Results 12,141-12,160 of 13,264 for speaker:Pat Gallagher

Written Answers — Fisheries Protection: Fisheries Protection (9 Nov 2005)

Pat Gallagher: The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has primary responsibility for the implementation in Ireland of Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and wild flora and fauna. As the complaint concerns drift net fishing in Irish waters, the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources is continuing to work very closely with the Department...

Seanad: Broadcasting Legislation. (9 Nov 2005)

Pat Gallagher: On behalf of the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey, I thank Senator Mooney for raising this important issue, the provision of Irish television services to the Irish community in Britain. RTE's mandate to provide radio and television services is defined in section 28(1) of the Broadcasting Act 2001. This Act states that the national television and...

Written Answers — Ferry Services: Ferry Services (8 Nov 2005)

Pat Gallagher: The number of vessels licensed to carry passengers to the Great Blasket Island from Dingle and from Dún Chaoin is as shown in the following table. There are a total of 25 vessels, both passenger ships and passenger boats. My Department has no involvement with the arrangements and schedules that exist for ferrying passengers to and from the island, nor does it have details of the actual...

Written Answers — Fishing Industry Development: Fishing Industry Development (8 Nov 2005)

Pat Gallagher: I assume the Deputy is referring to the Council of Agriculture and Fisheries Ministers which will take place in December and decide on the total allowable catches, TACs, and quotas and associated conditions for fish stocks for 2006. The priority for Ireland at this Council will be to achieve a balanced outcome that will provide for a sustainable future for the Irish fishing industry. The need...

Written Answers — Port Development: Port Development (8 Nov 2005)

Pat Gallagher: In January 2005, I launched the Government's ports policy statement. The policy statement aims to better equip the port sector and its stakeholders to meet national and regional capacity and service needs. One of the key challenges that lies ahead is the provision of adequate in-time port capacity, particularly for unitised trade. The policy statement sets out a framework to ensure that...

Written Answers — Fisheries Protection: Fisheries Protection (8 Nov 2005)

Pat Gallagher: While an abundance of salmon continues to return to Irish rivers, the Government has accepted the scientific advice that reductions in the overall fishing effort are required to sustain and rebuild salmon stocks nationwide. Therefore, the Government's policy has been designed to bring spawning escapement up to the scientifically advised conservation limits as soon as possible. In keeping with...

Written Answers — Irish Ferries: Irish Ferries (8 Nov 2005)

Pat Gallagher: The Department has received applications from Irish Ferries Limited and Irish Continental Line Limited to be allowed to remove three ships from the Irish Ship Register for the purpose of putting them on the Cypriot Ship Register. The applications have not been acceded to on the grounds that the companies have not provided information that would allow their applications to be granted. It is...

Written Answers — Fishing Fleet Protection: Fishing Fleet Protection (8 Nov 2005)

Pat Gallagher: Bord Iascaigh Mhara, the implementing authority for the fishing vessel decommissioning scheme, has advised me that 64 applications were received before the scheme's closing date of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 November 2005. The total amount of grant aid applied for in this tranche is approximately €30 million, which is less than the €45 million the Government has committed for the scheme. BIM...

Written Answers — Fisheries Protection: Fisheries Protection (8 Nov 2005)

Pat Gallagher: I have previously advised the House that the works carried out on the weir at Lacken Bridge on the River Nore in Kilkenny city were undertaken on behalf of, and are therefore the responsibility of, the Office of Public Works. Earlier this year, I became aware of difficulties arising from the works when I was advised by Deputy McGuinness, who recently gave me some DVD footage, and the Southern...

Written Answers — Tourism Promotion: Tourism Promotion (8 Nov 2005)

Pat Gallagher: As part of its research, development and co-ordination brief, the Marine Institute has supported a range of activities in the marine and water-based tourism sector. It has also participated in a EU INTERREG funded project, Marine Ecotourism for the Atlantic area. I have been advised that the project resulted in the establishment of a cluster group of marine ecotourism providers, the...

Written Answers — Fisheries Protection: Fisheries Protection (8 Nov 2005)

Pat Gallagher: Arrangements for the management of the mackerel quota have been in place for many years. These arrangements set individual catch limits for the 23 vessels in the dedicated pelagic segment of the Irish fleet, which is primarily based in the north west, Killybegs. The vessels outside of the pelagic segment have traditionally caught comparatively small amounts of the stock, normally less than...

Written Answers — Passenger Ship Inspections: Passenger Ship Inspections (8 Nov 2005)

Pat Gallagher: Over the past 12 months surveyors from the Department carried out a total of 15 inspections on the four passenger ships operated by Irish Ferries while they were either docked in Irish ports or on board a round trip between Irish and UK ports. In addition to this the surveyors carried out a total of four inspections during the same period on each of the four vessels while in dry dock in...

Written Answers — Coastal Protection: Coastal Protection (3 Nov 2005)

Pat Gallagher: Responsibility for coastal protection rests with the property owner whether it be a local authority or a private individual. The Department has received various reviews, reports and studies from Meath County Council with regard to coast protection works in County Meath. These are being reviewed in conjunction with the coastal protection strategy study which was initiated by the Department in...

Industrial Relations. (2 Nov 2005)

Pat Gallagher: Time is not on the side of An Post and its workers. I will outline the lengthy background to current industrial relations at An Post and impress upon the Deputies that the current circumstances have not arisen overnight. An Post has been through one of the most intensive industrial relations processes imaginable. The process started when, following the disclosure of serious losses for 2003,...

Criminal Prosecutions. (2 Nov 2005)

Pat Gallagher: I thank Deputy McManus for raising this important issue and apologise for the absence of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. I express my deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the late Georgina Eager on her tragic and untimely death. The facts that I have to outline, in answer to the assertions made by Deputy McManus, concerning the assistance provided by a number of...

Written Answers — Fishing Industry Development: Fishing Industry Development (2 Nov 2005)

Pat Gallagher: I have recently received a report from the South Western Regional Fisheries Board on the final year of a three-year experiment carried out since 2003 to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of alternative methods of draft net fishing, in particular the use of monofilament netting, for wild salmon in Cork Harbour. In forwarding this report to me the chief executive officer advised that the...

Written Answers — Harbours and Piers: Harbours and Piers (2 Nov 2005)

Pat Gallagher: Parkmore Pier, Kinvara, is owned by Galway County Council and responsibility for its maintenance and development is a matter for the owner in the first instance. The county council forwarded proposals in December 2001 and again in 2003 to the Department for Exchequer funding under the national fishery harbour development programme for improvement works to the pier, estimated to cost...

Written Answers — Coastal Erosion: Coastal Erosion (2 Nov 2005)

Pat Gallagher: Funding was made available to Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council for the commissioning of consultancy studies of coastal erosion on the stretch of coast at Killiney, County Dublin, in the years 1995 to 1996 amounting to a total of €219,030. Arising from these studies, coast protection works were funded in the years 1999 to 2004 amounting to a total of €321,763. In the current year an...

Written Answers — Fishing Vessel Licences: Fishing Vessel Licences (2 Nov 2005)

Pat Gallagher: There are no proposals to make any changes to the licensing regime covering mussel dredging vessels in so far as it relates to the mussel seed resource.

Written Answers — Fishing Vessel Licences: Fishing Vessel Licences (2 Nov 2005)

Pat Gallagher: The licensing and registration of the vessel referred to was facilitated by a decision of the European Commission in January 2002 to grant additional capacity of 14,055 gross tonnes and 14,400 kilowatts in respect of the Irish pelagic fleet segment to take account of fishing opportunities in Mauritanian and other west African waters. The European Commission's decision followed negotiations...