Results 3,521-3,540 of 4,465 for speaker:Jim Walsh

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

Jim Walsh: Yes, a city. It was once the capital of the country under the Confederation of Kilkenny. I have empathy with it because my grandfather served as Borough Treasurer and Town Clerk many moons ago. I know the pride the people in Kilkenny take in the achievements of the Borough Council. It is one of the finer towns in the country. Now the city will be divided in two for electoral purposes....

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

Jim Walsh: Therefore the issues of Kilkenny city and county will, I presume, be far from the Minister’s thoughts in his new 28 country-wide responsibilities. For those of us who will continue to live in these areas it is a matter of concern. This Bill offered a real opportunity to transform local government but unfortunately not only are we neither transforming nor reforming it, which we could...

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

Jim Walsh: Sinn Féin-Fine Gael will be the next coalition.

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

Jim Walsh: Upwards.

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

Jim Walsh: It does not come as a surprise to me that the Minister would refer to a Fianna Fáil document, which was, however, only a consultative document prepared by a very small group of people.

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

Jim Walsh: As Senator Wilson observed, the group did not have any authority in the matter.

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

Jim Walsh: I actually opposed the idea of reducing the number of town councils.

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

Jim Walsh: Many fine towns - Mullingar comes to mind - had town commissioners but should have had proper, effective town councils. I am not surprised the Minister would assume this document represented Fianna Fáil policy and decide to implement it. As we have seen in the past three years, the plan for economic recovery that was introduced by the former Minister for Finance, the late Brian...

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

Jim Walsh: Unfortunately, that has been the tendency of those two parties in the past. The Minister referred to domestic rates. I opposed their elimination at the time as being the wrong move from a local government point of view. I recognised, however, that I am a member of a party which has a policy of low taxation as part of its philosophy. It is a republican party that is concerned with...

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

Jim Walsh: Moreover, the State is wasteful of taxpayers' money in many instances, as we have seen in the hearings of the Committee of Public Accounts. It is far better to leave people with their money and let them choose how to spend it. They will do so more efficiently than the State would, and we will have a better structured economy as a result. However, that is an aside. It worries me that the...

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

Jim Walsh: The Minister is only three years in office. My party was in government for 14 years and, for more than half of that time, its Ministers were very effective. I could see, however, as I have acknowledged before, that the longer we were in power, the more institutionalised those Ministers were becoming. It is surprising to see, after only three years, that the Minister is fully...

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

Jim Walsh: This proposal is not in the interest of democracy in our country. Perhaps when the Minister is relaxing with his feet up, he might think about the damage he is doing to local government. I hope he will step back from what he is proposing. Stripping away representation at town council level will create a situation where our already overly centralised system of government, which places us at...

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

Jim Walsh: Have his department officials confirmed that this is their intention and plan, or is it he who is driving this initiative?

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

Jim Walsh: Half of my family is from Kilkenny.

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

Jim Walsh: Is the Minister seriously putting it forward as a major reform of local government?

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

Jim Walsh: I want to speak to amendment No. 20 in our names which covers the last point that was made by Senator Cullinane. We are talking about the rates issue, and the Minister said earlier that the powers of the town councils will now be exercised at the municipal district level, then the most fundamental power is the power to raise revenues. If that is not going to be applied at district level,...

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

Jim Walsh: A number of issues arise. I am disappointed that the Minister is not accepting our amendment because he has said that the powers and the status the town councils have will now be exercised by the municipal authorities. The most important function that any State apparatus, be it local government, central Government or whatever, has is the power to levy a charge on the public. I would see a...

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

Jim Walsh: It is part of the spin we have been getting from the Minister who, along with many of his colleagues, has been fairly good at it over the past three years. Will it decrease by 10% towards the lower rate? What will happen over the ten years? Will there be no increases? This will be swallowed up in overall council decision-making with regard to rates in the future. The lower rate that is...

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

Jim Walsh: It is nothing more than a sop to the commercial entities that are struggling, and the Minister knows they are struggling.

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

Jim Walsh: Fine Gael might not be worried about that. Fine Gael is the party of the big farmers and the large-----