That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Local Government Act 1991 to ensure that the county status of a community shall not be altered without the explicit consent of the majority of its electorate.]]>
Over the past couple of years, one disappointment is that I was unable to have my wind turbines Bill 2012 introduced, despite support from the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly. He was frustrated on this issue by his colleague, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. I still think, however, that it is something we need to bring about, whether before the close of business today or when the new government is formed.
I wish to propose an amendment to today's Order of Business that No. 11 be taken before No. 1. No. 11 is the Local Government (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2016 - First Stage. I am seeking a seconder for that.
]]>Since I was elected to this House I have been supporting the people of rural Ireland who are against the erection of wind farms too near to their homes. I introduced a Bill in 2012 with a provision for reasonable set-back distances. When Deputy Alan Kelly became Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, he broadly supported the contents of my Bill and has done everything in his power since then to bring about proper set-back distances. Yet, the Minister, Deputy White's Department has blocked him every step of the way. That is the sad reality of it.
I have also fought against the unnecessary pylons that are proposed for certain parts of the country. As I have said in this House on numerous occasions, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, is pro-wind. I have rarely heard the organisation talk about any other alternative green energy projects. It is concerned with wind energy and in this respect, clear conflicts of interest within SEAI have been raised in this House. I do not want to get personal with the Minister, nor will I, but the people of Ireland generally believe that there is an agenda here, and since the Minister is a barrister and has good skills to argue the toss on this issue, I have no doubt he will do so with me, but he will not convince the people of rural Ireland that there is not an ongoing agenda here. This smacks totally of cronyism, and I will not support the Bill in its entirety unless that section is removed.
]]>I raise an issue I have been raising for five years, namely, medical cards. It is still very difficult today for somebody to receive a medical card. There are all kinds of problem when a person rings the Primary Care Reimbursement Service, PCRS. Everything is grand if the person submits the required documentation and does not leave anything out and he or she will receive a decision in about two weeks. However, if he or she leaves out even one document, the PCRS will send notification that it is required. However, when it is sent, it goes to a different person. Then, when we make representations on the issue, somebody from the PCRS will ring us, but it is not the same staff member with whom the applicant has been dealing. I am dealing with one case in which I had been trying to explain to one PCRS staff member that the family in question were dealing with gambling issues, something about which the PCRS would not know. However, the next time I looked for further information on the case, I had to deal with somebody else. I have now dealt with five staff members. All of the documentation has been sent, yet last week I was told that the PCRS still required more. I sent the whole lot again and I am now told that the PCRS has enough information and that it can look at the case. However, I can guarantee the House that when I ring again next week, somebody else will say all of the documentation required has not been received. When applications for medical cards were dealt with locally, the applicant was dealt with by one person who gathered all of the information required. Now, it seems, information is required all over the place in the PCRS. Everybody has a bit of the application and there is no one to join everything up. It is a serious matter and the Minister needs to sort it out.
]]>I raised this issue before the Seanad broke for the Christmas recess. I stated that Athlone is a town prone to flooding and that it would be flooded. I highlighted the fact that there is a company based in Athlone called Global Flood Solutions but nobody from Government made contact with the proprietor to see what could he do to solve the problem around the town. He is selling his product all over the world and yet the Government, which was reactive rather than proactive, would not do business with him. There are other companies in County Galway that provide similar products that were in touch with me and nobody has been in contact with them. Last year, when Foynes in Limerick was under threat of flooding, the OPW went to Global Flood Solutions and invested in its product. That product worked and saved Foynes from flooding. We need to involve companies that have expertise and ensure that they are part of the solution.
Senator Barrett mentioned insurance, a matter to which I will also refer. Those whose properties were flooded will not get insurance unless the Government intervenes. I am aware of one business - a pub - in my locality that was flooded and to which €2,500 worth of damage was done. It is not a great deal but it is still €2,500. The insurance policy covers the business for fire, flooding and public liability but if the owners make a claim for flooding, they will never get insurance again. They are in an awful predicament. What should they do?
Finally, Senator Whelan mentioned the fire service - our emergency service. I have great faith in the fire service but, unfortunately, during the flooding crisis throughout the country, some local authorities were refusing to let the fire service - which has expertise when it comes to flooding - out because of the cost involved. It is important that the Minister of State, Deputy Harris, should make a ministerial intervention on this matter and inform local authorities that the fire service should be deployed in all cases of emergency, including flooding.
]]>The Minister mentioned cyclists. I have often meant to raise the issue of cyclists in Dublin. The city is wholly unsuitable for cyclists. They are a danger to themselves and traffic. While driving down a road with three or four lanes, one is conscious of what is in front of one and one has to take corrective action if something goes wrong. If there are cyclists to the right and left, and if one has to make a move, one of them will be in trouble. We do not have enough cycle lanes and cyclists are using the carriageway along with cars. It is a dangerous city in which to be a cyclist.
I will raise an issue I have previously raised with the Minister, namely, drivers aged over 70 who forget to renew their provisional licences and must, therefore, go through the driving test. The biggest problem with the driving test for a person in his or her 70s or 80s is the theory test. They do not use computers and do not understand the whole thing. They may have been driving for 40 years and have never managed to apply for a full licence but always renewed the provisional licence. All I ask is that the Minister allow them to get a licence and even allow them to get it for a period after which they must undergo a driving test. The theory test is the problem. I hope the Minister can understand this. I am not asking for a total amnesty, but just the opportunity to do a driving test without having to try to do a theory test which they have no way of doing.
]]>I will now turn to the Boundary Commission which is currently reviewing the boundary at Monksland in County Roscommon with a view to moving it into County Westmeath and thereby into Leinster. I believe the Boundary Commission seems to have a job for life. When I ran for the council elections in 2004 I ran in the Ballaghaderreen electoral area. When I ran in the general election in 2007 it was Roscommon-South Leitrim. When I ran in the council elections in 2009 it was Ballaghaderreen-Castlerea. When I ran in the general election in 2011 it was still Roscommon-South Leitrim. Now it is going to be changed to Roscommon-East Galway. Previously it was Roscommon-Longford, Roscommon-Mayo and so on. However, the boundaries have now changed again for the local elections. It is no longer Ballaghaderreen-Castlerea, it is now Ballaghaderreen-Boyle.
There seems to be a change by the Boundary Commission for every single election. My point is that Roscommon will not tolerate, under any circumstances, the notion that an area of 30 sq. km. of land with 7,000 people would be taken into another province. It simply will not be tolerated. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, to the House to discuss the matter. It is an issue in four regions in the State but there is no way that a land grab by other counties will be allowed by Roscommon.
]]>Yesterday in the Seanad, I raised the case of a company called Global Flood Solutions that is based on Athlone. It sells its flood solutions product all over the world yet the Government will not do business with it to solve the problems in our country. It is crazy. I know the HSE spent a lot of money on that product last year and it stored the product in a building in Roscommon town that was flooded. It is a huge issue in which councillors need to have some say, which is not the case at the moment.
The Athlone municipal district was established with Monksland as a part of it. Monksland has the biggest rate base for Roscommon County Council. As soon as the district was established, they spoke about putting Monksland into Westmeath thereby taking away the entire rate base. It is now with the Boundary Commission as we speak. I do not know if a decision will be made by this Government. I certainly hope not because the people of Roscommon will not stand idly by and allow Monksland to be taken away and given to County Westmeath. There are also implications for the GAA. There are three clubs in that area that would be split if this came to pass so I encourage the Minister of State to make sure that nothing like happens regardless of what is reported by the boundary commission.
We saw the "RTE Investigates" programme on Monday night. That is not reflective of the majority of county councillors around the country. Most of them are hard-working and decent people who would not take a penny for any effort they make on behalf of companies. It was a bit surreal that they posed as wind farm developers because for the past number of years, I have thought about how wind farm developers can come and out of counties, manage to get planning permission, resist every road block put in place by the people and manage to get their way. It was interesting how the county councillor in County Donegal tried to more or less say that this is a tricky issue and that he would have to pretend that he was on the side of the people but that behind the scenes, he would be with the developers because there was money in it. I was always of that opinion. I do not think RTE decided to pose as wind farm developers out of the sky. I think they know an awful lot more.
]]>I agree with Senator Norris to a large degree in respect of the tax on older vehicles. He is paying €2,000 tax on a car worth €1,000. I was involved in a Commencement debate earlier on a similar matter, which is the spiralling cost of car insurance. I gave two examples, one of a man aged 73 with a little Ford Fiesta worth €1,000 whose insurance is €880 and another of a young lad with a 2002 Audi worth €2,000 which he needs to go to college and for which the insurance company billed him this year for €2,648, or €648 more than the value of the actual car.
I welcome the Bill. It will certainly improve the cost of doing business in Ireland.
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