Results 7,701-7,720 of 18,851 for speaker:Fergus O'Dowd
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Accessibility of Public Transport for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)
Fergus O'Dowd: I apologise to our witnesses who have been waiting and welcome them to the meeting. We started our meeting at 9.30 a.m. but we had other issues to deal with. Mr. Ciarán Delaney recommended that we invite the witnesses and we will call them in the following order: Ms Diane Hill, to be followed by Mr. Dermot O'Leary and then by Mr. Ciarán Delaney. I remind members, delegates and...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Accessibility of Public Transport for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)
Fergus O'Dowd: Absolutely, that can be done.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Accessibility of Public Transport for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)
Fergus O'Dowd: The NTA is entitled to the respect of Mr. O'Leary and myself when referring to it. Referring to it as a "so-called authority" and "this crowd" is unacceptable. However, I do take and support fully-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Accessibility of Public Transport for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)
Fergus O'Dowd: Just one second please. I am delighted Mr. O'Leary came in and I particularly welcome his clear and public commitment on this issue. As Chairman, it is my job to ensure every State body is referred to by its name, no matter what a delegate thinks of it.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Accessibility of Public Transport for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)
Fergus O'Dowd: I do not want to have to adjourn this meeting because we are here to talk about disability. That is the only issue.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Accessibility of Public Transport for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)
Fergus O'Dowd: As Chairman, it is my job to ensure that every State body or union is treated respectfully, even if one disagrees profoundly with it.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Accessibility of Public Transport for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)
Fergus O'Dowd: That is fair. I very much welcome Mr. O'Leary's strong commitment to change and to supporting disability. I call Mr. Delaney.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Accessibility of Public Transport for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)
Fergus O'Dowd: Mr. Delaney should take his time. His words are words of wisdom.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Accessibility of Public Transport for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)
Fergus O'Dowd: Before opening the discussion to members, I thank all the witnesses for attending and giving us the benefit of their knowledge. Mr. Delaney is the best advocate for change I know. I thank him for bringing more issues to our attention today.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Accessibility of Public Transport for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)
Fergus O'Dowd: I call Deputy O'Keefe and then Deputy Barry.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Accessibility of Public Transport for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)
Fergus O'Dowd: I call Deputy Barry.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Accessibility of Public Transport for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)
Fergus O'Dowd: They will love him for that-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Accessibility of Public Transport for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)
Fergus O'Dowd: Here we go.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Accessibility of Public Transport for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)
Fergus O'Dowd: Does Deputy Barry wish to come in?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Accessibility of Public Transport for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)
Fergus O'Dowd: I agree. I have just a few questions. JAM is a very important and useful card to have. This question concerns the definition of who can and cannot carry it. I refer to somebody who may be of advanced years and might be confused as opposed to having a medical issue, and I am trying to use the right words here. How does one deal with that issue? For example, if someone is 85 years of age...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Accessibility of Public Transport for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)
Fergus O'Dowd: I would agree, absolutely.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Accessibility of Public Transport for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)
Fergus O'Dowd: That is what will be written on it. What does it cost? It is a wonderful idea and it make a lot of sense. It makes one think and say one had better pay attention here. What would it cost to introduce it here? Who would have to pay for that service? I presume it would be the witness's group.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Accessibility of Public Transport for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)
Fergus O'Dowd: If we were to introduce it in the South, we would have to get the consent of the transport operator to recognise it and that is why the buy-in from the unions is so important. What should we recommend to make this work?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Accessibility of Public Transport for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)
Fergus O'Dowd: To do this, we would have to recommend to the transport operators, public and private, that they would have to work with the witness's group on this.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Accessibility of Public Transport for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)
Fergus O'Dowd: Ms Hill made the point that people sometimes get confused when they hear noises they cannot interpret. In terms of best practice, what should the committee be recommending? Noises can be confusing for elderly people as well.