Results 3,541-3,560 of 4,465 for speaker:Jim Walsh

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

Jim Walsh: I am speaking on behalf of the constituency we represent as a party, namely, small businesspeople who through their own enterprise and hard work have created small businesses that are struggling and in difficulty in the current economic climate. I will not apologise to the Minister or anybody else for articulating and defending their position. I am disappointed with the response the...

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

Jim Walsh: We have seen no reform coming from that Department.

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

Jim Walsh: I would suggest the Minister would look at having some sort of small commission or review group to look at the rates system and conduct a root-and-branch trawl to see if it could come up with something which is more commensurate with the requirements of the economy, and ability to pay should be factored in. We have also had a situation - it is applied in every town - where enterprising...

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

Jim Walsh: They certainly did not pay anything like what the Minister is applying to them to pay.

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

Jim Walsh: There is a need-----

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

Jim Walsh: I am not.

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

Jim Walsh: It needs to be-----

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

Jim Walsh: I am not.

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

Jim Walsh: I am not. I am bring interrupted.

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

Jim Walsh: I would like the protection of the Chair when I am speaking, if I could get that.

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

Jim Walsh: There is a genuine need, despite any difference we might have on the issue, for us all to prioritise the interests of small businesses. It is from there that the job creation and the employment for the future will come. Instead of penalising them, the Minister should incentivise them. I would ask the Minister to review the direction in which he is going with this Bill, which, as I stated...

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

Jim Walsh: This is a bit like playing handball against a haystack. There is none so blind as those who do not want to see. There are two aspects to the amendment that has been tabled. One aspect is that each municipal area should be allowed to determine its commercial rate. The Minister's argument against that is that different rates could apply in areas within a mile or two of each other. This is...

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

Jim Walsh: I extend a lukewarm welcome to the change.

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

Jim Walsh: To be honest, it was my intention to call a vote on this section because where premises are vacant and there are no revenues accruing, there are also no services being utilised by the owners of that premises. Therefore, the justification for charging rates on it is without foundation. I would have preferred a situation where it would have been standardised at a refund rate of 100% across...

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

Jim Walsh: What the Minister is doing is not standardisation. What he is doing is empowering local authority members to make that decision.

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

Jim Walsh: It can apply at any specific rate. I would have preferred it if we had standardised it at 100%. I have seen instances in a number of towns where premises were unoccupied, often because of the financial collapse of the company or the individual operating the premises. To add to their woes with the particularly high rates we have is not something I am particularly in favour of. I would have...

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

Jim Walsh: At this stage, I will probably reserve with leave to resubmit an amendment. I will reflect on it. I think there is a move. I note that it is the local authority rather than the municipal area that will make the decision. It is not the municipal district councillors that will make the decision. From what I can see in the amendment, the local authority can make that decision in respect of...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jan 2014)

Jim Walsh: Senator Norris must be joking.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jan 2014)

Jim Walsh: I know the issue of the travails of Uisce Éireann have been well ventilated in the past few days, and this is appropriate given the waste there is within the system and the little accountability demonstrated. I would like to raise a couple of important issues in regard to Uisce Éireann that have not appeared on the radar. First, we should not have been surprised by the spending on...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jan 2014)

Jim Walsh: I would like if we could have a debate on this issue. There was a time when Fine Gael was a party concerned with law and order. However, the current Minister has apparently abandoned all pretence of that. I would like to think we could hone in on this issue. It is unacceptable that these murders pass and become last week's story this week.