Results 4,161-4,180 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: It is great to see the home town of the newly crowned Connacht champions represented here, so I second the Cathaoirleach's welcome to the people from Castlebar. I note that nine amendments from this House have been accepted by the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Paudie Coffey, to the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 2:In page 5, line 35, to delete “have regard to” and substitute “comply with”. I also welcome the Minister of State to the House. I thank him for indicating he will be accepting several of our amendments. I hope when he proceeds to the forthcoming Paris conference on climate change that he will have this legislation with him. This amendment...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister of State for his reply. However, under section 3(2)(d), does having regard to any existing obligation of the State under the law of the European Union not put Ireland at risk of being fined? The European Union will state that the law is the law. Perhaps we should stipulate that there be compliance with section 3(2)(d) and that we should have regard to the other...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: Yes, the amendment is being pressed. One could say, I had regard to the speed limit but I was doing 20 km/h more. That is not enough regard. I think one must comply and I think that is what the Garda would be saying.

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 3:In page 6, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following:"(3) A framework shall be adopted by resolution of both Houses of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is approved by the Government.". There was a general measure of agreement the last day, including from the Minister, that the Seanad should be involved in policy-making on these matters and, in fact, that...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: While we welcome the Government's amendments and thank Senator Keane for her role in that regard, the environmental lobby is disappointed that neither the mitigation nor the transition arrangements are subject to being adopted by both Houses of the Oireachtas. Members of the lobby were disappointed when they saw the Report Stage amendments today as they thought that more progress had been...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 4:In page 6, line 11, to delete “18 months” and substitute “12 months”. This amendment was an attempt to speed up matters but I accept the Minister's bona fides in that regard. He is a man in a hurry and wants to get this done. During the initial Stages I believed things were being pushed out too far into the future. In return for the...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 5:In page 6, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following:“(a) specify the projected total national emissions for the period of the plan on the basis of all the policy measures specified in the plan,”. The important point here is the lack of quantification of the targets. A report from BBC News on the climate change conference, which we all look...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: The Bill would be improved by having the targets in it, so I will press the amendment.

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I am delighted to second the Minister of State's amendment. I thank him very much for this. The challenge he has put to us is that the Seanad must live up to these responsibilities and participate, as I hope we are doing this afternoon, in a constructive debate with the Minister on environmental matters. This is a huge issue and there are huge concerns that it is not being addressed...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 8:In page 9, line 13, to delete "24 months" and substitute "12 months". Section 5 provides, "The Minister shall, not later than 24 months after the passing of this Act, make, and submit to the Government for approval, a plan, which shall be known as the national climate change adaptation framework." In tabling this amendment I was trying to secure a faster speed of...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I wish the Minister of State well. I share the Taoiseach's sense of urgency when he spoke in New York and I hope that this will be the maximum time. As with the earlier amendment and the absence of quantification, this could be put on the long finger. I do not wish to press the amendment but the Minister of State has communicated to the House the urgency that surrounds this issue.

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 11:In page 12, line 6, after “relevant” to insert “written”. This amendment refers to advice and I have suggested that the word "relevant" is followed by "written". To publish or not was discussed at the Committee Stage. If the advice is written then there is a record. The Minister of State has pointed out that there could be delays in...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: The Minister of State refers to valuable scientific advice that is not yet written. I do not know what this is. The present Minister of State is unlikely to have to have to refer to me for advice, nevertheless, Ministers should ask for advice to be written down. How can they act on advice that is not written and the person offering the advice will not write it down for some reason? This...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: It explains many of the difficulties into which the State fell. There is a fear that someone would find information in the archive that person X was against the bank bailout but person Y offered verbal advice which prevailed. Given that in our modern society some governments expended 55% or 60% of GDP to take corrective action, it becomes clear that not writing anything down is a recipe for...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I wish to make one observation. Many people involved in farming wish they had written things down and they might have a lot more answers and would not have had to set up Con Lucey's committee to figure what on earth is going on. We must reform administration and change the way business is done. The way of operating which obtains is just not good enough in this day and age. I will not...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 12:In page 13, lines 4 and 5, to delete "(other than ordinary members to whom subsection (2)applies)". This amendment deals with the composition of the council. There was serious disappointment in environmental circles that representatives from public bodies - Sustainable Energy Ireland, the director general of the EPA, the director of Teagasc and the director of the...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: One of the items of evidence at the banking inquiry was that when the Department of Finance did not like what John FitzGerald, chairman of the Economic and Social Research Institute, the director is now ex officio on the advisory council, wrote about the Irish economy it telephoned him to complain and John named him nervous Nellie. We asked the Minister, Deputy Michael Noonan, if he ever...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No 13:In page 15, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following:“(c) consult with learned bodies such as the Royal Irish Academy, the Royal Dublin Society, departments of environmental science in institutions of higher education, An Taisce, Friends of the Earth, the Mary Robinson Foundation and other environmental organisations.”. My amendment proposes to add...