Results 2,721-2,740 of 24,326 for speaker:Jerry Buttimer

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: Is he taking away the power from his local authorities and members and keeping them like mushrooms in the dark with no sustainable plan?

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: Perhaps that is why Fianna Fáil is doing this. It knows it has lost control and will not be back for another generation. This is serious. It is a question of representing people and giving them a say in their own area. We are taking power from them and diluting local democracy. The Minister of State should really examine this again.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: The Minister seems to be at cross-purposes regarding this because if what the Minister is saying is correct, why is a new section being inserted in the Bill? I have a difficulty with this. The Minister is erroneous in his view that Fine Gael is opposed to the national spatial strategy. It is not, but who endorses it? Who writes it? Where are the checks and balances in the national...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: There are inconsistencies in what the Minister of State is saying. We are removing the element of accountability. What is the tic-tac between the county council and the regional authority? I repeat the question asked by Senator Coffey about who has the power to be the final arbitrator. I am concerned that we are vesting this power in the few and that we are making them powerful. The...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: It does.

Seanad: Flooding: Statements (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Brady, and thank her for coming to the House. It is disappointing the Minister, Deputy Gormley, is not in the Chamber. This debate is about looking after people following the destruction of their homes and livelihoods. In the city of Cork there is no running water and flooding is continuing. Extraordinary efforts have been made by front-line services...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Nov 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: I disagree fundamentally with Senators Ó Murchú and Quinn. It is political opportunism to say we should forget about the past when we know that past Government policies have brought us to where we are now. To learn from the past we must ensure we never again follow those policies. It was not the ordinary citizens but the high financiers in the banking profession, developers and...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Nov 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: Yesterday, Oireachtas representatives from Cork met with the ESB to discuss the flooding in the city of Cork last weekend. I understand the Minister, Deputy Gormley, is frustrated at what has happened but it is wrong to blame councillors for this. The zoning of land does not automatically ensure planning permission. We all know that planning permission is the preserve not of the local...

Seanad: Schools Building Projects (26 Nov 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: I thank the Chathaoirligh for allowing me to raise this matter. Cuirim fáilte roimh an tAire Stáit, an Teachta Seán Haughey. I am raising this issue in connection with St. Francis College in Rochestown. It concerns the success story of a school that went through lean times. The Capuchin Order made a brave decision to appoint a lay principal, and the school has made a tremendous leap...

Seanad: Schools Building Projects (26 Nov 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I neglected to say in my earlier remarks that I knew the meeting took place on Monday with the departmental officials. In his reply, the Minister of State referred to "the requisite pre-architectural issues", but when will those be concluded? When will the school be notified as to the next step in the process?

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: I second the amendment. I listened to what the Minster of State said during the debate on an earlier Stage. As Senator Coffey said, what is proposed will change the statutory obligation on local authorities. The flooding during the past two weeks illustrated the need to maintain the status quo. Population centres of 2,000 and fewer require their own specific plan. I heard what the...

Seanad: Flood Relief (1 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise the need for compensation for flood victims throughout the country, but especially in Cork city, on the Adjournment. I call on the Minister for Social and Family Affairs to outline the measures that will be put in place as a matter of urgency, in particular for the middle parish, Grattan Street...

Seanad: Flood Relief (1 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: I thank the Minister of State. It is important that we make the scheme non-bureaucratic, accessible and fast for the people affected.

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: They never do.

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: Will the Leader invite the Minister for Finance and the Taoiseach to the House to discuss this so-called agreement? It is a classic Irish solution to an Irish problem with obfuscation and confusion. I am sure the Leader will agree we have a Taoiseach who talks like Rambo and acts like Bambi while Mr. McLoone could not run FÁS, yet he can govern the country. Where are we going? Many...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: I ask the Leader to outline the broad principles of the Government's budget strategy. It is clear from recent days that the Government has no idea about where it is going. Unlike the Government, David Begg gave a good and sensible analysis on last night's "Tonight with Vincent Browne". It is time that the Taoiseach addressed the nation to explain in simple English where we are and what is...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: That party has been in Government for the majority of the past generation and it cannot be absolved from the policies it pursued. Now it is pitting the public and private sectors, husbands and wives or brothers and sisters, against one another. Untold tension has been caused in households by the budgetary policies of the Fianna Fáil Party. We must see leadership if we are to make progress...

Seanad: Credit Institutions (Eligible Liabilities Guarantee) Scheme 2009: Motion (3 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: I wish to object to the adjournment of the House tonight. We adjourned at 7 p.m last night and we are adjourning at 6.10 p.m. this evening. That is not good enough. The House is due to sit tomorrow. However, we could take the business ordered for tomorrow this evening. Why is the House being adjourned now?

Seanad: Credit Institutions (Eligible Liabilities Guarantee) Scheme 2009: Motion (3 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: Is the House being adjourned to facilitate the dinner being hosted by Cairde Fáil?

Seanad: Credit Institutions (Eligible Liabilities Guarantee) Scheme 2009: Motion (3 Dec 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: Is the House being adjourned to facilitate the Cairde Fáil dinner?