Results 2,401-2,420 of 2,438 for speaker:Caít Keane

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jan 2016)

Caít Keane: I do not think we will have time for debates. Perhaps we will have time. I want to raise one important issue, namely, recycling. The city of San Francisco banned the 18-ounce plastic bottle last week. Hopefully, we will all be back here speaking in the House and putting the most important issue first, namely, our environment. I am from the west of Ireland and am very familiar with the...

Seanad: Local Government Review: Statements (26 Jan 2016)

Caít Keane: The Senator is just wasting time.

Seanad: Local Government Review: Statements (26 Jan 2016)

Caít Keane: That is not a point of order.

Seanad: Local Government Review: Statements (26 Jan 2016)

Caít Keane: Senator Craughwell was not here for the Order of Business.

Seanad: Local Government Review: Statements (26 Jan 2016)

Caít Keane: He was not here for the Order of Business. He should have been in the House for it like the rest of us.

Seanad: Local Government Review: Statements (26 Jan 2016)

Caít Keane: He should have been here rather than grandstanding now and again.

Seanad: Local Government Review: Statements (26 Jan 2016)

Caít Keane: Senator Craughwell has greatly insulted the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, and the Local Authority Members Association, LAMA, which have beaten the door to the Minister-----

Seanad: Local Government Review: Statements (26 Jan 2016)

Caít Keane: They are working with him in an established forum to give rights to the councillors. I look forward to that report. As Fine Gael spokesperson on local government, I am working with the Minister on that. We have seen the extra workload councillors have been given in the most radical reform of local government. There is stronger oversight and powers in respect of policy, drawing up of...

Seanad: Local Government Review: Statements (26 Jan 2016)

Caít Keane: Their wives, partners, sisters and brothers answer phones and e-mails and are unpaid, unpensioned and unrecognised. I recognise the councillors and ex-councillors in the Public Gallery. I have only three minutes so I will concentrate on secretarial services for councillors and the PRSI class K that they pay at 4% and for which they get nothing. When I was on the North-South body and the...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Jan 2016)

Caít Keane: Like other Members who have spoken on the banking inquiry, I congratulate all of the Senators who put in more than 400 hours' work, including during holiday periods and the summer recess. They have put in the effort. The result might not be exactly what everybody wants because we would all like to see inquiries being able to make findings of fact more than recommendations. Senator Barrett...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Jan 2016)

Caít Keane: They were on the table long before the Senator came here.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Planning and Development (Amendment) Regulations 2016: Motion (27 Jan 2016)

Caít Keane: I support Deputy Mulherin in that regard. I have a question on the planning application for waste composters. Many local authorities now place composters in parks. Will the local authorities be exempt under Part 8 planning provisions? They do a very good job. I have seen where small bins in parks overflow. Where those are in use it takes ten times the volume on a weekend. These are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Planning and Development (Amendment) Regulations 2016: Motion (27 Jan 2016)

Caít Keane: They are.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Planning and Development (Amendment) Regulations 2016: Motion (27 Jan 2016)

Caít Keane: Accepted.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Planning and Development (Amendment) Regulations 2016: Motion (27 Jan 2016)

Caít Keane: Under the planning Act from 2001 or 2002, if rogue developers did not finish an estate and a bond was not provided a facility was in place to ensure the developer would not be considered for planning permission again. Is there a list of what one would call rogue developers? If a developer does not finish an estate properly the council can take it in charge and put such developers on a...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Commercial Rates Impact (28 Jan 2016)

Caít Keane: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy English, to the House. This morning he seems to be Minister of State for all trades. I have tabled a motion on commercial rates on child care. It is not the first time that I have raised this matter and it was one of the first issues I raised when I became a Senator. The climate has changed since then because educational preschool services have been...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Commercial Rates Impact (28 Jan 2016)

Caít Keane: The Minister of State could have left out three pages of his reply because I know exactly what it means: it is the system as it is, as everybody who works in early childhood care and education sector knows. One of the Minister of State's final statements was: "Since the legislation was commenced on 8 June 2015, the Valuation Office has been updating the valuation list to give effect to this...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2016)

Caít Keane: I agree with Senator Norris on the idea for a national positivity day. If the records are checked, I spoke on this about two years ago. It is not all bad news but it is depressing how the media sometimes just covers the bad news. There are some good news stories and human communication of positivity is good for everybody. I did not have an opportunity yesterday to welcome the debate on...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2016)

Caít Keane: It is on the record now and I have it in writing from the Minister and the Department of Justice and Equality. I have put it on the record because Early Childhood Ireland did a survey and discovered the interpretation of the way rates are to be implemented on early childhood care premises is different in every county. I am asking that a note be sent to every local authority informing them...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2016)

Caít Keane: If I am back I will be asking to have included in that exemption the square footage of rooms in other settings that provide full-time child care. That is not there yet.