Results 2,241-2,260 of 2,500 for speaker:Ciarán Cuffe

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: Perhaps we should step outside for a chat about it. I am concerned about such a charge being made in the House and do not know whether I am protected under Standing Orders. This Bill is about reform and greater regulatory oversight of the planning system. Everyone in this Chamber would agree that the planning system failed us dramatically in regard to oversight and over development. This...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: It is wrong for councillors to be wined and dined by developers who want to rezone land.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: I do not believe it is illegal but if we allow the bulk of the initial submissions on development plans to concentrate on zoning, we will not be able to have the strategic discussion which is crucial to creating a decent plan. To respond to Deputy Tuffy's claims, we are not banning submissions on rezoning. We are providing that the strategic issues shall be addressed at an early stage of the...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: No.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: No, it is not.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: Most of the issues to which Deputy Tuffy referred are strategic in nature and would be considered as valid amendments in that context. In regard to Deputy Hogan's comments, the national spatial strategy was prepared from the end of 2000 and published in November 2002, thus predating the coming into operation of the directive and the regulations. Consequently, the NSS does not fall within the...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: I move amendment No. 4: In page 9, to delete lines 40 to 43 and in page 10, to delete lines 1 to 15 and substitute the following: 5.—Section 4 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsection (1)— (i) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (i): "(i) development consisting of the thinning, felling or replanting of trees, forests or woodlands or works ancillary to...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: I am not sure to which amendment the Deputy is speaking.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: This amendment relates to forestry roads and not the closing down of rural areas.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: We have an amendment that deals with the broader issue to which the Deputy refers.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: I know Ms Dubsky of Coastwatch Ireland and I have the height of respect for her views. We have considered the matter again and spoken to colleagues in the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. I am pleased to say that we have taken on board the views expressed through the Labour Party amendment. It is good for wetlands and conservation, and I hope the Deputy is pleased with the...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: An amendment was proposed that addressed the concerns of the Deputy.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: To clarify, it provides that land reclamation or reclamation of estuarine marsh or of callows would no longer be exempt.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: I can empathise with the concerns of Deputy Tuffy. With regard to the Smith v. Meath County Council, the issue was the regional planning guidelines and the county development plan. To my recollection it did not involve the co-ordination between adjoining development plans. I made a similar mistake this morning in discussion with officials on the use of these words and phrases. This...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: We have discussed it. I reiterate my belief that local democracy is enshrined in law and that only the big picture, strategic issues, is addressed in national and regional policy. Local decisions will continue to be made by local people. The Bill strikes a better balance between national, regional and local interests. There is greater emphasis within the Bill on energy security, climate...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: That is what the Minister is trying to do.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: If one goes out the Strokestown Road and finds a cottage up on a rise, and if one speaks to the fellow who has lived in that cottage all his life, I am sure he will tell one, and could have told one ten years ago, that there was always flooding under the railway bridge on the Strokestown Road. I want this Bill to make sure the planner and the county manager know there is always flooding...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: The regional planning guidelines, the flooding guidelines and the national spatial strategy concentrate on putting the right kind of development in the right places. I am making it clear that regional authorities should participate in the public consultation process and in the development of planning, given that they adopt the regional planning guidelines. It is a question of co-ordination...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: I am still reeling from Deputy Bannon's assault on planners. He suggested that planners do not want people to build on the tops of mountains and that they are forcing everyone to live in the lowlands. I suggest that proper planning would pay greater attention to building halfway up the hill - not at the top of the hill where one's roof would be blown off and-----

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: -----not at the bottom of the hill, where one's house would be flooded. If one takes all the relevant factors into account, one can find the perfect combination. In fairness, Deputy Bannon should withdraw his insult to the planning profession. Amendment No. 9 proposes that the phrase "and have due regard to development plan guidelines" be included in the core strategy provision that will be...