Results 181-200 of 486 for long speaker:Pat Gallagher

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2006: Second Stage. (8 Jun 2006)

Pat Gallagher: ...are represented on it, including the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Minister for Health and Children and the Minister for Education and Science, along with the Attorney General. While the Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, chairs the committee, I represent the Department of Transport. It meets regularly. The Taoiseach, who has a particular...

Disabled Drivers. (30 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: ...for an appeal procedure operated by the Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal, an independent body, whose decision is final. From my experience as a Deputy in my county, I am aware that it had a long waiting list until recently but I would hope it has shortened somewhat since. The board's members are appointed by the Minister for Finance on the advice of the Minister for Health and...

Seanad: School Accommodation. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: ...requirements. If the school wishes, it can submit an application for capital funding for permanent accommodation. This application would be considered in the context of a strategic overview of long-term requirements for the area. The Department will be factoring in the extent of long-term provision required to be provided by St. Mark's junior school as it reviews ongoing developments in...

Seanad: School Accommodation. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: I could give the short version of the answer to this matter but I should give the longer version because we must defend ourselves from suggestions that this Government has made empty promises. There have been unprecedented levels of investment by this Government over the past nine years. Dealing specifically with Lanesboro Community College, I thank the Senator for raising this matter because...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: ...to meet the specifications required to guarantee the security of the microchip that would be inserted in electronic driving licences. Therefore, even if we wished to introduce such a licence, a long lead-in time would be necessary. EU Transport Ministers are anxious to introduce electronic driving licences as soon as possible but it will take some years. The principle of Senator Paddy...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: ...the road safety authority. I served on a local authority for 12 years and wanted to continue serving, but 1991 legislation precluded Ministers of State from serving on local authorities. I have had long experience working with local authorities since then, particularly when I served in the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, and I cannot disagree that there are...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: ...will be permanent, it will be a decision for the company and the Garda, which will have responsibility for enforcement. Hopefully, that will deal with the issue in the short term. Of course, in the long term, we must aspire to remove all accident black spots, but that cannot be done immediately. We must live in the real world. In the short term, signs or cameras should be erected at such...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: ...which is being developed. I have announced the commencement of a compulsory purchase order for a €90 million bypass in my own county and constituency for Ballybofey Stranorlar. It will be 15.5 km long and form part of the Atlantic corridor, and it will operate the two plus one traffic lane system. The concept is being developed. I am sure there will be views within the road safety...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: ——and as long as we are in power Irish will be on the leaving certificate curriculum.

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (23 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: ...standards and requires the authority to submit road safety programmes to the Minister. In the circumstances, this amendment is unnecessary. We are not setting a precedent in the Bill. This is a long-established practice. There are many other such authorities and boards which have autonomy but the Minister of the day in the lead Department has responsibility for policy. If the Minister of...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Second Stage (Resumed). (16 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: ...to the chairman of the board and the criticism of him by some Members. We are very fortunate that somebody of the calibre of the chairman agreed to take up this position. If he was not working long hours as chairman of the board, he could be spending his time in a leisurely fashion in his adopted home town of Dungloe in County Donegal. I want to express the thanks of the Minister and the...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Second Stage. (10 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: ...to customer needs and future demand. Dealing effectively with a continuing backlog in applications for the service is a prerequisite to bringing forward reforms in the licensing system to reduce long-term reliance on provisional licences. In this context, we are committed to eliminating the current backlog by the middle of next year. In light of the authority's duty to raise driving...

Written Answers — Services for People with Disabilities: Services for People with Disabilities (9 May 2006)

Pat Gallagher: ...shortcomings for passengers with and without disabilities and for the bus operators. An EU-sponsored report (COST 349), issued in late-2005, provides guidance on solutions for accessible coach and long distance bus travel. In addition, more developed wheelchair accessible coaches, that may be suitable for scheduled services, are expected to begin in-service trials with a limited number of...

Rail Services. (4 Apr 2006)

Pat Gallagher: ..., Iarnród Éireann increased its annual transport of sugar beet from approximately 150,000 tonnes to 313,000 tonnes in 2005. The demise of the sugar beet transport marks the regrettable end of a long and successful association. Regarding the Diageo contract, larnród Éireann has informed me that Diageo carried out a tendering process last year for all of its logistics business and has...

Seanad: Aviation Bill 2005 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (28 Mar 2006)

Pat Gallagher: ...for Aviation Regulation was already designated as the denied boarding enforcement body under the European Communities compensation and assistance of air passengers denied boarding, cancellation or long delay of flights regulation, SI 274 of 2005, made by the Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, on 31 May 2005. After making the statutory instrument, which was done in consultation with CAR...

Office of Director of Public Prosecutions. (16 Feb 2006)

Pat Gallagher: ...bland generalities, unjust consequences would be difficult or impossible to avoid. Disclosure of reasons could prejudice a future re-trial following a successful appeal. While acknowledging the long-established principle of not giving reasons in public, I am aware that the Director of Public Prosecutions is examining whether there may be scope for giving more information about...

Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed). (16 Feb 2006)

Pat Gallagher: ...reforms required to achieve a uniform European air traffic management system for the control of general air traffic in European airspace and in our airports. Deputy Durkan asked about the long delays in getting compensation. Under the European Communities (Compensation and Assistance to Air Passengers)(Denied Boarding, Cancellation or Long Delay of Flights) Regulations, SI 274 of 2005, the...

Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (9 Feb 2006)

Pat Gallagher: ...growth in air traffic, while maintaining a high level of safety, reducing costs and respecting the environment. Eurocontrol develops, co-ordinates and plans for implementation of short, medium and long-term pan-European air traffic management strategies and their associated action plans on a collaborative basis. It is a collective effort involving national authorities, air navigation...

Written Answers — Fisheries Protection: Fisheries Protection (7 Feb 2006)

Pat Gallagher: ...special interest products. Fish habitats and stocks are under threat from a variety of adverse environmental and water quality pressures both at sea and in rivers and estuaries. These pressures, along with over-exploitation of stocks, pose a significant threat to the long-term sustainability of this natural resource. Under the Fisheries Acts, primary responsibility for the protection,...

Written Answers — Fisheries Protection: Fisheries Protection (1 Feb 2006)

Pat Gallagher: ...zone to ensure that the banned gear is not deployed. New EU rules came into force on 1 January 2006 which require that gill nets must be marked with the identification of the vessel to which they belong. These will facilitate the work of the Naval Service in this regard. In EU waters outside the Irish EFZ, it will be the responsibility of the control authorities of each member state to...