Results 161-180 of 12,487 for speaker:John O'Donoghue
- Swimming Pool Projects. (25 May 2004)
John O'Donoghue: It is difficult to answer that question because some commitments have been recognised, while others have not yet arrived. Refurbishments and new projects total about 13.
- Swimming Pool Projects. (25 May 2004)
John O'Donoghue: Five are at construction stage, four are at tender stage, 18 are at contract document stage and 15 are at the preliminary stage. We have initiated an expenditure review and I have outlined the reasons for that. I will be seeking to advance the cause of other poolsââ
- Swimming Pool Projects. (25 May 2004)
John O'Donoghue: ââincluding Cobh and Youghal, if I can. However, I cannot give any cast-iron guarantees at this stage. All I can do is to try to advance the pools that are at tender stage, as well as advancing the others to the next stage. I am currently examining those aspects.
- Swimming Pool Projects. (25 May 2004)
John O'Donoghue: It will be difficult to do that, but I will try to communicate to Deputy Stanton how much money is left.
- Swimming Pool Projects. (25 May 2004)
John O'Donoghue: Ballybunion pool is currently at contract document stage. My understanding is the contract documents have been with the experts at the Office of Public Works for three or four weeks. I sincerely hope there are no technical difficulties. If there are none, the next stage would be to approve the contract documents. However, to the best of my knowledge, we have not yet received the report back...
- Tourism Industry. (25 May 2004)
John O'Donoghue: I propose to take Questions Nos. 35, 43, 44, 58 and 251 together. Since my appointment as Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism in June 2002, I have spoken of my concern regarding the increasing levels of dissatisfaction evident in visitor attitude surveys about the value for money offered by the overall tourism experience in Ireland. I welcomed the fact, therefore, that one of the strongest...
- Tourism Industry. (25 May 2004)
John O'Donoghue: Naturally, I would like to see us producing as much of our own energy as possible, as Deputy Gogarty suggests. However, issues regarding oil and oil prices come under the remit of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. If the Deputy tabled a question to the Minister, Deputy Dermot Ahern, I am sure he would deal with the issues raised by him. My understanding is that...
- Tourism Industry. (25 May 2004)
John O'Donoghue: As the Leas-Cheann Comhairle pointed out, it is not possible for me to express a view on behalf of the Minister for Finance whose remit it is to introduce next year's budget to the House in December. However, in the context of value for money it is important to point out that there are very good packages on offer in regard to access and accommodation, or both. As Deputy Deenihan stated, the...
- Tourism Industry. (25 May 2004)
John O'Donoghue: We are conscious of the need to maintain the low cost access to Ireland and we do everything we possibly can to encourage low cost access. I am not aware of any such report in my Departmentââ
- Tourism Industry. (25 May 2004)
John O'Donoghue: ââbut it would not come within the remit of my Department. Without being short with Deputies, they should put down a question to the Minister with responsibility for this, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources.
- St. Patrick's Festival. (25 May 2004)
John O'Donoghue: I refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 143 of 6 April 2004, which referred to the disturbances which occurred in the aftermath of the St. Patrick's Festival last March. In the newspaper article to which the Deputy refers, I referred to the scenes of public drunkenness, saying visitors tend to avoid such occasions, but I qualified my remarks by indicating that Ireland compared...
- St. Patrick's Festival. (25 May 2004)
John O'Donoghue: The festival company will liaise closely with the Garda to ensure incidents similar to the thuggish incidents which occurred during and after the festival do not occur. I understand the position will be closely monitored and I assure the Deputy that every effort will be made to ensure that disruption is eliminated.
- St. Patrick's Festival. (25 May 2004)
John O'Donoghue: St. Patrick's Day has traditionally been on 17 March and I would no more attempt to change that date than change the date of Christmas Day. On Deputy Deenihan's question, there has been a fairly significant fall-off in public order offences. Naturally the Government is anxious that such offences are stamped out completely.
- Written Answers — Lansdowne Road Development: Lansdowne Road Development (25 May 2004)
John O'Donoghue: I propose to take Questions Nos. 37, 41 and 49 together. The preparatory work leading to the construction of a new stadium at Lansdowne Road is already under way. There has been no change in the end-2008 target date for completion of the project. Since the Government's decision of 27 January to support a joint IRFU-FAI proposal to redevelop Lansdowne Road stadium as a 50,000 all seated...
- Written Answers — Tourism Promotion: Tourism Promotion (25 May 2004)
John O'Donoghue: On 5 April last, Ireland hosted a major Presidency Conference on Competitiveness and Sustainability of European Tourism entitled, Charting Tourism Success, in Dublin Castle. The aim of the conference was to bring representatives from the Irish and European tourism industry together with representatives from the European Commission and other policy makers to identify and discuss issues of...
- Written Answers — Sports Partnerships: Sports Partnerships (25 May 2004)
John O'Donoghue: I propose to take Questions Nos. 39 and 42 together. The Programme for Prosperity and Fairness committed the Government to the introduction of local sport partnerships to help promote and develop sport at local level. In its first strategy document, A New Era for Irish Sport (2000-2002), the Sports Council included the establishment of local sports partnerships as one of its main priorities....
- Written Answers — National Conference Centre: National Conference Centre (25 May 2004)
John O'Donoghue: I refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 32 on today's Order Paper on the same subject.
- Written Answers — Sports Funding: Sports Funding (25 May 2004)
John O'Donoghue: The national lottery funded sports capital programme, administered by my Department, is the major source of funding available for provision of sporting facilities for sporting and community organisations at local, regional and national level throughout the country. Only projects of a capital nature with a clearly defined sporting aspect are considered eligible for the purpose of securing...
- Written Answers — Abbey Theatre: Abbey Theatre (25 May 2004)
John O'Donoghue: I refer the Deputy to my reply to priority question number 29 on today's Order Paper.
- Written Answers — Tourism Promotion: Tourism Promotion (25 May 2004)
John O'Donoghue: I propose to take Questions Nos. 47 and 57 together. The Memorandum of Understanding on Approved Destination Status with China, or the ADS agreement as it is more commonly known, was signed on 11 May this year in Dublin Castle in the presence of the Taoiseach and the Premier of China. This is a technical co-operation agreement governing group tourism from China to Ireland. It is anticipated...