Results 2,861-2,880 of 26,396 for speaker:David Cullinane

Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)

David Cullinane: I ask him to show me where in the Bill power has been devolved from any Department to local government. The answer is none, yet the Minister is abolishing town councils without giving them any power whatsoever. It is very interesting to listen to the Minister's exchange with Fianna Fáil Senators and his quoting from what Senator Wilson called the fiction document, the Fianna Fáil...

Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)

David Cullinane: It goes back to something Senator Walsh or someone else from Fianna Fáil said, that this is being driven by officials, by civil servants and not by the Government nor the Minister. The same language, the same logic that was contained in the Fianna Fáil document from a former Fianna Fáil Minister, cited by the Minister, is exactly what he is implementing today. He is...

Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)

David Cullinane: I can tell him we will not be in government with his party nor with Fianna Fáil. My preference is to go into government with the Labour Party-----

Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)

David Cullinane: -----or progressive parties but certainly not with the Minister's party-----

Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)

David Cullinane: In all seriousness, the Minister cannot come into this House and try to sell a Bill that is clearly weak, that fails local government, that missed the point. He had the opportunity to seize the initiative and he failed to do so by telling us that the Bill gives power to local government. He has rammed the Bill through the Dáil by use of the guillotine. That House had a couple of hours...

Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)

David Cullinane: -----and put them into a quango, as he said himself, that he planned to fatten up in order to privatise. He has taken one of the local government core services from local government and given it to a quango. It was rammed through the Dáil with no proper discussion nor scrutiny because the Minister was afraid to have a real debate on the issue. He has taken one of the core functions of...

Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)

David Cullinane: He is trying to pretend that his plan is to give power to local government. It is a nonsense and it is difficult for us to listen to the nonsense which is fiction. What the Minister is doing is every bit a fiction as what was in the Fianna Fáil document. The Minister is implementing exactly what the officials had advised Fianna Fáil to do when they wrote that document.

Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)

David Cullinane: I move amendment No. 20: In page 40, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following:"(2) Each municipal district may, in respect of that district, set an additional commercial rate for premises occupied by large commercial entities which exceed such thresholds in turnover or other economic activity as may be prescribed.". I want to speak to these amendments that are grouped, which seek to...

Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)

David Cullinane: We will support that element of it. I should have said to the Minister yesterday that I have supported estimates on Waterford City Council in the past and personally voted for them, but we will not go back to that argument. We have seen where rates have been doubled and trebled and even if there is a 15% or 20% reduction in the overall rate, it will still be a significant burden on those...

Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)

David Cullinane: If the Minister considers what was called the Tesco tax in the North where there was a shifting of the burden away from the small retailers to the big multinationals where they would pay more proportionately than the smaller retailers, that is what we need to do in this State. We need to fundamentally review the whole issue of commercial rates and consider a progressive rate system that is...

Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)

David Cullinane: -----he would give them the ability to set the rate which is what he should do. I will be supporting all the amendments which have been tabled by Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil on this issue because we need to fundamentally examine the rate system in this State.

Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)

David Cullinane: Yes.

Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)

David Cullinane: I agree with the harmonisation downwards. It is something that should be supported. It will benefit many different areas. I certainly know it will benefit my own city of Waterford.

Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)

David Cullinane: The problem with merely harmonising it is that it is trying to make limited changes within a system that is antiquated. It certainly will help, but the Minister is not dealing with the fundamental issue of how rates are calculated, an issue we raised along with all the issues raised by Senators Walsh, Landy and Cummins in relation to the rates valuation process. The Minister has not dealt...

Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)

David Cullinane: The Minister has responsibility for local government. I am asking for his view on how we can, outside of the scope of this Bill, change for the better the rates system in this country. I accept that harmonising downwards is the best we can do within the scope of this Bill. It is positive, it should be welcomed, and the Minister should be commended on it. I refer especially to the funding...

Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)

David Cullinane: It will be for larger multiples. Why is that not good? Senator Landy made a point about out-of-town shopping. In fact, the Minister-----

Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)

David Cullinane: -----raised that issue in debates on the failure of some local authorities, when it came to planning out-of-town shopping centres, to take account of their impact on town and city centres, given that these places can provide free parking. There is scope to increase taxes on some of those bigger multiples, and these taxes can be used to ease the burden on smaller retailers. The amendment...

Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)

David Cullinane: I move amendment No. 23: In page 40, to delete lines 17 to 19, and substitute the following:“(2) The base year adjustment shall be determined in accordance with subsections (3) and (4) by a rating authority, with agreement of the members of the Municipal District Area where the base year adjustment will apply, in respect of each year of the adjustment period for each of the specified...

Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)

David Cullinane: Yes.

Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2013)

David Cullinane: I am not saying that social inclusion committees and the way they rubber-stamped the plans of some of the local development companies is the way to go either.