Results 3,561-3,580 of 4,726 for speaker:Malcolm Noonan

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Wildlife Protection (3 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: Work is underway to make Regulations under Section 23(2)(a) of the Wildlife Act 1976 to protect the Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus). As the Basking Shark is a species of fish, such Regulations may only be made with the concurrence and signature of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. As such, I wrote to Minister McConalogue on 9 February requesting his views on same. An...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Cross-Border Co-operation (3 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: The Narrow Water Bridge is a cross-border project led by Louth County Council and supported by the Shared Island Fund, which as the Deputy will know is designed to fund strategic north-south projects that implement the commitments and objectives on Shared Island set out in the Programme for Government. The bridge will connect Cornamucklagh near Omeath, Co Louth with Narrow Water near...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Heritage Schemes (3 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: Last week, I was delighted to launch Heritage Ireland 2030, the first national heritage plan in 20 years and a commitment under the Programme for Government. Heritage Ireland 2030 recognises the fundamental importance of our heritage in all its forms – natural, built, cultural, linguistic, tangible and intangible – and provides an overarching strategic framework for the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Legislative Measures (3 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: The General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bill was published and circulated to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage for pre-legislative consideration in January 2021. The General Scheme is available on my Department's website at www.gov.ie/en/publication/34cf6-general-scheme-of-the-electo ral-reform-bill-2020. The Joint Oireachtas Committee carried out a...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: National Parks and Wildlife Service (3 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: The Government is committed to a significant investment in, and a renewal of, the National Parks and Wildlife Service as set out in the Programme for Government. The multi-phase Review which will underpin this process is at an advanced stage and nearing completion. There are three phases. The first Review phase, which involves extensive research, consultation, orientation and feedback...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Invasive Species Policy (3 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: The National Parks and Wildlife Service of my Department has a long standing and ongoing practice of invasive species management.  In particular, Rhododendron management has been a feature of work practices in Killarney National Park since the 1980s. In 2021, my Department allocated more than €1.3m for invasive species removal across 15 of our sites in the parks and reserves...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Bord na Móna (3 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: The Enhanced Decommissioning Rehabilitation and Restoration Scheme (EDRRS) approved by the Government in November 2020 encompasses work on approximately 33,000 hectares of Bord na Móna peatlands previously harvested for peat extraction for electricity generation. €108 million National Recovery and Resilience funding for the project has been approved for this large-scale peatlands...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Waterways Issues (2 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: Waterways Ireland has stated that on the towpath side or the south side of the Royal Canal, the boundary is generally clearly defined and is often bounded by the adjacent railway line. On the north bank of the canal, the boundary is mainly comprised of trees and shrub material, so this boundary is not as clearly defined on the ground as the south side of the canal. Boundary maps of the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Wildlife Protection (1 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: I will respond to the question on the Commencement and these are additional, if that is okay. My Department has a very strong relationship with our colleagues in the OPW, with the OPW holding statutory responsibility for the day-to-day maintenance of a large number of monuments and buildings in the ownership of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. These sites can of...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Wildlife Protection (1 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: I will make inquiries on that report. I go back to my point about the good working relationship that we have with the OPW in relation to built heritage sites in its care. We are also working on a proposal for a voluntary continuous professional development scheme to equip private and public contractors with practical skills, knowledge and awareness of ecology and environmental law, as well...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Pollution (1 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: Waterways Ireland has notified the ESB of two oil leaks, the first in January 2017 and the second in January 2022, both on the Grand Canal close to Blackhorse Bridge, Inchicore. Since 2019, the  ESB has initiated a ‘Cable Incident Response Protocol’ to notify Waterways Ireland regarding leaks from underground cables based on their own system for...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Constituency Commission (1 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: Article 16 of the Constitution sets out clearly and distinctly the overarching requirements that apply to the membership of Dáil Éireann. In addition, and complementary to the constitutional provisions of Article 16.2 in particular, Part II of the Electoral Act 1997 (as amended) provides for a constituency review following each Census of Population and establishes, among other...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Maritime Jurisdiction (1 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 348 and 349 together. In January 2022, I expressed my concern at the news of proposed military exercises in the deep seas within Ireland’s Exclusive Economic Area. It is understood that underwater sounds such as active military sonar can have devastating consequences for cetaceans including some of our rarest marine mammal species, notably the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: National Parks and Wildlife Service (1 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: My Department established a list of 38 activities that have the potential to damage habitats or species and therefore require consent before they are carried out within a European site. These applications relating to actions requiring consent are managed at a regional level by National Parks and Wildlife Service officials in the location to which the application refers. This process is...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: World Heritage Sites (1 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: The National Monuments Service of my Department is currently undertaking further technical assessment of the applications to a new Tentative List. The following six applications were received by the deadline of 30 June 2021:  - The Passage Tomb Landscape of County Sligo - Inis Cealtra, County Clare - Transatlantic Cable Ensemble: Valentia-Heart’s Content, County Kerry...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Presidential Elections (1 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: My Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs have worked closely on this issue and, on 16 September 2019, the Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Presidential Elections) Bill 2019 was initiated in Dáil Éireann by the then Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to facilitate the holding of a referendum on this issue. The Bill provides for amendments to...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (1 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: Legislative reforms to regulate the short-term letting sector through the planning code, in areas designated as “rent pressure zones” (RPZs), were introduced under the Planning and Development Act 2000 (Exempted Development) (No. 2) Regulations 2019 which came into effect on 1 July 2019. Notwithstanding the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, significant work on...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Planning Issues (23 Feb 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: I will give a general overview of disability provision and the Disability Act and then offer some possible solutions to the case the Deputy has raised. The ongoing implementation of disability-related measures has a statutory footing under the Disability Act 2005. The Act comes within the policy remit of my colleague Deputy Rabbitte, who is Minister of State with responsibility for...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Planning Issues (23 Feb 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: A number of years ago when I was a member of Kilkenny Borough Council, an initiative was brought forward by a person who was working with people with disabilities to bring in a disabled parking bay monitoring scheme. The monitors who worked, and are still working, on the streets of Kilkenny are themselves wheelchair users. They monitor the disabled bays and report back to traffic wardens...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Planning Issues (23 Feb 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: They have multiple jobs but within their brief------