Results 441-460 of 20,054 for speaker:Brian Stanley

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Brian Stanley: How much time do I have to reply to it?

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Brian Stanley: Having listened to the debate, it comes down to the issue of standards, which is the subject of the amendment tabled by Sinn Féin, which we are supposed to be discussing. My concern relates to site size. I heard what the Minister said and the assurances that were given, but this is not contained in the legislation. In relation to the site size, the issues include the size of the septic...

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Brian Stanley: I do not want a blank cheque and neither does Sinn Féin nor the people of Laoighis-Offaly.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Brian Stanley: I outlined a case this morning of two pensioners I met on Saturday-----

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Brian Stanley: -----two people in their seventies who will need grant aid to upgrade their septic tank. If the Minister sends out an army of inspectors who force those unfortunate people to meet very high and stringent standards which they will not be able to be meet, I appeal to him to give an upfront commitment that he will try to help those families, particularly those who cannot afford it. Let us work...

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Brian Stanley: The Minister did not answer my questions.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Brian Stanley: I support the Fianna Fáil amendment as regards the commencement date and to provide that everybody will be clear in advance of that date as to the standards and regulations. If the Minister's documentation is correct - I am sure his officials would not supply him with incorrect information - I acknowledge that previous Governments intended to push ahead with the 2009 standards which would...

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Brian Stanley: This has been sitting around for the past 37 years and as a new Member, I fail to see how this has gone on for 37 years, how the people who were here before us and some who are still here, did not find time to sit down and work out how to sort out this problem, to achieve a consensus and to deal with it. I refer to the commencement date for the application of the standards. I refer to people...

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Brian Stanley: He stated it on Committee Stage last week.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Brian Stanley: Is he not having one next week?

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Brian Stanley: The debate has focused on standards and the prescribed date for publication of same. The legislation proposes that inspections will be carried out by inspectors licensed by the EPA. The Minister asked how we would solve this problem. I suggested some months ago to him that under-employed local authority engineers and technicians could do this work. Rather than go out with a stick with...

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Brian Stanley: Market research will show that all the people up the long avenue support Fine Gael, not Fianna Fáil.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Brian Stanley: We on this side of the House must try to represent the people living in the Parnell cottages and those who were pushed off the green grass up into the rushes on the edges of bogs.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Brian Stanley: These are the areas in which there is poor percolation. People living in small cottages, those who built small bungalows on half an acre or on small one quarter acre sites are the ones who will be caught out. I am pleading with the Minister to guarantee before we leave this Chamber this evening that people will not be forced to buy extra land. I have told him about areas in which the...

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Brian Stanley: Will the Minister give a commitment that people living in rural areas will not have to buy extra land?

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Brian Stanley: When will they be published?

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Brian Stanley: What is the Minister implying in mentioning armies?

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Brian Stanley: The €50 fee will not bring in any significant revenue. The Minister mentioned €17 million.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Brian Stanley: The Sinn Féin amendment proposes that the fee be abolished. If the fee is in the legislation it can be increased at any time by ministerial order. That is the thin end of a thick wedge. There will be no €50 charges for anything in this country. One would get very little for €50 if one was dealing with a statutory agency or with a governmental or any other body. The fear is that the...

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Brian Stanley: The statistics are there. Fine Gael Deputies sit down and look at the research more than we do.