Results 2,841-2,860 of 7,604 for speaker:James Bannon

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

James Bannon: I did not say that. I said one cannot expect staff of local authorities to knock on doors outside their normal working hours.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

James Bannon: The Minister is the first Minister to admit, albeit indirectly, that the Government is in power by default when he said the register has been a disgrace for the past 30 years and accepted there were many anomalies and problems with it.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

James Bannon: They got into Government by some form of default.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

James Bannon: On another issue, the Minister said there are a number of elderly people who do not have PPS numbers. When a person reaches the age of 70 he or she automatically qualifies for a medical card and is required by the Health Service Executive, and prior to that by the health boards, to ensure he or she has a PPS number. There are people in their 90s, however, who never claimed anything.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

James Bannon: Not everybody in the State has a PPS number, although I do not know of anyone who does not have one. I would be concerned about our national security. The Minister talked about not being able to track everyone. Some years ago there was a serious default in the Department of Social Welfare to do with people claiming and at the time the Government was able to track people by their PPS...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

James Bannon: May I respond?

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

James Bannon: The county register records the registration of all births, marriages and deaths. Every church body, whether it be the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Ireland or the Methodist Church must make such registrations. Has the electoral register been cross-checked against parish registers?

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

James Bannon: I move amendment No. 6: In page 11, subsection (1), between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following: "(a) in paragraph 4, "20th December" for "25th November",". Amendments Nos. 7 to 10, inclusive, are dependent on the acceptance of amendment No. 6. It proposes extending the deadline to the end of January. The Minister extended the deadline by a mere two weeks following much pressure, but...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

James Bannon: I hope the Senator was not striking people off.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

James Bannon: The Minister is being political now. I want to come back on a couple of issues. If the Minister had acted on time and given the resources to the local authorities we should not now be in the mess we are in. I mentioned on Second Stage that there was a role for the involvement of the local post offices and postal personnel. Those people are very familiar with who lives where and the...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

James Bannon: I still feel there is a role for them in carrying out this work in conjunction with other service providers within communities. It would mean more work for the post offices which would be of use in keeping them open. As the Minister knows, without making a political point, a quarter of the post offices around the country closed under the term of this Administration. Local authorities are...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

James Bannon: They are very prudent and conscious about taxpayers' money. They hold one meeting per month. I am told by councillors throughout the country that they tabled motions at these meetings regarding the extension of the deadline. Unfortunately, they had been expecting action from the Minister and had not anticipated matters reaching the 11th hour. That is why only three local authorities had...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

James Bannon: Senator Brady referred to another issue. He said there was no problem about going to Garda stations to get a garda signature.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

James Bannon: That is all right for those in the cities. However, it is not true for rural parts of Ireland. I have to travel 16 miles, but I have transport. However, there are elderly people who depend on public transport, which is not accessible, to visit a Garda station——

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

James Bannon: ——in order to sign forms. That is a serious problem for people in rural areas. There is no public transport to Granard or several other smaller towns. If people have to go the Longford, the county town, the gardaí there cannot sign forms for people who are not resident in that immediate area. That is something the Minister needs to look at. People must sign in the Garda area in...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

James Bannon: If the green man is in operation there, they will be there for an hour. However, if it is not convenient and they are working, and the gardaí are occupied during normal working hours, they must go to Garda headquarters in Granard to get forms signed. The same is true of Ballymahon, and I am only referring to the local territory I know. People in Ballymahon must go to Athlone to get the...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

James Bannon: Two weeks will not be sufficient for local authorities to get it right. I have received representations from local authority staff nationwide. I am a former general secretary of the Local Authority Members Association and I had built up networks with local authorities. On another issue, I am disappointed the Minister stated that local authorities are not introducing enough stealth taxes.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

James Bannon: Local authorities are forced to introduce stealth taxes because they are not given sufficient funding by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. A meeting was held last night in Roscommon——

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

James Bannon: ——at which 1,500 people turned up to protest against the water charges being imposed by local authorities.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

James Bannon: Planning charges are being introduced by local authorities. The Minister blamed local authorities.