Results 3,241-3,260 of 7,024 for speaker:Willie Penrose

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (21 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: I pay tribute to Senators for their contributions. They ranged far and wide and there were no barriers.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (21 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: I learned more today than in 40 years of participation in politics.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (21 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: I compliment Senators for the depth of their knowledge compared to the ignorance I must profess. Their contributions are well meaning and thoroughly researched. My praise is genuine. I do not engage in patronising speech and people will hear from me quicker than they might like if I think something is wrong. Senator Mooney spoke about the fundamental reappraisal of the constituency...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (21 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: I appeal to candidates to come forward in County Westmeath. They will find a more than willing advocate.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (21 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: I had some tough times with her.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (21 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: That is correct. The Government has made its decision but in the last election, 86 or 15.19% of 566 candidates were women. Of the 166 Deputies returned, 25 or 15.01% were women. Senators will know where I am coming from. The proportion of men to women is approximately 50:50 but this has never been reflected in Dáil representation. In fairness to the Seanad, it has moved far ahead of the...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (21 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: Yes, it is probably harder. I hope the legislation on political funding to be introduced by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, will deal with it. However, I have a view that including something in a law is not necessarily the best way of dealing with it, but who am I but a small fry. I want to address the amendments specifically because people...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (21 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: It is not the gospel on the ground.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (21 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: I must travel throughout the country now and people in my constituency tell me they have not seen me around. The time I spend sitting at Cabinet meetings from 9.30 a.m. or 10.00 a.m. until 1 p.m. or 1.30 p.m. is time I normally would have spent in the constituency. How does one win? I pose this question to the Senators because they are all politicians, some of whom have been practising the...

Seanad: Electoral Amendment Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) (21 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: I am always amazed by the ingenuity of the Seanad to range outside debates in a far-ranging way. As someone who has chaired Committee Stage debates, I know one has to speak to the amendment. All the amendments have been addressed in some shape or form. One could not have a better person than me to play ball in that regard. I come from a very competitive constituency that was referred to...

Seanad: Electoral Amendment Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) (21 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: No doubt, they made their contributions at various times. I always had to be on the ball. It is time we got rid of the politics of the last success for a constituent. Politics is a bigger thing than that. Politics had a parochial nature, and we all went through that. I was as practical an exponent of that type of politics as anyone else. I will not decry what was there in the past....

Seanad: Electoral Amendment Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) (21 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: I prefer the views of those who participate in the process, irrespective of the parties or individuals for whom they vote. I have some extremely old-fashioned views. Anyone who knows me would state that I would never say something in this House which I would not also say outside. The only difference is that I am making pronouncements on the opposite side of the House from that which I...

Written Answers — Planning Issues: Planning Issues (20 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: A judgment of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Case C-66/06 on 20 November 2008 found that Ireland's system of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) screening for certain categories of agriculture related projects was over-reliant on size thresholds and did not take other relevant criteria (e.g. cumulative impacts of development, location relative to sensitive sites etc.) into account,...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (20 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: My Department approved a proposal by Sligo Borough Council to refurbish up to 53 local authority owned houses in the Cranmore estate at an estimated cost of €445,000. Expenditure this year will be met from the €2 million allocation for regeneration. So far, no proposal has been received from the Borough Council in relation to the improvement of privately owned houses in the estate. It...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (20 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: A statutory assessment of housing need is carried out every three years by all housing authorities. Data for the 2011 Assessment of Housing Need are currently being compiled by the Housing Agency and will be published as soon as possible. The last assessment took place in 2008 and indicated that there were 56,249 households in need of social housing support. Detailed information on this...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (20 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: Cork County Council envisages that over 40 housing units will be delivered under the social housing construction programme over the course of 2011, broken down as follows: Project Name Number of Social Housing Units Gooldshill – Phase 4, Mallow 16 units Shanagarry 6 Units Ballymacoda 1 Unit Slip, Bantry 8 Units Knockaneroe, Castletownbere 1 Unit Droum, Castletownbere 6 Units...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (20 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: Information regarding to the number of applications received under the 2011 tenant purchase scheme is not yet available in my Department. However, statistics will be published in due course.

Written Answers — Flood Relief: Flood Relief (20 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: My Department is in discussions with Wicklow County Council regarding flooding problems at Glending Estate, Blessington, Co. Wicklow and is awaiting the Council's final proposal in relation to this issue. This proposal will then be examined by my Department's Housing Inspectorate. The Council has been assured by my Department that funding will be made available for urgent necessary works....

Written Answers — Local Authority Services: Local Authority Services (20 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: The Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability, introduced in November 2007, replaced the discontinued Disabled Persons Grant Scheme, the Essential Repairs Grant Scheme and the Special Housing Aid for the Elderly Scheme, administered by the Health Service Executive. The grant schemes are funded by 80% recoupment available from my Department together with a...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (20 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: The Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 provides for a new process of housing needs assessment for applicants for social housing support and empowers the Minister to make regulations setting out the criteria for determining the eligibility for such support. These criteria include, but are not limited to, income levels and the availability of alternative accommodation. Amended...