Results 11,821-11,840 of 13,270 for speaker:Pat Gallagher

Seanad: Health Services. (24 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: I thank the Senator for raising this issue. I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The Garda central vetting unit, which was recently decentralised to Thurles, County Tipperary, is responsible for the criminal record vetting of persons who would have substantial, unsupervised access to children and vulnerable adults. The requirement to vet most...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (24 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: I will give Senators a vote the next time.

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (24 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: I appreciate the opportunity to say a few concluding words and to thank all the Senators who contributed. I do not want to focus on the issue which was of grave concern to them. I know that all who spoke on the matter did so with the utmost sincerity. The principle many of them enunciated in the House is one which we must look at in the future. The Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, and...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage. (24 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: In the course of the debate on Committee Stage, I said sincerely that I wanted some time to think about this matter. We drew clear water between the position of members of the European Parliament, the Oireachtas and local authorities. I was a member of a local authority and served my time in what I would describe as the university of politics in the local authority. I was involved in LAMA at...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage. (24 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: As the Senator has mentioned, we discussed this in detail yesterday. As I indicated yesterday, section 4 already provides for the transfer of functions to the road safety authority. These functions include those relating to the driving test, registration of driving instructors. etc. With regard to the various subsections, registration of vehicles lies with the Revenue Commissioners and we...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage. (24 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: I have no difficulty with the principle of what Senator Paddy Burke proposes. It is only right and proper that the Bill provides for functions relating to the registration of instructors, to be specified in regulations made under the Road Traffic Acts. The new authority will be designated as an approved body and can issue instruction certificates for the purpose of regulating driving...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: I detect clear water between amendments Nos. 13, 14 and 15 but if there is not, we can deal with them tomorrow. Let me examine this overnight before discussing it tomorrow. If I decide to do this, I might have to put down an amendment to deal with it.

Seanad: School Accommodation. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: I thank the Senator for raising this matter as it provides me, on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science, with an opportunity to outline the position of the Department with regard to primary school places in the Tallaght area and the position of an application for funding from St. Mark's junior school for additional accommodation. At the end of last year the Department outlined its...

Seanad: School Accommodation. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: I could give the short version of the answer to this matter but I should give the longer version because we must defend ourselves from suggestions that this Government has made empty promises. There have been unprecedented levels of investment by this Government over the past nine years. Dealing specifically with Lanesboro Community College, I thank the Senator for raising this matter because...

Seanad: School Accommodation. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: I will relate that view to the Minister but I know Senator Bannon is glad that the decision has been taken and that progress will be made.

Seanad: Human Trafficking (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: I thank Senator White for raising this important issue and for giving me the opportunity to respond on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform who could not be here tonight, for which he sends his apologies to the House and to Senator White. I wish to make clear to the House the Government's commitment to dealing with trafficking in human beings. Human trafficking is a...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: The code of legislation which governs the driving licence system is contained in Part 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1961, as amended by subsequent Road Traffic Acts and regulations made thereunder. Under this code, licensing authorities operating in their functional areas process applications for licences and issue licences. They also keep records of endorsements and disqualifications in the...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: There is no question of my being difficult for the sake of it in not accepting amendments. However, when I explain precisely what is involved it will be clear we are not setting up the authority to a lower standard than international standards. The road safety authority will have responsibility for accident statistics and road safety research. In order to fulfil this responsibility, a...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: I can see where Senator Burke is coming from. There may be persons with exceptional knowledge who can make a major contribution. It would have the effect of allowing a board member to be reappointed indefinitely in perpetuity. The provision allows a board member to service a maximum continuous term of ten years. It does not necessarily specify that a member can only serve ten years. There...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: I will not dwell on the amendment. It states clearly in the legislation that Members of the Oireachtas or the European Parliament and local authority members cannot serve on the road safety authority. I served on a local authority for 12 years and wanted to continue serving, but 1991 legislation precluded Ministers of State from serving on local authorities. I have had long experience working...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: While considering the amendment, which was also tabled in the Dáil, one must remember that driver testing, the registration of qualified driving instructors, the education of drivers, the promotion of educational and information campaigns, and maintenance, management and revision of the Rules of the Road have been included in the Bill. As we speak, we are revising the Rules of the Road which...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: Section 8 gives the road safety authority power to collect information and statistics. If we go into the detail of it, and Senator Quinn summed it up well, if the road safety authority is not responsible for road signage and markings, that is a matter for the National Roads Authority and the councils. Legislation will come before the House before the summer recess to deal with speed cameras....

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: The Minister for Transport gave an absolute assurance to the road safety authority at its inaugural meeting in the Department several weeks ago that it may work through the Department. If it has recommendations to make, it should make them. Recommendations should be made to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government regarding county and regional roads and to the National...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: The short reply to the Senator's question is the local authority. However, I wish to give a comprehensive response to the House regarding this amendment. The development of the support system for the penalty points system involved significant and ongoing consultation with all agencies including the Garda Síochána, the Courts Service, the vehicle registration unit of the Department of the...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: To answer Senator Burke's question, it will show up on the PULSE system. He will appreciate, however, that if a person who has ten points incurs an additional two points, the garda will not know that immediately because he or she will have to go back to the station and put it into the system. It will be recognised as soon as he or she puts it into the system but it does not mean that the...