Results 8,361-8,380 of 10,035 for speaker:Martin Cullen

Written Answers — Road Traffic Offences: Road Traffic Offences (4 May 2005)

Martin Cullen: The Road Traffic Act 2002, which provides the legislative basis for the introduction and operation of the penalty points system, contains specific provisions governing application of such points on the licence record of an individual. Section 5 of the Act provides that where penalty points are to be endorsed on a record, a notification of that endorsement must be issued to the licence holder...

Written Answers — Road Network: Road Network (4 May 2005)

Martin Cullen: A review of the national and regional road classification system as set out in Statutory Instrument 209 of 1994, Roads Act 1993 (Declaration of National Roads) Order 1994, and S.I. 400 of 1994, Roads Act 1993 (Declaration of Regional Roads) Order 1994, is currently under way. It is designed to update the statutory instruments to take account of road improvements and route changes since 1994....

Written Answers — Driving Tests: Driving Tests (4 May 2005)

Martin Cullen: My Department's discussions with the Department of Finance about a package of measures to reduce waiting times at all test centres are at an advanced stage. The measures include the recruitment of additional driver testers as well as increased productivity. I expect that my Department will be in a position to proceed with these measures at an early date.

Written Answers — Driving Tests: Driving Tests (4 May 2005)

Martin Cullen: Proposals being developed by my Department for the regulation and quality assurance of driving instruction will involve a test of the competence of individual instructors. A working group comprising representatives of my Department and of instruction interests has formulated the design of the standards that a driving instructor must meet. I am considering what arrangements will be put in...

Written Answers — Rail Services: Rail Services (4 May 2005)

Martin Cullen: I wish to advise the Deputy that this is a day-to-day operational matter for the company concerned.

Written Answers — Public Transport: Public Transport (4 May 2005)

Martin Cullen: I held a very useful meeting with the South Dublin Chamber of Commerce on 27 April during which I received its transport policy paper. The meeting dealt with the full range of transport issues in the South Dublin area and beyond. In the light of the announcement by the Minister for Finance in his budget statement of agreement in principle to a ten year capital investment envelope for...

Seanad: International Interests in Mobile Equipment (Cape Town Convention) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 May 2005)

Martin Cullen: Other European countries are going through the same process as Ireland and we expect to see quite a large number of countries signing up to the convention over the coming months. As the Deputy knows, the convention will come into effect when eight countries have signed up to it. Given that the registry is to be located in Ireland, we obviously want to be to the fore in delivering on this. The...

Seanad: International Interests in Mobile Equipment (Cape Town Convention) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 May 2005)

Martin Cullen: It is open to every country to sign up to the convention in its own way. However, the difficulties manufacturers and financiers of aircraft are experiencing are not necessarily focused in Europe. The financial base and regulatory legal base in Europe are quite good. The difficulty is that an aircraft is a mobile not a fixed asset. If an airline goes broke and its aircraft happen to be located...

Seanad: International Interests in Mobile Equipment (Cape Town Convention) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 May 2005)

Martin Cullen: Yes. All the states in Europe will do so and I have no reason to say they will not.

Seanad: International Interests in Mobile Equipment (Cape Town Convention) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 May 2005)

Martin Cullen: Yes.

Seanad: International Interests in Mobile Equipment (Cape Town Convention) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 May 2005)

Martin Cullen: The Senator is right in that in some respects it is a statement by Ireland of a commitment to this company and its work. On Second Stage I said that Ireland won this responsibility and registry despite tough competition from other countries, particularly Singapore and Canada. It was a tribute to all involved that we won the contract to locate this company here. The 20% shareholding is a...

Seanad: International Interests in Mobile Equipment (Cape Town Convention) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 May 2005)

Martin Cullen: That is an important question but no profits are envisaged. The company will be self-financing and its income will be reinvested in the company to conduct its business.

Seanad: International Interests in Mobile Equipment (Cape Town Convention) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 May 2005)

Martin Cullen: The Senator is correct. A significant amount of aircraft leasing finance is conducted through the Irish Financial Services Centre. Ireland has captured a large worldwide market in financing through its legal base, regulatory regime and finance companies. A key factor in winning this contract was Ireland's commitment to that activity. The legal base for this company is a cutting-edge development.

Seanad: International Interests in Mobile Equipment (Cape Town Convention) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 May 2005)

Martin Cullen: Like Senator Ryan, I am not a legal person in the sense that he described. The Office of the Attorney General and the Parliamentary Counsel have gone through the Bill with a fine-tooth comb. If they thought the wording was unconstitutional, it would not be in the Bill. The Senator is, however, right in a sense. The purpose of section 11 is to prevent one dispute from affecting the services...

Seanad: International Interests in Mobile Equipment (Cape Town Convention) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 May 2005)

Martin Cullen: It would be unusual for people not to want to be in the registry. As the Senator said, the purpose is to prevent the whole system getting tied up and all the other registry signatories and members being affected, so that people can still benefit from their services. Now that Senator Ryan has made the point, I will consider the matter again before bring the Bill to the Dáil.

Seanad: International Interests in Mobile Equipment (Cape Town Convention) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 May 2005)

Martin Cullen: I am not aware of any particular reason for that.

Seanad: International Interests in Mobile Equipment (Cape Town Convention) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 May 2005)

Martin Cullen: The wording has the same effect.

Seanad: International Interests in Mobile Equipment (Cape Town Convention) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 May 2005)

Martin Cullen: Perhaps I did not deal with this quite correctly at the previous Stage. The convention covers a whole range of things. The protocol deals specifically with what we are dealing with in the Bill. There will clearly be further protocols, and we will be returning to deal with those later, possibly by order. That will allow us to deal with some other interests. The purpose of the "space assets"...

Seanad: International Interests in Mobile Equipment (Cape Town Convention) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 May 2005)

Martin Cullen: I want to ensure I have the right answer for the Senator. The difference is that an action may not be taken against the registry in another country. An action may only be taken against the registry under the laws of the land in the country where the registry is located, which is Ireland.

Seanad: International Interests in Mobile Equipment (Cape Town Convention) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 May 2005)

Martin Cullen: The thrust of the Bill is concerned with commercial operations. As I think I made clear on Second Stage, the Bill does not get involved with military operations of any hue, shape or size, or with state operations. What we might interpret as state operations might carry different connotations or involve different power bases in other countries. We need to be clear about that.