Results 3,801-3,820 of 26,396 for speaker:David Cullinane

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

David Cullinane: I had strayed from discussing the public water forum because we were asked to confine ourselves to the specifics of the amendments in previous contributions, which we have done. However, we had strayed somewhat into the powers and functions of the forum and the appointments process. The Minister went some way towards providing us with clarification of some aspects of it, which is to be...

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

David Cullinane: I am sorry-----

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

David Cullinane: There are still questions about what the forum will do. We have just spent the past half hour talking about what it will not do. Will the Minister be specific about what exactly the forum will do in terms of its powers and functions? The relevant section states it shall represent the interests of customers of Irish Water, which is fine, but that could literally mean anything. It also...

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

David Cullinane: I do believe, however, that we need to have the proper balance in the forum itself. Notwithstanding my concerns about its powers and functions, we need to have people with expertise, but also users of our water services. Senator Ó Clochartaigh spoke earlier about the problems they are having in his own area of County Galway and Connemara, and it would be very useful to have people with...

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

David Cullinane: I move amendment No. 25: In page 10, to delete line 7.The line stipulates that a complaint must be made to Irish Water by a registered customer. We see this as another stick in the Bill to encourage people to register. It has been said ad nauseamby many Senators that there are certain people who will not pay, who cannot pay and who will not register. For some this is a point of principle...

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

David Cullinane: No. She is not.

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

David Cullinane: Exactly. That is the point.

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

David Cullinane: A person can only use that resolution process if he or she is a customer. That is the point.

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

David Cullinane: The point is that only people who are deemed to be customers of Irish Water can use the dispute resolution service. We do not agree with that because we believe the Minister is deeming everybody now to be a customer and unless people register, they cannot use it. We are not talking about any and every complaint. Section 8(1) states: "Subject to this section, the Commission shall provide a...

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

David Cullinane: It is not available to non-customers.

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

David Cullinane: There is a clear distinction between a customer who walks into a shop, purchases something and makes a complaint where an extra process is put in place to allow the customer who purchased the goods to be part of that, and people who might generally be in a position to make a complaint about any aspect of the shop itself. Everybody will be deemed customers of Irish Water. Whether they are...

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

David Cullinane: Yes. Section 8 states: "Subject to this section, the Commission shall provide a dispute resolution service to any customer of Irish Water having an unresolved complaint ...". Is that only open to people who are registered with Irish Water, yes or no? If the answer is "Yes", that is precisely the point we are making - namely, that we are making this service available only to people who are...

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

David Cullinane: I will not be registering.

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

David Cullinane: It does; it excludes people who are not registered.

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

David Cullinane: I am not missing the point at all and fully understand that the Bill is indicating that this is an extra layer of complaints procedure. It is being called a "dispute resolution service". I fully understand that after the so-called customer has exhausted every other opportunity, this added layer is being permitted. The point is it is only being permitted for those who are registered, as the...

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

David Cullinane: I agree with the previous speakers that this debate has been an absolute farce. No amendments have been accepted. This is a progressive amendment, an amendment one would have thought the Government would have accepted because then it might have been able to save face. However, it will face it down also. It is outrageous that a company of this size, that will deal with such a volume of...

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

David Cullinane: No, I will not; the people will. They will judge the Government on its performance, not just the Minister of State personally. I am talking about the entire Government.

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

David Cullinane: The Government will be judged on its performance.

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

David Cullinane: Irish Water is a noose around all of their necks; that is the reality and it was entirely of their own making. The Government had three chances to get it right; it is déjà vu. We are 12 months on from the first scene when the Government had to put up its hands and admit that it had made an absolute mess of it. It came back a second time, but it also made a mess of it. It has now...

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

David Cullinane: That is more nonsense, which shows how undemocratic the whole thing is. The Government is hiding and running scared on this issue. It does not want any scrutiny whatsoever when it comes to this disaster of a company and those who will pay the biggest price - apart from the politicians who have stood over it - are the unfortunate people who will have to pay for water a second time. We...