Results 161-180 of 10,035 for speaker:Martin Cullen

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: Anything we can do to improve the environment, be it by systems, standards, technology or activity is obviously important, as I am sure the Senator would agree. I wanted to give certainty and maintain continuity between the 1992 Act and this Bill. Areas of activity that should be in place or that are in fact happening are being added to legislation to give them certainty, but the changes are...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: The Environmental Protection Agency is of course independent. All the normal protections that the courts offer any citizen or organisation are available. The purpose of the Environmental Protection Agency, however, is to serve as an independent expert body. I have provided, for instance, that there would be more access for the public to an oral hearing on a particular activity. If people...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: Anybody can bring in an independent assessor if he or she wishes. It is up to the individual. People can obviously also put forward their own point of view.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: Planning authorities deal with planning matters and the EPA deals with all matters under the IPPC licensing system. The EPA would not be involved in planning matters because they are a matter for planning authorities. The separation of functions in this regard is important. The answer to the Senator's question is "No", but for the right reasons.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: It is not necessary or relevant to elaborate in this manner. This section deals with genetically modified organisms and the subsection is intended to grant a broad power to make such regulations. We are at cross-purposes. We are dealing with genetically modified organisms in this section and, while I could go into detail on the Senator's amendment, I would only delay proceedings. The...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: I understand why the Senator tabled the amendment, but I do not propose to accept it. Obviously discretion would be exercised by the EPA regarding an offence. Two issues have arisen in the application of this section. Having discovered an unauthorised waste disposal activity, it is incumbent on a local authority to undertake potentially time consuming and expensive investigations to establish...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: As the Senator knows, my position on this is pretty well defined. I do not propose to accept the amendment which, in effect, would require a local authority to continue to collect household waste from a person even when he or she fails to pay a relevant waste charge. In other words, people would subsidise their neighbours. Councillors from all political parties wanted this corrected as a...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: I will deal with the waiver when we come to section 35. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Section 22 agreed to. Sections 23 and 24 agreed to. SECTION 25.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: The intention behind section 39A(7) is to allow a person who proposes to carry on two related activities, that is, an activity involving the recovery or disposal of waste and an activity to which the First Schedule of the 1992 Act applies, to request the Environmental Protection Agency to make a determination as to which licensing regime shall apply before, obviously, the prospective...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: I think it is.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: Yes, it will make a determination beforehand.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: I appreciate the point. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Section 25 agreed to. Sections 26 to 29, inclusive, agreed to. SECTION 30. Question proposed: "That section 30 stand part of the Bill."

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: While I understand the point the Senator is trying to make, I do not accept it. The manager is in charge when the landfill is established, but the determination is made by the Environmental Protection Agency. I cannot foresee circumstances in which a local authority would forego potential income from its landfill by driving landfill charges to such levels that nobody would consider using it....

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: Given that I have been accused of introducing incineration, I do not mind using the term. As politicians, we had better begin to understand about what we are talking when we refer to incineration. We are not talking about traditional incineration facilities associated in the public mind with mass burning. No such facilities will ever be built here. They would not be acceptable to the...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: The Senator is correct. I wish we could get more of that message across because what we want to do here in a management sense is light years from what has been the case heretofore. I was not talking about the facility but, thankfully, I have very good officials sitting behind me. The facility about which the Senator is talking was an experimental one which did not deal with incineration but...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: While we will not get into an argument about it, we have to be clear and fair. I attended a large public meeting recently when for the first time in my life I was on a platform with a young lady who was absolutely expert in this area. I had never met her before but she was brilliant. She had the simple gift of English, yet was highly technically qualified. She dealt with every issue and there...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: I agree. That is what we will do.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: A hole in the ground.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: I do not want to delay proceedings, but I am pleased there is a good substantive discussion on this matter even if, as Senator Dardis said, one is not sure what section we are dealing with. I do not like doing this to Senator Bannon, but the Longford application was wholly inadequate and unacceptable in its quality, presentation, documentation and back-up material. I will go no further, as I...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: Yes. We must understand what we are discussing. It is almost comical, but 100 times more dioxins are created on bonfire night than would be generated in 12 months by all the incinerators one could put in place. That is the reality with which we must deal. We are out there with our kids shovelling stuff on to bonfires. We go collecting with them and help to poison them. Those fires, with all...