Results 18,521-18,540 of 28,162 for speaker:Catherine Murphy

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: International Context: Dr. Patricia Lohr, British Pregnancy Advisory Service (22 Nov 2017)

Catherine Murphy: I thank Dr. Lohr.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Termination in Cases of Foetal Abnormality: Ms Liz McDermott, One Day More (22 Nov 2017)

Catherine Murphy: I welcome Ms McDermott. I had to step out to speak in the Dáil but I was here when she making her opening statement. Like others, I know it is difficult to come here and talk about a very personal story. From the word go, in order that Ms McDermott knows where I am coming from, I believe in the right to choose, including the right to choose to continue with a pregnancy and be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Irish Aviation Authority (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (22 Nov 2017)

Catherine Murphy: I apologise. The dog did not eat my homework; I just got stuck in the traffic. It happens with the transport committee from time to time because we normally meet early in the day. We would all want to save money on everything in aviation except security. It is a given that security needs to be absolutely top notch. In many cases, we have regulation in theory but not in practice. We...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Irish Aviation Authority (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (22 Nov 2017)

Catherine Murphy: I have had some involvement in dealing with the Irish Aviation Authority over the years, particularly in respect of Weston aerodrome. There have been a number of issues there over the years. Would that be one of the locations that would be regulated, given that it has full customs clearance, or are we talking about the airports in State ownership? What are we talking about?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Irish Aviation Authority (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (22 Nov 2017)

Catherine Murphy: Okay. We have had famous situations where people broke into the hangar at night. There was beefed up security then, with fencing and things like that. That would very much come into play. If the code of the airport or aerodromes changed, the hazards and things like that would presumably have to be identified and protected against.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Irish Aviation Authority (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (22 Nov 2017)

Catherine Murphy: Is the Irish Aviation Authority audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Irish Aviation Authority (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (22 Nov 2017)

Catherine Murphy: Right. When the IAA says it is accountable, I am trying to figure out to what body it is accountable. Regulatory entities under the remit of the State and audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General are subject to the scrutiny of the Committee of Public Accounts, for example.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Irish Aviation Authority (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (22 Nov 2017)

Catherine Murphy: Okay. I just have a few of these kinds of questions. Mr. Gallagher might write to me on that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Irish Aviation Authority (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (22 Nov 2017)

Catherine Murphy: Is this subject to freedom of information legislation? I accept that there are security matters and that exceptions arise on foot of those but, in general, is this subject to freedom of information legislation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Irish Aviation Authority (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (22 Nov 2017)

Catherine Murphy: The financial matters could probably be subject to it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Irish Aviation Authority (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (22 Nov 2017)

Catherine Murphy: I am trying to get my head around this. If staff visit Ireland West Airport Knock, for example, and discover something not up to scratch, there would be an instruction issued and the airport would be required to take the necessary action. The facility would then be rechecked.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Irish Aviation Authority (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (22 Nov 2017)

Catherine Murphy: The cost would fall to the operator.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Irish Aviation Authority (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (22 Nov 2017)

Catherine Murphy: There would probably be a timeline. Under these new processes, are there likely to be enhanced security measures that will bring a cost to those entities?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Irish Aviation Authority (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (22 Nov 2017)

Catherine Murphy: I have a few more questions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Irish Aviation Authority (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (22 Nov 2017)

Catherine Murphy: I want to get a sense of the process for approval. If a multinational seeks approval, what conditions must be satisfied?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Irish Aviation Authority (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (22 Nov 2017)

Catherine Murphy: The process at Weston Airport gave me some insight into how the IAA works. For example, there may have been 20 visits to Weston in a year, with 16 being notified visits and the other four being on spec. The on-spec visits are incredibly important because it is like an inspector coming to the classroom, with things being polished. What number of these takes place? Does the authority have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Irish Aviation Authority (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (22 Nov 2017)

Catherine Murphy: The point I made at the beginning is that we have a lot of regulation in theory but legislation is not policy. It is the entity that is going to carry it out. It is a case of being satisfied that the system is sufficiently robust and resourced to do that. Is Ms Lennon satisfied that that is the case?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Irish Aviation Authority (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (22 Nov 2017)

Catherine Murphy: We are talking about ground operations in terms of the functions of the Irish Aviation Authority. The other function is keeping things separated in the air, which we would like to think happens in a very professional way. Following the awful crash in Blacksod Bay, does the IAA have further work to do in relation to mapping hazards? What is the status of the work in that regard? I know it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Irish Aviation Authority (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (22 Nov 2017)

Catherine Murphy: While I can see the point about changing behaviour and the importance of the relationship, are there categories within the 600 other entities that are regulated? Do we know what we are talking about so that we can get a practical understanding of it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Irish Aviation Authority (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (22 Nov 2017)

Catherine Murphy: What kind of entity would that be? Is it a cargo company?