Results 2,121-2,140 of 5,132 for speaker:Trevor Ó Clochartaigh
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: We realise that the cohesion process, especially in the Gaeltacht areas, was an absolute disaster. The Minister knows that himself. Certainly, we need an investigation into what happened in the Gaeltacht areas and what happened to Meitheal Forbartha na Gaeltachta, MFG, in particular, and how some of the actions in that company were allowed to happen, under the auspices of the previous...
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Many calls for an investigation into that have been made.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I call on the Minister-----
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: The allegations have been made by many people into exactly why-----
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I am not going to do that. It is important to find out. Have the audits done by the Department shown up any issues regarding documentation being kept or board minutes etc., the way decisions were made, the way moneys were spent, etc., on the various programmes? It is about time the Minister sanctioned a full investigation into that issue. The result of that, the reason it is important now...
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: We do not have that structure because it was taken away when MFG was gone. Will the Minister clarify where the Gaeltacht areas sit in his new vision for local development? At the moment the funds are being allocated through contiguous companies, including FORUM Connemara in Letterfrack and Comhair na nOileán, etc., in various Gaeltacht areas. We have concerns about centralising power...
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: He is a Corkman.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: We are only €8 million short.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: It was European funding.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: That is not what was promised.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I need to come back in on this.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: The Minister mentioned the report of the working group on active citizenship, which was set up ten weeks ago. It strikes me as very strange that it was only set up ten weeks ago, when the Bill has been in the making for so long.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I want to clarify for the Minister that according to information I received -----
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: According to information I received yesterday from the Community Workers Co-operative, CWC, the report of the working group on active citizenship is imminent and the Minister has said we will see it soon. The CWC is concerned that the recommendations of the group will be included as a last-minute amendment to the Bill. Is that going to happen? Will we see Report Stage recommendations being...
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: It is important to clarify that issue. I welcome the €1 million extra for the Gaeltacht areas, but I would not really see it as extra. The Minister is aware that €17 million of Leader funding was supposed to go to Gaeltacht areas, but because of the unmitigated disaster that was MFG, this was not forthcoming. The €1 million is only €1 million towards the...
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Gaeltacht areas have been severely hit by the way the Minister has reallocated the funding. He keeps changing the goal posts in regard to Leader spending. The Minister keeps talking about the fact that under the new model the decisions will be made and because there will be elected representatives on the committees, the process will be democratic. Surely the Minister knows that there are...
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Yes, that is why we are saying that whoever holds the cheque book makes the decisions. They will probably do it at the behest of whatever Minister is in place.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Not necessarily. Democracy would keep it as close to the people as possible and let them have more input into what is happening. There are elected representatives on the boards of Galway Rural Development, GRD, Fóram Chonamara, Comhar na nOileán at present -----
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Will the Minister clarify what will happen to the companies under the new model? Will they still exist or will they be liquidated? If so, who will deliver on the ground locally and who will be the employers?
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Will the companies be disbanded? Is the Minister saying those companies will be liquidated? This is important.