Results 21-40 of 12,487 for speaker:John O'Donoghue

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2002)

John O'Donoghue: That advice has been taken on board and the rotation period will be three years. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Amendment No. 14 not moved. Section 14 agreed to. Sections 15 to 17, inclusive, agreed to.

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2002)

John O'Donoghue: The Senator will agree there is nothing worse than having a meeting simply for the sake of it. This happens all too frequently. On the other hand, it is important that the board meets regularly. I understand it currently meets once a month. The Senator seeks to invoke a sense of authority and urgency by making the holding of a meeting every quarter a statutory imperative. I have no objection...

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2002)

John O'Donoghue: There is a constitutional difficulty with this amendment. I cannot see how one could deprive a member of an authority of membership on the basis outlined by the Senator. I cannot accept the amendment.

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2002)

John O'Donoghue: Given the time of the year, I suppose Senator Quinn did not expect turkeys to vote for Christmas. In the same way, I support the other Senators. Question, "That the words proposed to be deleted stand," put and declared carried. Amendment declared lost. Amendments Nos. 17 to 19, inclusive, not moved.

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2002)

John O'Donoghue: They may have got in first, but as far as this legislation is concerned, they will have to come in second. The figure is €3,000 because that sum represents the upper limit of what can be imposed by the District Court. It is not for me to justify why the other Bill provides for €2,000 as I am not responsible for that legislation. In this case, the District Court's upper limit is the...

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2002)

John O'Donoghue: This is simply a drafting amendment to correct punctuation. Amendment agreed to. Section 22, as amended, agreed to. SECTION 23. Question proposed: "That section 23 stand part of the Bill."

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2002)

John O'Donoghue: This section permits the authority to establish committees to advise it in relation to the performance of its functions or to perform functions the authority delegates to it. It also provides for the payment of members' travelling expenses subject to the consent of the Minister and Minister for Finance.

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2002)

John O'Donoghue: Senator Daly raises a very good point. No relationship between the new authority, to be known as Fáilte Éireann, and the Shannon Free Airport Development Company is proscribed or specified in the legislation, nor is any proscribed between the new authority and any other regional tourism body. The question of structures has exercised many minds over several years and it is best to address...

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2002)

John O'Donoghue: The actual marketing spend on tourism this year, despite the budgetary constraints, will be the highest in the history of the State. The amount available for marketing Ireland will be 20% higher in 2003 than in 2002. This is an indication of the seriousness with which we are addressing the tourism question. It is imperative from our perspective that the industry which is set to become the...

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2002)

John O'Donoghue: I regret to disappoint Senator Quinn but no civil servant has been as creative as he described. Under the National Development Plan 2000-2006, the amount allocated under the tourism product development fund is €130 million. Senator Quinn will know that half of €130 million is €65 million. That is the reason for the figure of €65 million.

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2002)

John O'Donoghue: As I said, I condemn discrimination against women or discrimination of any kind. When Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, I introduced the Employment Equality Act and the Equal Status Act which prohibited discrimination on nine grounds in regard to employment and the provision of services. Legislation to deal with discrimination is on the Statute Book. Under the Equal Status Act,...

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2002)

John O'Donoghue: The effect of this amendment would be to require the authority, under statute, to submit annual accounts for audit to the Comptroller and Auditor General not later than three months after the end of its financial year. While in practice it has been extremely rare for either Bord Fáilte or CERT to have been unable to submit their accounts within three months, it is possible, due to external...

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2002)

John O'Donoghue: This is a drafting amendment to address an instance of incorrect punctuation. Amendment agreed to.

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2002)

John O'Donoghue: I regret I cannot accept this amendment. The text of the existing provision is standard. The general practice on receipt of the audited accounts from CERT and Bord Fáilte Éireann has been to have them laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as possible thereafter and it is intended that this practice will continue. The insertion of the word "immediately" would not speed up this...

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2002)

John O'Donoghue: The effect of this amendment would be to require the authority, under statute, to submit its annual report not later than three months after the end of its financial year. A difficulty in that regard is that the Comptroller and Auditor General has rarely completed his audit of either the CERT or Bord Fáilte accounts within that period. Accordingly, the report would be incomplete due to the...

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2002)

John O'Donoghue: It is proposed not to accept this amendment. The effect is to require electronic publication of accounts and reports. It is considered unduly prescriptive to include such provisions. The authority is obliged under section 8(5) to have regard to the policies of the Government for the time being extant. In cognisance of this, Bord Fáilte Éireann's annual reports and accounts are as a matter...

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2002)

John O'Donoghue: I tabled an earlier amendment. It is more or less technical. Amendment agreed to. Section 29 deleted. Section 30 agreed to. SECTION 31.

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2002)

John O'Donoghue: It is not proposed to accept the amendment. Bord Fáilte Éireann has had an acting chief executive officer for the past 15 months, Mr. Niall Reddy, who has done an extremely good job and is to be congratulated and thanked for it. My understanding is that when the chief executive officer is absent the secretary would be designated to take over his functions. This is something which happens...

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2002)

John O'Donoghue: The Government decided to insert this standard provision which relates to civil servants, who are instruments of Government policy. The Government of the day is charged with making policy, determining objectives and imposing plans of action. It is simply not permissible for the chief executive of a board like the National Tourism Development Authority to express publicly the fact that he or...

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2002)

John O'Donoghue: Nobody is forcing public servants to stay in their positions if they do not want to do so. If one's objections to Government policy are sufficiently great that one cannot continue in one's position as a civil servant, one can retire from one's job and decide instead to try to change the policy. It is a reasonable situation. Any other provision would be unreasonable, unworkable and quickly...