Results 2,881-2,900 of 5,132 for speaker:Trevor Ó Clochartaigh

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Hear, hear.

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Hear, hear.

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Hear, hear.

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Tá cuid mhaith pointí déanta ach sílim go bhfuil cuid mhaith pointí eile le déanamh maidir leis an cur chuige atá ag an Rialtas maidir le costais á bhaint ó dhaoine ó thaobh uisce de. What we are seeing is the third instalment of the great Irish Water scam. The people have not been fooled by it this time, nor were they on the last two...

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I take the bona fides of the Ministers who have spoken to us that this is not their intention but it is the intention of the hedge funds that are hovering like vultures to take over our water services. The Detroit people were in Ireland recently for the protest.

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I am not sure who paid for them to come here. What was important was what they had to tell us. They told us that they were the ghosts of water future in that this type of commodification has occurred in Detroit. They were warning the people of Ireland not to go down the same route. It has been stated that the reason for the introduction of water charges is to allow for future investment in...

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: They might not buy them initially but they will use EU legislation to argue that they should be allowed to tender to operate them. We have seen this happen in respect of a plethora of different services, including refuse collection and so on. The Minister cannot tell us and the people of Ireland that is not what is happening. If he cannot see it, he needs to engage in a little more...

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: It is true, though.

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: He cannot refute the points we made.

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Oíche mhaith.

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Senator Terry Leyden has raised a number of genuine issues which are related to inability to pay, poverty proofing of legislation, etc. People will be unable to pay. Both the Minister and the Minister of State have acknowledged throughout the debate that they believe there are people who can pay, people who will not pay and people who genuinely are in a position that they will not be able...

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Hear, hear.

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Hear, hear.

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I note that when the Minister took over the brief, including the Irish Water debacle part two, he promised to endeavour to come out with a package that would provide absolute clarity on Irish Water for the future. I am not convinced by the points he made earlier, however, about a new Bill in future. I appreciated that when I made my earlier contribution. It is as though I am buying a suit,...

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: That is what we are being asked to do. I clearly asked the Minister what his blueprint was. It is not good enough to give us this bit of the jigsaw today and ask us to buy into it. If we purchase this part of the Bill, the Minister will come back with another piece of legislation which will have a serious impact on what is being decided here today. The Minister is therefore asking us to...

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I am beginning to feel that the more we go through this legislation we find more holes than there would be in a leaky Irish Water mains pipe, but we will continue to raise the issues we are raising. I am dumbfounded by what I am hearing from the Ministers on the questions we are raising. This is a bona fide amendment into which there has been a good deal of thought. I am confused as to the...

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Surely when a new scheme is being implemented there are projected costs. That is what this is about. It is about reporting back.

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: The point I am making is that before we can review a scheme we have to have projections. I am asking the Minister very clear questions. What are the projections? How many households do they intend to pay the grant to? How much of a hole will that leave in the social protection budget, and has that been signed off on by Cabinet and by the Minister for Social Protection? In terms of the...

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. Ba mhaith liom cuidiú leis an leasú. I second the amendment moved by Senator Cullinane. I have grave concerns about whether the public water forum will have much of an impact. As has been stated previously, the closest example we can get is perhaps the HSE health forums which people from all sides of the political divide will agree have few teeth...

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

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: It does absolutely. It is about bringing the concerns of consumers around payments into the water forum. I suggest that type of issue will come forward. That is why it is important to include householders and commercial water users. I raised an issue last week to which we did not get an answer which was that while the rates for domestic household use are being frozen, it was not known what...