Results 421-440 of 1,053,104 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Ciarán Cuffe OR speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh OR speaker:Kieran O'Donnell OR speaker:David Stanton) in 'Committee meetings'

Committee on Drugs Use: Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Diversion and Legalisation of Drugs: Discussion (27 Jun 2024)

David Stanton: I thank Ms Lawlor. I will tease out this further with respect to the amount that people could buy and whether they could go from one pharmacy to another and get as much as they needed. There are other issues around that. I totally agree with the other issue that Ms Lawlor brought up here with respect to the Garda youth diversion programme. I set in place the youth justice strategy which...

Committee on Drugs Use: Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Diversion and Legalisation of Drugs: Discussion (27 Jun 2024)

David Stanton: I thank Professor Stevens for clarifying that. I had heard that there was a change. I was not sure what it was. Can Professor Stevens bring us up to date with what they are doing in Portugal at present with respect to this? What model are they using?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Road Safety Authority (27 Jun 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: I thank the RSA for taking the time to attend. I am glad Mr. Waide provided clarity as regards the RSA's openness to attend the committee. The initial response may have struck the wrong tone and was probably ill judged. I am very glad to see the RSA appear before the Committee of Public Accounts today. I put the following questions against the backdrop of a fatality in Waterford...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Road Safety Authority (27 Jun 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: To cut through, increased car journeys correlates with increased car collisions.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Road Safety Authority (27 Jun 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: I am coming to that.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Road Safety Authority (27 Jun 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: It is one in which the RSA has a particular role.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Road Safety Authority (27 Jun 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: Action 41 of the action plan on road safety strategy is to encourage modal shift to support environmental, safety and health objectives by promoting the use of sustainable and active modes of travel. The lead on this is the Department of Transport but also the sport agency, NTA, Irish Rail, Bus Éireann and the RSA. How much money has the RSA assigned to campaigns that encourage modal shift?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Road Safety Authority (27 Jun 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: The witnesses will know where I am going with this in that they know I have an opinion on where we place the blame for collisions that involve particularly vulnerable road users. Even though we have gone backwards in the past couple of years, since 2006 we have made improvements with regard to the number of deaths on the roads. We have not seen improvements with pedestrians, however. There...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Road Safety Authority (27 Jun 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: I want to return to something my colleague, Deputy Steven Matthews, put to the witnesses at a transport committee meeting about submissions on road safety interventions. At that meeting, it was stated that the RSA had not made any submissions, either on section 38 or Part 8 planning matters. Why?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Road Safety Authority (27 Jun 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: That does not really wash in that these are public consultations. I could point Mr. Waide to many schemes with regard to the weight of the authority of the RSA if the RSA had come in. I believe Ms O'Connor stated in subsequent interviews that they did not want to make submissions on road safety interventions because the RSA did not want to be political. This astounds me. It could be a...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Road Safety Authority (27 Jun 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: Has RSA made submissions on section 38 or Part 8 consultations?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Road Safety Authority (27 Jun 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: We are talking around the point here. Is it correct that the RSA has not made submissions on Part 8s or section 38s?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Road Safety Authority (27 Jun 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: What expertise is there within the RSA to make that submission? Are transport engineers on staff? When a submission is made, who makes that submission and what-----

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Road Safety Authority (27 Jun 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: You are the Road Safety Authority.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Road Safety Authority (27 Jun 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: Is Mr. Rowland telling me that the Road Safety Authority does not have any road safety engineers on staff?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Road Safety Authority (27 Jun 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: No, it is not. It goes far beyond that. In fact, the Road Safety Authority Act 2006 refers to, “the promotion of public awareness of road safety and of measures, including the advancement of education, relating to the promotion of the safe use of roads, including co-operation with local authorities and other persons in this regard”. Its remit should include that. I am...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Road Safety Authority (27 Jun 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: What is the cost-benefit analysis the RSA runs on that?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Road Safety Authority (27 Jun 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: I understand.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Road Safety Authority (27 Jun 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: Value for money and a cost-benefit analysis are two different things. I understand that hi-vis materials are relatively cheap. Some €750,000 is not a great deal of money. Hi-vis is relatively cheap. We can go down the road and buy it in any shop. We can pick up a hi-vis vest. I am asking about the cost-benefit analysis. A lot of work goes work into putting hi-vis vests very...