]: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages.[/b] (4 Jul 2007)

Noel Dempsey: I take responsibility for the agencies under my Department's aegis. I will not accept the amendments because they will not serve a useful purpose. In the light of what Deputies said, however, I will take seriously their comments about obtaining the information they need to do their job. I will take up this matter with the agencies concerned under my Department's aegis to ensure queries...

[i]Roads Bill 2007 [/i][[i]Seanad[/i]][b]: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages.[/b] (4 Jul 2007)

Noel Dempsey: Deputy Mitchell did not outline what other functions she envisaged for the system. Perhaps she will do so if the opportunity arises. She may have in mind the retention of records on car registration numbers. The M50 is subject to intensive video surveillance and live cameras are placed along its entire length. The traffic authorities and the Garda Síochána have access to this footage....

[i]Roads Bill 2007 [/i][[i]Seanad[/i]][b]: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages.[/b] (4 Jul 2007)

Noel Dempsey: I do not wish to be discourteous to the Deputy. As he indicated, he is new in the House and unfamiliar with its procedures. I assure him that, in the context of the move to barrier-free tolling, the National Roads Authority intends to examine all the by-laws on tolling, including those relating to disabled drivers. I will convey the Deputy's views on the matter to the NRA. It is clear,...

[i]Roads Bill 2007 [/i][[i]Seanad[/i]][b]: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages.[/b] (4 Jul 2007)

Noel Dempsey: As the Deputy notes, the amendment would remove the words "in the State" from the provision. However, this is an important technical provision in the Bill. I am told it was subject to considerable research and consultation by the office of the Parliamentary Counsel to ensure the wording was precisely in line with the terminology used in a range of other finance, customs and road traffic...

[i]Roads Bill 2007 [/i][[i]Seanad[/i]][b]: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages.[/b] (4 Jul 2007)

Noel Dempsey: It may be all the things the Deputy suggests but it is there for a purpose, namely, to ensure people do not devise ways and means of getting away with the non-payment of tolls. The vast majority will pay their tolls and will do so if not willingly, then because they must. For a long time we in this country tolerated the many who did not obey the laws like the rest of us and who got away...

[i]Roads Bill 2007 [/i][[i]Seanad[/i]][b]: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages.[/b] (4 Jul 2007)

Noel Dempsey: Under section 4(3)(c) a person can use that defence provided he or she has informed the Garda or the Garda is otherwise aware that the car was stolen. The question of community service might be a matter for the discretion of the court but I am not sure. While it is always useful to have the threat of prison I agree with the Deputy that the options of community service and fines should be...

[i]Roads Bill 2007 [/i][[i]Seanad[/i]][b]: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages.[/b] (4 Jul 2007)

Noel Dempsey: Section 47 (1) of the Roads Act 1993 sets out four types of road scheme which a roads authority can make: a motorway scheme, a busway scheme, a protected road scheme and a protected road scheme amending a protected road scheme approved under section 49. The word "may" is used where the Deputy wishes to delete it to reflect the fact that several types of scheme can be made. Were I to accept...

[i]Roads Bill 2007 [/i][[i]Seanad[/i]][b]: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages.[/b] (4 Jul 2007)

Noel Dempsey: I assure theDeputythat it is not in the Bill because it is a matter of course in respect of road schemes, particularly in the National Roads Authority. The Road Traffic Act 1994 provides for the publication of notices in newspapers where a road scheme is proposed for submission to An Bord Pleanála; in the case of the proposed amendment to the Roads Act 1993 or where it is proposed to make...

[i]Roads Bill 2007 [/i][[i]Seanad[/i]][b]: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages.[/b] (4 Jul 2007)

Noel Dempsey: In that case I can make a policy direction to them to do it.

[i]Roads Bill 2007 [/i][[i]Seanad[/i]][b]: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages.[/b] (4 Jul 2007)

Noel Dempsey: The amendment as proposed by Deputy Shortall provides for powers to be given to members of the Garda Síochána to remove without warrant a person or things obstructing a service area. The amendment is not necessary because sections 71 and 72 of the 1993 Act provide extensive powers, not just to gardaí, but to officers of local authorities to remove obstructions on public roads. The...

[i]Roads Bill 2007 [/i][[i]Seanad[/i]][b]: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages.[/b] (4 Jul 2007)

Noel Dempsey: I would not like to think that anything I said earlier would amount to an accusation that Members were misusing the committee system. The correction made by Deputy Olivia Mitchell that Members were not using it properly is probably more accurate and reflects what I was trying to say. There is nothing to stop members of committees ordering their business so that agencies such as the NRA or...

Roads Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2007)

Noel Dempsey: I do not know if I can add much to what I have already said on this. The position is as I outlined it. I will not do anything. I believe the Road Traffic Acts are the most litigated set of laws in the country. The best advice I have is to follow the route I am taking. A garda can now carry out a random breath test at the scene of an accident if he feels it is necessary.

Roads Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2007)

Noel Dempsey: There may be times when more urgent things need to be done, such as saving someone's life. Nobody in this House would be forgiven for passing a law that stated a garda had to start taking——

Roads Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2007)

Noel Dempsey: Let us have a serious debate. A mandatory test means that the garda must do it, no matter what the circumstances. Let us call a spade a spade.

Roads Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2007)

Noel Dempsey: That is provided for in the Bill.

Roads Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2007)

Noel Dempsey: It is provided for in the legislation.

Roads Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2007)

Noel Dempsey: I have dealt with the amendments in detail. I am three or four weeks in the job. I will be looking at road safety Bills for the future and I will be mindful of the advice I receive. The best advice I have received at the moment is that this is as far as we can go.

Roads Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2007)

Noel Dempsey: I understand the intent of the Deputy to try to reflect the fact that the functions and name of the Department of Transport are to change. However, the alterations to the name of the Department and to the title of the Minister, as well as the associated transfer of departmental administration and ministerial functions, have yet to be formally made. It will take place as soon as is...

Roads Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2007)

Noel Dempsey: I am responsible for the same marine functions as my predecessor.

Roads Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2007)

Noel Dempsey: The ports.