Results 10,601-10,620 of 12,487 for speaker:John O'Donoghue
- Written Answers — Sports Funding: Sports Funding (26 Oct 2006)
John O'Donoghue: I propose to take Questions Nos. 55 and 129 together. Under Subhead C1 of my Department's Vote, payments are made in respect of Grants for Sporting Bodies and the provision of Sports and Recreational Facilities. A total of â¬67,724,000 is available for expenditure in 2006 under this subhead. The total amount of grant allocations relating to this sub-head for the years requested by the Deputy...
- Written Answers — National Theatre: National Theatre (26 Oct 2006)
John O'Donoghue: I propose to take Questions Nos. 56 and 59 together. In July 2006, the Government approved arrangements for the redevelopment of the Abbey Theatre at George's Dock on a Build, Finance, and Maintain (BFM) basis. It also approved the holding of an international design competition for the new Abbey Theatre. Once a winning design has been selected the building will be procured by means of a...
- Written Answers — National Aquatic Centre: National Aquatic Centre (26 Oct 2006)
John O'Donoghue: During severe weather conditions in the west Dublin area on 1 January 2005, damage was caused to the roof of the National Aquatic Centre. Consulting Structural and Civil Engineers, Kavanagh Mansfield & Partners, were commissioned to examine the damage and oversee the repairs. Repair works at the National Aquatic Centre were completed on 20 May 2005 and the Centre was reopened to the public on...
- Written Answers — National Concert Hall: National Concert Hall (26 Oct 2006)
John O'Donoghue: The Government has agreed to the redevelopment of the National Concert Hall at its existing location on Earlsfort Terrace. It is proposed that the redeveloped Concert Hall will incorporate a main auditorium with a seating capacity for 2,000 patrons, the existing auditorium which will be retained as a rehearsal hall and a mid-scale public performance space, and a smaller flexible hall with a...
- Written Answers — Tourism Industry: Tourism Industry (26 Oct 2006)
John O'Donoghue: The compilation and dissemination of Tourism and Travel Statistics is primarily an operational matter for the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and its publications are available to the Deputy. In terms of travel to Ireland, the picture, I am glad to say, is a healthy one. Last year, almost 7 million overseas visitors came to Ireland with an associated spend on the ground of almost â¬3.5...
- Written Answers — Tourism Industry: Tourism Industry (26 Oct 2006)
John O'Donoghue: Tourism is a services industry, which relies heavily on labour, and Irish public policy operates on the basis of seeking to ensure that those in employment are paid fair wages. Our fiscal model also emphasises indirect as opposed to direct taxation. While both these approaches provide a strong economic development impetus, they can impact on consumption costs for the visitor. The Tourism...
- Written Answers — Arts Funding: Arts Funding (26 Oct 2006)
John O'Donoghue: I propose to take Questions Nos. 127, 128 and 130 together. On 24 July last, I announced a new scheme to support investment in arts and culture infrastructure. This new scheme called ACCESS II or the Arts and Culture Enhancement Support Scheme II, will run from 2007 to 2009. The scheme is intended to provide a further impetus to the development of arts and culture facilities thereby...
- Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (26 Oct 2006)
John O'Donoghue: The elements of my Department's Vote which are part-funded by proceeds of the National Lottery are as follows: Subhead C.1 â Grants for sporting bodies and for the provision of sports and recreational facilities under the Sports Capital Programme; Subhead C.3 â Grant-in-Aid provided to the Irish Sports Council in respect of general assistance to sports organisations and expenditure in...
- Tourism Industry. (26 Oct 2006)
John O'Donoghue: Recently, I launched the review of the North American market. The survey was comprehensive and established that visitors to Ireland are generally happy with accommodation prices. Only 10% complained about accommodation prices. According to the review, the three issues about which people complained most were eating out in restaurants, golf and car hire. However, while people complained...
- Tourism Industry. (26 Oct 2006)
John O'Donoghue: Registered hotels are obliged to notify the maximum rack rent they will charge for the following season to Fáilte Ireland. They are prohibited from charging above that rack rent. The difficulty highlighted by Deputy Wall relates to hotels which for a long period of the year charge X amount and suddenly increase their price to X plus Y, up to the maximum amount of the rack rent which they...
- Tourism Industry. (26 Oct 2006)
John O'Donoghue: The hotel is entitled to notify the maximum rack rent and sets the rack rent itself.
- Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund. (26 Oct 2006)
John O'Donoghue: The horse and greyhound racing fund was established under the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act 2001 for the purpose of giving support to both racing industries. In accordance with the provisions of the Act, 80% and 20% of the moneys paid into the fund each year are distributed between Horse Racing Ireland and Bord na gCon, respectively. In 2005, the total allocation from the Horse and...
- Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund. (26 Oct 2006)
John O'Donoghue: We must accept that horse and greyhound racing are not just sports, they are industries and they support, directly and indirectly, approximately 15,500 people.
- Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund. (26 Oct 2006)
John O'Donoghue: The Irish horseracing industry has the most successful record internationally of any sport in which we are involved. This has been proved at various race meetings across the globe. We also have an enviable greyhound industry; I would venture to say that it is the finest in the world. When an examination of the horseracing industry was undertaken, it was established that the thoroughbred...
- Drugs in Sport. (26 Oct 2006)
John O'Donoghue: Ireland's national anti-doping programme is administered by the Irish Sports Council, which is the statutory body responsible for the promotion and development of sport in Ireland. The programme, which was introduced in 1999, provides a high quality service which achieves its objectives of providing a fair and ethical sporting environment in Ireland through three primary approaches, namely,...
- Drugs in Sport. (26 Oct 2006)
John O'Donoghue: Despite earlier difficulties, I am satisfied that we have achieved a degree of co-operation in respect of our doping laws and rules from sporting organisations throughout the country. This is best evidenced by the number of tests that have taken place in the past year. In 2005, 962 tests, an increase of 44 on the figure for 2004, were carried out. These included 147 user-pay tests....
- Greyhound Racing Industry. (26 Oct 2006)
John O'Donoghue: In June this year, I met with Ms Maria Eagle, the Northern Ireland Minister with responsibility for culture, arts and leisure, to discuss a number of issues common to both Departments, including pursuing opportunities for all-island co-operation in the development of the horse and greyhound racing sectors. Previous meetings have also been held at both official and ministerial level in recent...
- Greyhound Racing Industry. (26 Oct 2006)
John O'Donoghue: When I met the Minister I explained to her that the greyhound racing sector in Northern Ireland was facing a number of hurdles, if I may be forgiven the pun. I suggested to her that because there was a division of responsibility for horseracing across a number of Departments and a general lack of funding, there could be no proper development of greyhound racing in the North. I sympathise...
- Greyhound Racing Industry. (26 Oct 2006)
John O'Donoghue: I understand that two of them are operational.
- Greyhound Racing Industry. (26 Oct 2006)
John O'Donoghue: While Bord na gCon's laboratory testing services are available to them, the uptake thus far has been disappointing. It is true that a significant number of dogs from the North race in the South and they pick up approximately 15% of the prize money every year. The breeding of greyhounds is regulated by the Irish Coursing Club for all of Ireland, although there has been a lack of...