Results 2,741-2,760 of 9,994 for speaker:John Gormley
- Political Donations. (10 Oct 2007)
John Gormley: The Deputy's supplementary is unrelated to the question.
- Political Donations. (10 Oct 2007)
John Gormley: If he submits a parliamentary question I will be happy to answer it.
- Political Donations. (10 Oct 2007)
John Gormley: Deputy Tuffy is correct in saying the electoral commission is not a Minister. Last evening I heard much talk about the establishment of quangos. On the one hand she asks me to set up a national fire authority â I do not exclude that possibility â while on the other she seems to pour cold water on the idea of an electoral commission. It involves the Minister giving away power to a...
- Political Donations. (10 Oct 2007)
John Gormley: People have tried and failed. I hope I will succeed.
- Social and Affordable Housing. (10 Oct 2007)
John Gormley: The needs of 14,686 households were met through the full range of social and affordable housing measures in 2006. The total number of social housing units completed by local authorities and the voluntary and co-operative housing sector in the first six months of 2007, at 3,167 units, is up 33% on the first six months of 2006 and represents the strongest level of activity on the programme...
- Planning Issues. (10 Oct 2007)
John Gormley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 95 and 142 together. The Planning and Development Act 2000 sets the statutory framework within which planning authorities must take in charge estates. In addition to the legal framework, my Department has also issued comprehensive policy guidance on the taking in charge of estates. In circular letter PD1/06, planning authorities were reminded of their...
- Planning Issues. (10 Oct 2007)
John Gormley: I have spoken to Deputy Hogan's colleague, Deputy Varadkar, about this matter. I know he is genuinely concerned about this. I am aware that as a councillor he experienced at first hand many of the difficulties involved in dealing with management companies. I would like to reassure the Deputy that I received confirmation from my Department before coming into the Chamber that the working...
- Planning Issues. (10 Oct 2007)
John Gormley: As I stated in reply to Deputy Hogan, this is a matter of great concern and I want to ensure is sorted out. These difficulties arose, as the Deputy will be aware, in the context of the unprecedented building programme which took place here. Estates were springing up like mushrooms all over the place, without, I acknowledge, proper facilities and where the management companies in place were...
- Waste Disposal. (10 Oct 2007)
John Gormley: I have seen the newspaper report which appears to be the basis for this question. The report makes it clear that the data includes the landfilling of unsegregated municipal waste which cannot be recycled. The most recent national waste report, published by the Environmental Protection Agency states that the recovery rate for municipal waste in 2005 was 34.6%. This was almost four times the...
- Waste Disposal. (10 Oct 2007)
John Gormley: The story on which the Deputy bases her information is incorrect. The issue is unsegregated waste. It could be inferred from the newspaper article that 40% of waste is now being recycled. It gave the impression that materials which could be recycled were going to landfill and this is not the case. This is the crucial point which I bring to the Deputy's attention and which she needs to...
- Waste Disposal. (10 Oct 2007)
John Gormley: I will not be political.
- Waste Disposal. (10 Oct 2007)
John Gormley: It is unfortunately the case. Consistency is required because the principle of the polluter pays actually works. We know now that more people are using the green bin. The waste to which Deputy Tuffy and I are referring is waste that goes into the grey or black bin.
- Waste Disposal. (10 Oct 2007)
John Gormley: I will be happy to continue because there is an important point to be made.
- Waste Disposal. (10 Oct 2007)
John Gormley: This is not related to the question in the name of Deputy Quinn. I addressed this issue in some detail in an Adjournment debate when the matter was raised by Deputy Broughan. I informed Deputy Broughan that I shared his concern. I wish to establish as quickly as possible the location of the use of this pyrite and whether it was used in other areas. It is an important matter but it is not...
- Waste Disposal. (10 Oct 2007)
John Gormley: I was stopped short in my reply to Deputy Tuffy. The black bag and the grey bin are very important. I believe we can do much better with regard to unsegregated waste by investing in MBT, mechanical biological treatment of waste. I had the opportunity to visit an excellent MBT plant in Austria. An MBT plant should be located at every landfill site. This is low technology rather than high...
- Waste Disposal. (10 Oct 2007)
John Gormley: I will deal with the Deputy's point. There is a problem in two areas. One is apartment living and the other is with dispersed communities. We must deal with that issue. That is the reason I am setting up the review of waste management. Those two areas must be addressed, and I hope we will find a solution. However, the key to dealing with waste is having proper MBT facilities.
- Planning Issues. (10 Oct 2007)
John Gormley: As I indicated in the reply to Questions Nos. 197 and 198 of 27 September 2007, the non-completion of any development in line with the planning permission for that development is unauthorised development, which is an offence under the Planning Acts. Enforcement of planning control is a matter for the planning authorities, which have substantial enforcement powers and duties under the...
- Planning Issues. (10 Oct 2007)
John Gormley: This is an interesting problem. Often, people insist I micro-manage. However, giving more power back to local authority members is also discussed.
- Planning Issues. (10 Oct 2007)
John Gormley: The Green Paper on local government reform is about getting the balance right on this. Some people suggest a command and control system and I believe we have a centralised country as it is.
- Planning Issues. (10 Oct 2007)
John Gormley: I happen to believe it and it was often stated that we do not have real local government, we have local administration. We must trust local authorities to carry out their functions properly. They have the powers, and the essence of what Deputy Hogan stated is that they do not carry out those functions properly.