Results 2,141-2,160 of 5,132 for speaker:Trevor Ó Clochartaigh
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Why not? The Minister said he had searched his heart when he developed this Bill. He said he consulted widely.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Surely this is an integral part of the whole structure.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: The Minister has just introduced new information. I have been at public meetings in Connemara with Fóram Chonamara and with organisations who are represented by it. Their understanding was that the local development companies would remain in existence and that the work they are doing would continue, but that the cheque book would be with the county councils and they would pay the local...
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I want the Minister to clarify this. Companies have been led to believe there would be a local structure still in place and that people would be employed in local areas by that local company, albeit that the administrative and financial functions would be transferred to the county councils. Is the Minister now telling us that this will not be the case? If so, there would be serious concern...
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: We have been asking for the Minister's vision.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I move amendment No. 40: In page 46, line 27, to delete “local and” and substitute “the”.The amendments relate to the local groups that would be covered by the section. Amendment No. 43, for example, refers to improving the efficiency with which publicly-funded local and community development resources are used. This returns us to an earlier question we...
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I appreciate the clarification. I appreciate also that negotiations are ongoing. It is a misnomer to call these companies private companies; they are companies limited by guarantee. That is not the same as a private limited company but people might take that as being the case from what the Minister said. Prescriptive memorandums and articles of association were given by the then...
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: The companies spent the money but they were being audited on an ongoing basis.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Is the Minister saying that all the companies are not responsible enough to-----
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Yes. I made the point earlier that a number of companies did not follow the guidelines but they were also under the oversight and the watch of the Department, Pobal and the EU. The question has to be raised, and I have raised it in the context of MFG, for example, about who was watching over that type of management that was going on because it was not just happening over a very short...
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: The Minister is saying now it was corrected but he is also saying it was in rag order. He is sending out misleading messages.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: He needs to clarify for us whether it is his vision that these local development companies will remain as part of the infrastructure in the future, through the next Leader programme in particular.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I am asking about the companies.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: It is a very important issue. The Minister is saying that too much money is being spent on administration in the companies. Can he tell us where the evidence for that is and perhaps between now-----
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Could the Minister furnish Senators with that evidence before Report Stage? We have a number of weeks before we are back in session. I would like to see that evidence in document form. The local development sector would not agree with what the Minister has just said, therefore, if he could furnish us with whatever reports he has that prove that point, I would welcome that. The Minister...
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: It goes to the issue around-----
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: -----local development companies and the way they are managed. It is the Minister who is casting aspersions on a number of companies in terms of them not being managed properly, therefore, rather than political rhetoric we would like the facts and figures in terms of his comment that these companies are spending too much on administration.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: It is, yes.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: One of the important roles of the local community development committees is in the whole area of social inclusion. It is important that representatives from State agencies are on these committees such as SOLAS, an tSeirbhís Oideachais Leanúnaigh agus Scileanna, and HSE, the Health Service Executive. These are the agencies delivering day-to-day services in communities....
- Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jan 2014)
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Hear, hear.