Results 26,321-26,340 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Post-European Council Meetings: Statements (27 Mar 2019)

Brendan Howlin: When it comes to our statements on EU Council business, we might be better served in this House by having separate Brexit statements and statements on the actual business of the EU Council. Naturally, we all have a significant interest in the latest Brexit developments. We have to keep one eye on our phones because the landscape changes with such alacrity and regularity. It is equally...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Appeals (28 Mar 2019)

Brendan Howlin: 196. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a decision has been made on a jobseeker's allowance appeal by a person (details supplied) in County Wexford; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14529/19]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Restoration of Town Councils) Bill 2018: Discussion (28 Mar 2019)

Brendan Howlin: I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for providing time to discuss what I regard as very important legislation. I have circulated a script, but I do not intend to read it because of the lateness of the hour and the short amount of time available to us. Technically, will the remarks be included in the official record of the committee?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Restoration of Town Councils) Bill 2018: Discussion (28 Mar 2019)

Brendan Howlin: As long as that is done, I am happy. In essence I regard this as an important piece of restoration work. Before Deputy Cassells asks the question, I confirm that I was a member of the Government that abolished town councils, which was a mistake. I have been around these Houses for a long time. People make mistakes all the time; political parties make mistakes. As I said in my...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Restoration of Town Councils) Bill 2018: Discussion (28 Mar 2019)

Brendan Howlin: I thank both Deputies for their supportive comments. Anybody who has had experience of local government at that level appreciates its value. We should strive to restore it. If, as Deputy Cassells says, there is pushback in this Dáil for whatever number of months and if we advance this Bill, whoever forms a future Government would put this back on the agenda and it is important for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Restoration of Town Councils) Bill 2018: Discussion (28 Mar 2019)

Brendan Howlin: That is why I suggest 5,000. It would capture most of the historical ones. I intended to avoid mentioning others but I do not believe one could justify it for places such as Lismore, which traditionally had a town council. There must be a critical mass. Whether 5,000 is a high enough threshold is a matter of debate. My position on it is not fixed in stone but it is what I advocate in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Restoration of Town Councils) Bill 2018: Discussion (28 Mar 2019)

Brendan Howlin: We circulated as an attachment the populations of all the towns that would be captured by a population base of 5,000. It is a two-page list of towns starting with Arklow and ending with Youghal that would meet the threshold. One would not exclude any town in it. That is the reasoning behind it. On the other questions, the directly elected mayor is not encompassed in my proposal. I do...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Restoration of Town Councils) Bill 2018: Discussion (28 Mar 2019)

Brendan Howlin: -----and who are not resourced. I examined this many years ago and I produced a document entitled Better Local Government. My suggestion at that stage, which I believe is the genesis of a good idea but it has never been implemented in the way I envisaged, was that the strategic policy committee, SPC, be chaired by an elected councillor. For example, in housing, the SPC would be chaired by...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Restoration of Town Councils) Bill 2018: Discussion (28 Mar 2019)

Brendan Howlin: -----reporting to the chair of the SPC. The corporate policy group would be, in effect, the Cabinet. That was my idea but it did not work out. It has not been driven. Part of it is due to resources because one cannot expect part-time people to be on top of a matter in the way that full-time administrators are. There is a job of work to be done and Deputy O'Dowd is correct in that regard....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Apr 2019)

Brendan Howlin: What about the Parliament?

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (2 Apr 2019)

Brendan Howlin: The ban on smoky coal was introduced in Dublin in 1990 and now applies to all towns across the country with a population greater than 15,000. That has led to important improvements in air quality and it is estimated to have saved 350 lives per year through the reduction in smog and particulate matter in the atmosphere. A nationwide ban on smoky coal was announced by the then Minister for...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (2 Apr 2019)

Brendan Howlin: Will it be in September?

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (2 Apr 2019)

Brendan Howlin: Hear, hear.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Provision (2 Apr 2019)

Brendan Howlin: 159. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the assistance available for the provision of transport for a special needs child to attend a specialised preschool (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14875/19]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Mayoral Election (2 Apr 2019)

Brendan Howlin: 597. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if it is planned that directly elected mayors will be afforded to other towns, particularly to towns that had former borough councils; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15280/19]

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (3 Apr 2019)

Brendan Howlin: Last week finally saw the publication of the report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate Action entitled Climate Change: A Cross-Party Consensus for Action. The extent to which there is actual cross-party consensus for action remains to be seen. Sinn Féin took the surprising decision to reject the final draft of the report despite having been actively involved in drafting it...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (3 Apr 2019)

Brendan Howlin: The Government could offer grant aid.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (3 Apr 2019)

Brendan Howlin: It is very important that we make a decision that this is the priority which, if it were not for Brexit, should be consuming all of our focus so that all of our policies in terms of investment are aimed at tipping the balance against carbon. We need to do this. I purposely did not ask about the ambitious target of 70% for electricity generated from renewables because that will be achieved....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (3 Apr 2019)

Brendan Howlin: They are all interlinked.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Apr 2019)

Brendan Howlin: A Programme for a Partnership Government commits to ensuring a strong and visible police force in every community. Yesterday, there was a shooting outside a school in the constituency of the Taoiseach and my colleague, Deputy Burton. It was an outrageous incident involving a gunman shooting at a man collecting a pupil from the school. It is incredibly lucky that such a reckless assault did...