Results 9,921-9,940 of 26,021 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Appointment Process for Chair of Irish Aviation Authority: Engagement with Department of Transport (18 Mar 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: I have a few questions for Mr. Towey. Today we are discussing the process of appointment. Did Mr. McGrail, the previous chairman of the IAA, resign or was he asked to resign? I ask Mr. Towey to give me a "Yes" or "No" answer. Did he resign of his own accord or was he encouraged to resign?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Appointment Process for Chair of Irish Aviation Authority: Engagement with Department of Transport (18 Mar 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: I did not see it in the public domain, and it was not in the press statement on the appointment of the interim chairman. If my memory serves me right, we got correspondence indicating that the appointment was for one year. Is Mr. Towey saying there is no deadline on the appointment? I ask Mr. Towey to give me a "Yes" or "No" answer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Appointment Process for Chair of Irish Aviation Authority: Engagement with Department of Transport (18 Mar 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Typically, how long does the public appointments process take to appoint a new chair?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Appointment Process for Chair of Irish Aviation Authority: Engagement with Department of Transport (18 Mar 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Mr. McGrail resigned in early November. It has now been virtually five months since then. Why did the Department not consider a process of public appointments to appoint a new chairman designate for the IAA?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Appointment Process for Chair of Irish Aviation Authority: Engagement with Department of Transport (18 Mar 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: How many board meetings have taken place since Ms Hynes's appointment as chair of the board of the IAA?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Appointment Process for Chair of Irish Aviation Authority: Engagement with Department of Transport (18 Mar 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: I have two questions. Who ultimately made the decision to appoint an interim chair rather than go through the Public Appointments Service?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Appointment Process for Chair of Irish Aviation Authority: Engagement with Department of Transport (18 Mar 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Why would the Department not now start the public appointments process to appoint a formal chair designate of the IAA board in parallel with having an interim chair, based on the reasons Mr. Towey has put forward?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Appointment Process for Chair of Irish Aviation Authority: Engagement with Department of Transport (18 Mar 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Mr. Towey will appreciate we are not questioning at all the qualifications of the interim chair; it is the process that we are questioning.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Appointment Process for Chair of Irish Aviation Authority: Engagement with Department of Transport (18 Mar 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Senator Dooley can come back in very briefly.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Appointment Process for Chair of Irish Aviation Authority: Engagement with Department of Transport (18 Mar 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: We need to conclude.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Appointment Process for Chair of Irish Aviation Authority: Engagement with Department of Transport (18 Mar 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: I thank Mr. Towey but we need to conclude.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Appointment Process for Chair of Irish Aviation Authority: Engagement with Department of Transport (18 Mar 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Does Mr. Towey agree to that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Appointment Process for Chair of Irish Aviation Authority: Engagement with Department of Transport (18 Mar 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: We will follow up on any additional questions members have which the secretariat will forward to Mr. Towey. Is Mr. Towey agreeable to that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Appointment Process for Chair of Irish Aviation Authority: Engagement with Department of Transport (18 Mar 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: I appreciate we are caught on time due to Covid. I thank Mr. Towey and Mr. Ronan Gallagher from the Department of Transport for attending today and engaging with the committee. The next meeting of the joint committee will be a private virtual one at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, 23 March.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Viability of and Opportunities for the Post Office Network: Discussion (16 Mar 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Apologies have been received from Deputy Matthews. The purpose of our meeting is to discuss the viability of and opportunities for the post office network. On behalf of the committee, I welcome from the Irish Postmasters' Union, Mr. Ned O'Hara, general secretary, Mr. Sean Martin, president, Mr. Ciaran McEntee, vice president, and Mr. Tony Wall, union treasurer, and from the Independent...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Viability of and Opportunities for the Post Office Network: Discussion (16 Mar 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: The committee is very supportive of the post office. Mr. O'Hara should understand that there is cross-party support for the network and members of the committee feel very strongly about the issue. We are here in a cross-party capacity. The issue is not a political one for any of us. We want to see the post office network survive and we will work in a cross-party way. I invite Mr....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Viability of and Opportunities for the Post Office Network: Discussion (16 Mar 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: I ask Mr. O'Callaghan to bring his remarks to a conclusion as we are very tight on time due to having to delay the start of the meeting. I ask him to summarise his remaining points.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Viability of and Opportunities for the Post Office Network: Discussion (16 Mar 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: That is collective and why the committee has come together in order to hold specific meetings in the week of St. Patrick's Day with the postmasters' unions and An Post. We regard this as a critical and central issue. That is why we are holding the meeting today. I fully agree with the Deputy.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Viability of and Opportunities for the Post Office Network: Discussion (16 Mar 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: I thank Mr. O'Callaghan. I will ask a number of questions. I read the Grant Thornton review, which is very a comprehensive and good report. Since the report was done at the end of last year, 11 post offices have closed. We are now down to 888 postmasters' post offices and 45 which are operated by An Post directly. The postmasters make up approximately 95% of all post offices nationally....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Viability of and Opportunities for the Post Office Network: Discussion (16 Mar 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: From 1 July onwards.