Results 2,701-2,720 of 4,773 for speaker:Paudie Coffey

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Paudie Coffey: That is what I heard earlier on. He was opposed to it. This is a genuine initiative to assist people to adopt efficient measures in their households to reduce water consumption. They can spend that €100 as they wish, whether it is on water saving devices, rain harvesting devices or on maintaining a private well or septic tank system.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Paudie Coffey: That is a recognition of affordability and it is designed to assist people. With regard to the general payment of water charges, I agree that there are two categories of people out there. There are those who have said clearly that they will not pay under any circumstances. Many of them can well afford to pay. There are those of whom I am very conscious who cannot pay and they are the ones...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Paudie Coffey: This amendment proposes to remove the requirement that a person be registered as a customer with Irish Water to be entitled to avail of the dispute resolution service to be offered by the Commission for Energy Regulation, CER. Subsection (4) of section 5 requires that for a person to make a complaint to the commission, he or she must already have exhausted any dispute resolution mechanism...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Paudie Coffey: Nothing.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Paudie Coffey: To be clear, Senator Cullinane should be aware that nothing in the legislation would preclude any person from going to the courts in the event of a dispute. This section provides customers of Irish Water with an additional mechanism for resolving disputes-----

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Paudie Coffey: -----outside the normal company process.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Paudie Coffey: For the information of the House, the CER, which is an independent regulator, is already providing this service to customers of other utility companies, and it has published reports on these matters on its websites. The CER deals with unresolved issues after the company's complaints process is exhausted. The dispute resolution service is just one specific area of the energy customer team...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Paudie Coffey: To be clear, only people who are registered have recourse to the dispute resolution mechanism. It is important to note that everybody can register.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Paudie Coffey: Of course, it is, but sometimes in this House one must spell out the obvious. I am happy to do this for Senator David Cullinane.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I reiterate that there is nothing unusual and that this type of dispute resolution mechanism is already in place for many utility companies and overseen by the Commission for Energy Regulation, CER, which has dealt with such matters independently and effectively for many years. I have never heard of any issue being raised by Members in this or the other House about how the CER carries out...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Paudie Coffey: The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides for codes of practice to be in place for Irish Water that will be approved by the independent regulator. It would be as a last resort where a dispute could not be resolved through the normal dispute resolution process in a company. This enhances the protection for customers and should be welcomed as a strong measure in the interests of the...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Paudie Coffey: The Senator is correct.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Paudie Coffey: It is very legitimate that Members of the Oireachtas are concerned to fully understand and interrogate the finances of Irish Water. This is important in terms of State resources being provided to Irish Water and the accountability to the Minister and the Oireachtas of this important State company. The transparency of funding and accountability is achieved through a number of mechanisms which...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Paudie Coffey: That was not my only answer.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Paudie Coffey: The Senator said that was my only answer. I am saying it is not.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Paudie Coffey: The Senator will not decide that matter.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Paudie Coffey: The charge has been made that the Minister, Deputy Kelly, and myself are not prepared to listen to contributions from this House but that could not be further from the truth. Both the Minister, Deputy Kelly, and I are former Members of this House and we respect and value the debate that takes place here. Just because, unfortunately, we cannot support a lot of the amendments that have been...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Paudie Coffey: -----or any of them-----

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I want to make it clear to the Senators and to reiterate that fully audited Irish Water accounts will be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas for full scrutiny by whoever wishes to examine them. In addition, the Oireachtas joint committee can require Irish Water to appear before the committee to again discuss in full its accounts, structures and all its operational and capital...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Paudie Coffey: Questions are legitimate about the expenditure from the public purse. I reassure all Senators that any Government expenditure in any Department is subject to full audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General, and that will happen in this case also where Government funds provided by my Department will be subject to such oversight. In addition, with regard to the Irish Water elements, the...