Results 421-440 of 1,046,690 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:David Stanton OR speaker:Catherine Murphy OR speaker:Matt Carthy) in 'Committee meetings'

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

David Stanton: Is that with no restrictions whatsoever on the type of drug?

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)

Catherine Murphy: I thank the Cathaoirleach. The RSA officials are very welcome. I ask that they keep their responses short because I have a number of questions to get in and we all have limited time. I thank them for their briefing note which is very useful. Page 10 provides information on the cost. I accept the point made about how the number one issue is the tragic loss of life, but the officials...

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

Catherine Murphy: I ask Ms O'Connor to be very brief.

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

Catherine Murphy: I understand ad campaigns can be effective. Unfortunately, road fatalities have increased following those campaigns. We have to question where we put our resources, in terms of whether enforcement plays a greater role. That is an issue for the Garda. There are particular categories. For example, there were 11 fatal crashes in 2023 involving learner drivers. That was a dramatic increase....

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

Catherine Murphy: It is outside of what the Road Safety Authority can do, essentially. It is down to-----

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

Catherine Murphy: I will ask a parliamentary question on that. I do not have the time to address it now. It is illegal to drive unaccompanied on a learner permit, yet people arrive unaccompanied to NCT centres, for example. What is the Road Safety Authority doing about that? What can it do about that?

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

Catherine Murphy: The Garda is being asked to enforce that. People arrive to Road Safety Authority centres. Do staff ring the Garda? Are people advised that they should not arrive unaccompanied? Is the Road Safety Authority taking a particular initiative in this regard?

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

Catherine Murphy: I will stop there because I want to use my time for the questions I want to ask, rather than winding my time down in a way that I do not find satisfactory. I refer to the metrics I described earlier. The Road Safety Authority referred to the lack of sharing of information and the issue with the data commissioner, as well as due course. Does Mr. Waide have any idea of a ballpark idea of...

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

Catherine Murphy: Does Mr. Walsh expect that to happen within the lifetime of this Government?

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

Catherine Murphy: I want to go back to the multiple learner permit issue. This may well be the responsibility of the Department because ministerial priorities have not been followed up on. Multiple learner permits is one such issue, as is a review of the driving test curriculum. What relationship is there between the Department and Road Safety Authority in terms of progressing those issues? Are there...

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

Catherine Murphy: Over 6,000 learners failed to show up for scheduled tests in 2023. They continue to renew their permits. I am not in favour of increasing the price of testing. The most important thing is that we get people tested and that they are not driving on learner permits. Has the RSA a strategy for the slots that are wasted and making the system more efficient?

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

Catherine Murphy: Can the RSA identify if the same people keep failing to show up? Is the system flexible enough to identify that?

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

Catherine Murphy: I want to focus on disqualified drivers. Something like 1,800 learners were disqualified in 2023 and only 3% of them surrendered their permit to the Road Safety Authority. From a parliamentary question reply, I discovered that only one driver out of the 10,000 who were disqualified in court in 2022 and 2023 was then convicted of not surrendering their licence. In the UK, for example, a...

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

Catherine Murphy: We then come back to the level of enforcement and the data that the Road Safety Authority collects, for example, if somebody is detected as having been driving while disqualified. Data is going to be important. In the case of fatal accidents where people were driving unaccompanied with a learner permit in the last five years, does the Road Safety Authority separate out that information so...

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

Catherine Murphy: Thank you for that information. Information is going to be very important, in particular, how the Road Safety Authority is going to apply that information to reduce the number of fatalities. To move to a different subject, what was the totality of fines for non-adherence to the NCT timelines applied to the company that was outsourced to do that job in the last couple of years?

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

Catherine Murphy: “Service credits” sounds very positive.

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

Catherine Murphy: Is that how the contract is structured?

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

Catherine Murphy: I will move to another topic. In terms of defining the safety of roads, is it solely based on the absence of accidents and fatalities or does the Road Safety Authority look at it from the point of view that they may be used by, for example, children and vulnerable road users? What is the metric used? How does the Road Safety Authority determine that?