Results 341-360 of 10,035 for speaker:Martin Cullen

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (1 Apr 2003)

Martin Cullen: I thank the Senators for their remarks. This is a very important Bill, which makes a substantive contribution to Ireland's environmental legislation. I hope that it signals my determination, which has been recognised on all sides of the House, to keep environmental issues at the top of the agenda. We disagree on various issues from time to time, but that is the business we are in.

Seanad: Local Government (No. 2) Bill 2003: Second and Subsequent Stages. (3 Apr 2003)

Martin Cullen: I thank the Seanad for facilitating the introduction of this Bill, particularly the Leader for changing the Order of Business. I appreciate the co-operation of the House. This is a short technical Bill to provide for the continued application of Part IV of the Local Government Act 1946 in relation to certain applications for bridge orders which authorise the construction of bridges. The Bill...

Seanad: Local Government (No. 2) Bill 2003: Second and Subsequent Stages. (3 Apr 2003)

Martin Cullen: I thank the Senator. I will accept that.

Seanad: Local Government (No. 2) Bill 2003: Second and Subsequent Stages. (3 Apr 2003)

Martin Cullen: I thank all Members of the Seanad for their great assistance in passing this Bill. It is ironic that I should be in the Department of Environment and Local Government at this time given that the only bridge order left was the Waterford bridge order. The process had largely taken place under Part IV of the 1946 Act. One thought that the Interpretation Act 2001 had covered it sufficiently but...

Seanad: Nuclear Safety: Motion. (2 Jul 2003)

Martin Cullen: I thank Senators for tabling this important motion and affording me the opportunity, of which I am pleased to avail, to speak to the House on it. I welcome the motion and the spirit in which it has been tabled. It is an important recognition and endorsement of the Government's strategy on the Sellafield site and its operations. On 24 June 2003 the tribunal established under the United Nations...

Seanad: Nuclear Safety: Motion. (2 Jul 2003)

Martin Cullen: I welcome this motion, which is an important recognition of the efforts of the Government to address the concerns of the public in relation to Sellafield. My Department has given, and will continue to give, a high priority to this issue and I would like in particular to acknowledge the commitment and effort of the Attorney General and his staff as well as officials of the Radiological...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Second Stage. (27 Jan 2004)

Martin Cullen: I am pleased to bring the Water Services Bill 2003 before the House. I should first explain what exactly is meant by the term "water services" as it is used in the Bill. To appreciate the overall thrust of the Bill, it is helpful to visualise water services as pertaining to water in the pipe — that is, from the time, following abstraction, that it first enters a supply pipe to the point of...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Second Stage. (27 Jan 2004)

Martin Cullen: It is implemented.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Second Stage. (27 Jan 2004)

Martin Cullen: The Senator should speak to his party's spokesperson on agriculture.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Second Stage. (27 Jan 2004)

Martin Cullen: We already have.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Second Stage. (27 Jan 2004)

Martin Cullen: It has been started.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Second Stage. (27 Jan 2004)

Martin Cullen: They are not waiting actually.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Second Stage. (27 Jan 2004)

Martin Cullen: The Senator is mistaken on all counts.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Second Stage. (27 Jan 2004)

Martin Cullen: I do not mean to interrupt the Senator, but I would like to remind him that I made this point clear at the start. Perhaps he was at a meeting at the time. The Bill does not deal with privatisation, but I went further in my original contribution by saying that there is no chance that I will consider the privatisation of water services. This has been a disaster in other countries and there is...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Second Stage. (27 Jan 2004)

Martin Cullen: Thank God I escaped that one.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Second Stage. (27 Jan 2004)

Martin Cullen: If the Senator is interested, he should consider what is being done in Dublin. It is phenomenal. The system is being mapped and the technology being used is incredible. It was found that many of the pipes had just disappeared — they had disintegrated entirely. Last year we gave €100 million in Dublin alone for restoration and conservation.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Second Stage. (27 Jan 2004)

Martin Cullen: I am glad I am 30 feet from the Senator.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Second Stage. (27 Jan 2004)

Martin Cullen: The Senator is right — it is not all leakage. It is leakage of a different kind.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Second Stage. (27 Jan 2004)

Martin Cullen: It depends on the quality of the soil.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Second Stage. (27 Jan 2004)

Martin Cullen: We criticise ourselves all the time. By way of information, we are now the only country in the EU going way beyond the guidelines set down in EU directive. We are going down as low to the ratio of 1:1,000 of population for sewerage treatment facilities. That goes way beyond the EU directive and no other state in the EU has decided to do this. We decided to do this in the past 12 months...