Results 201-220 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Departmental Contracts: Departmental Contracts (19 Oct 2010)

Mary Hanafin: MyDepartment has three office locations: the Departmental headquarters offices in Killarney, Co. Kerry and Kildare Street, Dublin 2 and the National Archives of Ireland, which is part of the Department, at Bishop Street, Dublin. In respect of the two Departmental headquarters offices, there are currently telecommunications contracts in effect with Eircom and Smart Telecom. The Eircom...

Written Answers — Departmental Contracts: Departmental Contracts (19 Oct 2010)

Mary Hanafin: My Department has three office locations: the Departmental headquarters offices in Killarney, Co. Kerry and Kildare Street, Dublin 2 and the National Archives of Ireland, which is part of the Department, at Bishop Street. Dublin. Aside from a number of very small supplementary (i.e. solar-power) and backup energy provision systems, the Department headquarters has contracts in effect with...

Written Answers — National Development Plan: National Development Plan (19 Oct 2010)

Mary Hanafin: Within the remit of my Department, the National Development Plan (NDP) 2007-2013 makes provision for allocations to the Tourism Programme, Culture Sub-Programme and Sports Sub-Programme. The objective of the Tourism Programme is to invest in international marketing, in the development of tourism product and infrastructure, and in training and human resources. My Department's role in the...

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (19 Oct 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 411 and 412 together. One new agency has been established under the aegis of my Department since 1 January 2007, namely, the National Sports Campus Development Authority (NSCDA). The NSCDA replaced Campus and Stadium Ireland Development Limited. The annual allocations (Estimates provisions) to the NSCDA for the years 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 are as set out...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (19 Oct 2010)

Mary Hanafin: There are no civil servants in my Department currently e-working and while the matter will be reviewed in the context of the upcoming revision of the Department's human resource strategy and any future demand for such arrangements, there are no plans at present for any civil servants to avail of e-working.

Written Answers — Sport and Recreational Development: Sport and Recreational Development (14 Oct 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I am currently considering the draft National Sports Facilities Strategy 2010-2015 which has been completed within my Department. Prior to finalisation, the draft strategy was circulated for comments to relevant Government Departments and other bodies and has been amended to take into account the comments received. A decision on the publication of the strategy will be taken when I have...

Written Answers — Genealogy Archives: Genealogy Archives (14 Oct 2010)

Mary Hanafin: The National Archives has now completed the digitisation of the 1911 and 1901 Census. The mammoth project involved digitising the census returns for those years and background material and making it searchable on-line by all of the available data fields, such as name, address, occupation, religion, relationship to head of household, etc. The project has been developed in several phases - the...

Written Answers — Tourism Industry: Tourism Industry (14 Oct 2010)

Mary Hanafin: Since the publication of the Report of the Tourism Renewal Group in October 2009, my Department has been driving progress on key measures in line with those in the Framework for Action, focusing initially on the Survival Actions, in conjunction with the tourism agencies and other relevant Departments and bodies. For example, building on the Renewal Group's Framework for Action along with...

Written Answers — Arts Plan: Arts Plan (14 Oct 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I am acutely aware of the potential, impact and importance of the culture sector, in its widest sense, as an economic driver. Culture represents an essential element of our identity, profile, confidence and place in the world. As I have stated before, on assuming this portfolio, my general policy on the arts, culture and the creative industries is to promote and strengthen them, and increase...

Written Answers — Tourism Industry: Tourism Industry (14 Oct 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Question Nos. 17, 24, 42, 188, 189 and 195 together. It is the policy of the Government to develop and support the tourist industry in partnership with those bodies, such as the Irish Hotels Federation, the Restaurants Association of Ireland and the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation, that represent tourism businesses. Despite the difficulties in our public finances the...

Written Answers — Sport and Recreational Development: Sport and Recreational Development (14 Oct 2010)

Mary Hanafin: The national audit of sports facilities is currently being finalised. Phase one of the audit focused on national and regional sports facilities and has been completed. Phase two involves the compilation of a list of facilities at local level, which is a more complex undertaking. Phase two commenced in 2008 with the assistance of local authorities in conjunction with an audit of arts...

Written Answers — National Aquatic Centre: National Aquatic Centre (14 Oct 2010)

Mary Hanafin: A lease for the operation of the National Aquatic Centre, which was constructed by the former Campus Stadium Ireland Development Limited (CSID), was agreed in April 2003 between CSID and Dublin WaterWorld Ltd. As was provided for under the VAT legislation in force at that time, a VAT invoice for €10,254,600 was issued to Dublin WaterWorld Ltd. upon the creation of this lease. As this...

Written Answers — Video Game Industry: Video Game Industry (14 Oct 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 and 26 together. A Strategy Framework Group for the Audiovisual Content Production Industry was established by my Department last year. This Group will assist in providing a clear vision and strategy for the future of the industry and a response to an ever-evolving market place. The computer and video games sector is an important subsector of the...

Written Answers — North-South Co-operation: North-South Co-operation (14 Oct 2010)

Mary Hanafin: Promotion of particular regions as tourist destinations is a matter for the relevant tourism agencies. The work is primarily undertaken by Tourism Ireland in respect of overseas promotion and Fáilte Ireland and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board in respect of domestic promotion. In terms of meetings between Government Ministers from the North and South, these meetings take place on a...

Written Answers — Sports Capital Programme: Sports Capital Programme (14 Oct 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 22, 34 and 44 together. Under the Sports Capital Programme, funding is allocated to sporting and to voluntary and community organisations at local, regional and national level throughout the country. Given the current budgetary situation and the high level of outstanding commitments it was considered prudent to pause prior to announcing the next round of the...

Written Answers — Broadcasting Services: Broadcasting Services (14 Oct 2010)

Mary Hanafin: The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources is statutorily required to consult with me before making an order or amending an order to list events of major importance which must be available on free television service. I have made a written submission to the Minister on this issue and I intend to engage further with the Minister prior to the Government taking a decision on...

Written Answers — National Archives: National Archives (14 Oct 2010)

Mary Hanafin: As I have explained in response to a similar question on 29th September 2010, the position is that the National Archives has the three following travelling exhibitions in store. · "A Nation and not a Rabble" – Ireland in the year July 1921 – June 1922 · "The Calamitous Fire" – the destruction of the Public Record Office of Ireland, June 1922 · "Lovers of Liberty?" - 100...

Written Answers — Cultural Events: Cultural Events (14 Oct 2010)

Mary Hanafin: Culture Night 2010 took place on the 24th of September last in 20 locations throughout the country, with some 500 cultural venues remaining open until late in the evening to provide the public with free access to the various collections, workshops and other events. Culture Night has grown from a relatively small scale cultural event staged only in Dublin in 2006 to the significant national...

Written Answers — Swimming Pool Projects: Swimming Pool Projects (14 Oct 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 29 and 31 together. The current round of the Local Authority Swimming Pool Programme, operated by the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport provides grant aid to a maximum of €3.8m to Local Authorities, towards the capital cost of new swimming pools or the refurbishment of existing pools. Where a project is being undertaken by an organisation other than...

Written Answers — Departmental Reports: Departmental Reports (14 Oct 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I refer the Deputy to my previous answers in the House on this issue. The Deputy will recall that this Report contained a number of wide-ranging recommendations which impacted on the work of this Department, the Department of Education and Skills and the Arts Council. In the light of the financial and other resource implications of these recommendations, many of which fall into the remit...