Results 881-900 of 4,350 for speaker:Bobby Aylward

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan Data (18 Dec 2018)

Bobby Aylward: 91. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the timeline for the commencement of works on the ground under the national broadband plan and the measures contained within same to ensure rapid roll-out of broadband services for rural areas, rural communities and regional towns; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53185/18]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Vehicle Registration (18 Dec 2018)

Bobby Aylward: 152. To ask the Minister for Finance if he is satisfied that the Revenue Commissioners have sufficient measures in place to ensure that applicants who engage in the process of taxing commercial vehicles are subject to a stringent assessment process; his views on the efforts and practices of the Revenue Commissioners district offices to ensure that vehicles are not being unlawfully taxed as...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Review (18 Dec 2018)

Bobby Aylward: 439. To ask the Minister for Health the status of the review of the system for setting prices under the nursing home support scheme; if he is satisfied that the process has been conducted in an efficient manner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53254/18]

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Bobby Aylward: I welcome the representatives of the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and Bus Éireann. The roll-out of the bus system for schools was a good idea and I availed of it when I attended secondary school in 1968, which is a good few years ago now. While it was a great scheme when it was rolled out, there is always a "but". I am a rural...

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Bobby Aylward: I understand there is waste and will give examples affecting my constituents. I have experienced this myself as I must drive through these areas. A 40-seater bus serves a small place called Paulstown and brings children to Kilkenny but seven children have been left off. I believe that it would not cost an awful lot of money to provide a 50-seater bus. I disagree with the changes that...

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Bobby Aylward: We did for 40 years.

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Bobby Aylward: Does the Secretary General think parishes, particularly in rural Ireland, should be recognised in the criteria? I am not talking about parents who want to pick specialist schools for their children and want the State to pay for it. I am talking about parents sending their children to one primary school in a parish. The parents have no choice because there is only one primary school in the...

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Bobby Aylward: I am talking about the school bus service, not an individual service.

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Bobby Aylward: I am not talking about the Catholic Church. I am talking about all churches.

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Bobby Aylward: I do not want to get into anything personal. In Kilkenny, there is another school of another faith that gets that privilege and students are being brought to the school. The situation has caused a lot of anxiety because one faith gets the service yet only students of that faith are transported to the school. That situation is wrong and it has caused a lot of problems in my area.

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Bobby Aylward: I will move on to another matter. The Secretary General has stated that school transport cost €190 million in 2017. Was that value for money? I want to discuss the surplus. The Secretary General has said that there will be no surplus in 2019. There was one in 2015, according to the report compiled by the Comptroller and Auditor General. To me, the term "surplus" sounds like a...

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Bobby Aylward: Yes.

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Bobby Aylward: Bus Éireann is rolling out the scheme and it has subcontracted a lot of buses from private individuals. Is Bus Éireann making a profit running the scheme? It is being said that its coffers are a lot richer because of the roll-out of the bus scheme. I want to go a step further. It is a monopoly when there is only one service provider. Would we get better value for money if we...

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Bobby Aylward: How does the Department know this when it does not have anybody else doing this or competing for it? Could better value be got if it went out to a private contractor to provide the service, for example, for Kilkenny alone for 12 months? One could then let Bus Éireann and private contractors bid against it and one could see who came in with the best value.

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Bobby Aylward: Could a private contractor not do that as well?

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Bobby Aylward: I do not think that is the point that I am trying to make. Bus Éireann are running the system for the Department. Could the Department of Education and Skills not run the system directly and put it out to tender without Bus Éireann? It is a second layer of bureaucracy that could be avoided with better value for money. I am just a lay person asking these questions. I am a...

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Bobby Aylward: Can I ask Bus Éireann to comment on that?

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Bobby Aylward: That is primary and secondary.

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Bobby Aylward: Where does this surplus go? Does it go back to the taxpayer or does Bus Éireann keep it?

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)

Bobby Aylward: Am I finished already?