Results 11,241-11,260 of 27,073 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disabilities Data (12 Feb 2019)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Very simply, if a wheelchair user is trying to get on the DART, he or she will face extreme difficulty in many cases. He or she must give advance notice. At some stations, one simply cannot get on. One certainly has to give very significant advance notice. This unfortunate, unequal and discriminatory situation suffered by people with disabilities has been exacerbated by the removal of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disabilities Data (12 Feb 2019)

Richard Boyd Barrett: On one level, that is an improvement. I acknowledge improvements where they exist, just as I acknowledge the belated but nonetheless welcome signing of the UN convention. This is undermined, however, when decisions are made to reduce staff numbers or remove staff at DART stations or other areas. Often, the real assistance needed to ensure access is from a human being working in public...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disabilities Data (12 Feb 2019)

Richard Boyd Barrett: That is why staff are needed in the train stations.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Taxi Regulations (12 Feb 2019)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 56. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will report on plans in the taxi industry to introduce ride-sharing; his recommendations for regulating same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6721/19]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Taxi Regulations (12 Feb 2019)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Before Christmas, a significant number of taxi drivers contacted me regarding their concerns at plans by parts of the taxi industry to introduce a taxi ride-sharing scheme. The taxi drivers believe the scheme could cause significant difficulty, particularly in terms of passenger and driver safety, and would massively disrupt the taxi business. What knowledge does the Minister have of this...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Taxi Regulations (12 Feb 2019)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I am all for proper regulation of the industry. We should keep Uber out because users of that service do not know who their driver will be or whether the vehicle will be safe or properly regulated. However, that is not the issue I wish to raise. My question regards a proposal by Mytaxi to bring in a ride-share scheme. If there is a big queue at a taxi rank late at night and one proposes...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Taxi Regulations (12 Feb 2019)

Richard Boyd Barrett: What is the role of the Minister in terms of preserving the livelihood of taxi drivers and passenger safety?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Taxi Regulations (12 Feb 2019)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It was a throwaway remark.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Taxi Regulations (12 Feb 2019)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I am glad to hear that. I ask the Minister to look into the matter further and send out a clear message that what would be a very dramatic change with potentially very negative consequences will not be allowed and that any such proposal will be thoroughly investigated and weighed up and the subject of proper public consultation. Broadly speaking, we should not allow ride-sharing because it...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (12 Feb 2019)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The obnoxiousness and political bankruptcy of the Tory Brexiteers and UKIP mean that just about anybody else looks good compared to them but in recent weeks it has maybe masked the lack of principle and ethics of the EU itself, when one looks at how it is dealing with events that are unfolding in Catalonia or, for that matter, Venezuela. The Europe that proclaims itself as an upholder of...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (12 Feb 2019)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Maduro is an authoritarian. I am not a supporter of Maduro. I am a supporter of the people's revolt that happened a number of years ago against the deep inequalities in Venezuelan society.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (12 Feb 2019)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Maduro is an authoritarian but that does not give Trump or anybody else the right to interfere in the political processes in Venezuela. That is up to the people of Venezuela. Does the Taoiseach really think the Government or the EU should be interfering and, essentially, giving cover to Trump, who is threatening military action in Venezuela?

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (12 Feb 2019)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I took far less time than some others.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (12 Feb 2019)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 13. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his most recent contacts with the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission. [5670/19]

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (12 Feb 2019)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 22. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent trip to Brussels and the meetings he attended. [6709/19]

Ceisteanna - Questions: Urban Renewal Schemes (12 Feb 2019)

Richard Boyd Barrett: That is the reason they have had to organise protests.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Urban Renewal Schemes (12 Feb 2019)

Richard Boyd Barrett: People Before Profit does not have a majority on that council. I can assure the Taoiseach of that.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Urban Renewal Schemes (12 Feb 2019)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The People Before Profit local representative in the north inner city, Gillian Brien, who resides in the flats on Constitution Hill, was forced recently to organise a community protest at Dublin City Council offices over rat infestation in the flats and apartments on Constitution Hill, Queen Street, Dorset Street and Upper Dominick Street. A five year old child was bitten by a rat recently....

Ceisteanna - Questions: Urban Renewal Schemes (12 Feb 2019)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 3. To ask the Taoiseach when he last met with the Dublin inner city forum. [5309/19]

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Feb 2019)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I have asked several times, as have others, whether PwC is the appropriate group to investigate the scandal of overruns in the national children’s hospital. As the Taoiseach is aware, PwC worked for BAM, the main contractor, at the centre of this issue. It has received up to €34 million in fees for auditing BAM. That is a serious conflict of interest. I do not see how one...