Results 2,101-2,120 of 5,132 for speaker:Trevor Ó Clochartaigh
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: If the Minister stopped interrupting me I might be able to conclude.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Obviously it is a touchy subject for the Minister.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I was a member of PLANET, the representative organisation for partnership companies.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Yes.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Most companies that I came across were very frugal in the way they spent their moneys. They did not spend a huge amount of money on administration. The money was spent on local projects.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: More importantly, they had local level committees. It meant that there was local input from people who represented the elderly, youth groups, the marginalised, etc. It is they who decided how the money was spent.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: The Minister is creating a decision-making structure that will be centralised under the county councils. Therefore, it will be much more difficult for people and those from marginalised groups to attend meetings on the issues because they will, more than likely, be centralised in a county building. The provision is a detrimental step and one the Minister should reconsider. I wish to...
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: They are centralising powers.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: The Minister might need to retract his statement.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: The Minister should tell me. He seems to have all the information at his behest.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I know the Minister is only trying to wind me up by talking about vested interests. For the record, I do not have any vested interest in the area. In a previous life I worked with a partnership company in Connemara, Cumas Teoranta. I do not work for the company any longer so I do not have any vested interest to declare.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: The Minister is very welcome. I thank him for being so interested in my background.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: That points to something-----
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: It was, given that the Minister cast aspersions on my character.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I had to clarify the matter.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I will clarify a few more issues now while we are at it.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: It is important to say that we have been through the cohesion process with the local partnership companies, as they were, and the Leader companies. The process was managed by the Department. As part of the process the previous Minister was told-----
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Yes. The Minister's officials would have been well aware of people's concerns about the issues regarding the cohesion process at the time. I am surprised the Minister is calling these companies private companies because they are not. They are companies limited by guarantee and under guidelines that were negotiated over three or four years, as far as I remember, by officials in the...
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: That is a statement the Minister needs to retract because it is most unfair.