Results 8,001-8,020 of 10,035 for speaker:Martin Cullen

Decentralisation Programme. (22 Jun 2005)

Martin Cullen: A number of posts, including 40 posts in the road haulage division of the Department of Transport and ten posts in the National Safety Council, have been identified as early movers under the decentralisation programme. The 50 posts in question are being relocated to Loughrea. I am satisfied with the progress being made in this regard. Nineteen people in the Department of Transport have...

Decentralisation Programme. (22 Jun 2005)

Martin Cullen: The answer to the Deputy's final question is "No". I am committed to the decentralisation programme. Like many Deputies, I can cite examples of the successful operation of the previous decentralisation programme throughout the country. When it was proposed to decentralise the Land Registry to Waterford, which is in my constituency, everyone said it was not possible to transfer a large number...

Decentralisation Programme. (22 Jun 2005)

Martin Cullen: The early movers have been identified and the details in that regard will be finalised in a report that is due in August. The Office of Public Works has made great efforts to identify and acquire sites throughout the country, often with the assistance of local authorities. I know that many sites have been identified. This issue will become clearer when the report, which will deal with a...

Decentralisation Programme. (22 Jun 2005)

Martin Cullen: It will have relevance throughout the system, as I understand it. I am interpreting the documentation I have read about the matter in good faith.

Decentralisation Programme. (22 Jun 2005)

Martin Cullen: That is what the company says.

Decentralisation Programme. (22 Jun 2005)

Martin Cullen: The Deputy is right. I have stated clearly that there is a particular issue with the plan to decentralise Bus Éireann to Mitchelstown. I do not deny that. The Government has announced that it intends to move 200 jobs to Mitchelstown and it intends to see that plan through.

Decentralisation Programme. (22 Jun 2005)

Martin Cullen: I was not involved in the collation of the information at that time. I will not take the blame for it. I was not directly involved in the collation of the figure in question.

Decentralisation Programme. (22 Jun 2005)

Martin Cullen: It was. Most of the figures which were specified when the Government announced that it planned to decentralise jobs to various locations throughout the country were spot on. There is a particular issue in the case of the plan to decentralise Bus Éireann posts to Mitchelstown. The company has said that just 86 posts are suitable for decentralisation. The Department has asked it to re-examine...

Decentralisation Programme. (22 Jun 2005)

Martin Cullen: I want the management of Bus Éireann to be certain that it has applied correctly the criteria which were specified.

Decentralisation Programme. (22 Jun 2005)

Martin Cullen: We must work on the problem. I do not deny that we need to bring clarity to this matter. I would not like to colour the entire decentralisation programme on the basis of this issue.

Decentralisation Programme. (22 Jun 2005)

Martin Cullen: There are a couple of odd and difficult cases.

Decentralisation Programme. (22 Jun 2005)

Martin Cullen: It is not.

Decentralisation Programme. (22 Jun 2005)

Martin Cullen: I do not think the Labour Party's candidate in the Mitchelstown area at the next general election will speak about 86 jobs.

Decentralisation Programme. (22 Jun 2005)

Martin Cullen: No, I do not think the candidate will be thinking——

Decentralisation Programme. (22 Jun 2005)

Martin Cullen: The rationale is that——

Decentralisation Programme. (22 Jun 2005)

Martin Cullen: The simple rationale behind the proposal is that Bus Éireann is a rural-based company that operates direct routes into Dublin. For buses coming into Dublin one naturally needs a Dublin facility to deal with them, but it does not mean that one could not have a substantial number of people — almost half of the number identified — in the country, based in Mitchelstown, as opposed to having...

Decentralisation Programme. (22 Jun 2005)

Martin Cullen: I am not pretending anything.

Decentralisation Programme. (22 Jun 2005)

Martin Cullen: I am adhering to the programme. I have been fair in admitting to the issues involved, and that matters are not quite right, but I do not consider that 86 posts identified for Mitchelstown is somehow a pretence.

Public Transport. (22 Jun 2005)

Martin Cullen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 29 and 42 together. The Road Transport Act 1932, which provides the legislative base for the issue of bus route licences, is administered by the bus route licensing section of my Department. Given the wide range of issues which must be taken into account in assessing an application for a bus route licence under the 1932 Act, the process is both time-consuming...

Public Transport. (22 Jun 2005)

Martin Cullen: I have given the Deputy the figures and she can see that a substantial number of new licences has been issued, both to private and public companies. I agree with the Deputy that the existing legislation and framework for the issuing of licences are completely inadequate. The Road Transport Act 1932 does not provide the necessary framework and raises complex legal issues regarding the...