Results 46,781-46,800 of 74,100 for speaker:Bernard Durkan

Road Traffic Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Bernard Durkan: We have to clarify if the amendment is being amended. Is it in order to take an amendment to an amendment on the floor of the House?

Road Traffic Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Bernard Durkan: Notice must be given.

Road Traffic Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Bernard Durkan: Yes.

Road Traffic Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Bernard Durkan: That is not a point of order. I know from my time in the House that an amendment must be made and one can have an amendment to an amendment and an amendment to an amended amendment but notice must have been received or indicated. The previous procedure was that these issues were dealt in committee and this arises out of Committee Stage. If it was intended to divide the amendment in the...

Road Traffic Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Bernard Durkan: Amendment No. 15 is in the name of Deputy Robert Troy and has already been discussed with amendment No. 6. Deputy Troy is not present. Has any arrangement been made for somebody to move the amendment?

Road Traffic Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Bernard Durkan: I was not sure whether this had been discussed last night but it was discussed. I allowed Deputy O'Keeffe some poetic licence.

Road Traffic Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Bernard Durkan: We will not extend the licence. We must now put the question.

Road Traffic Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Bernard Durkan: The vote comes afterwards. Once it arises here in front of me, it is still to be voted on. The previous division was on amendment No. 6. The vote now is on amendment No. 15, which is the one still on the clár. That is the correct order.

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Bernard Durkan: Amendments Nos. 1, 54 to 58, inclusive, 60 to 64, inclusive, 66 to 68, inclusive, 111 and 113 are related and may be discussed together by agreement.

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Bernard Durkan: The first contribution is open and the second is restricted.

Other Questions: Criminal Assets Bureau (16 Dec 2016)

Bernard Durkan: 18. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the full extent of the scale and value of assets seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau in the past five years; if all such properties have been disposed and the proceeds retained by the State; the status of any such properties not yet disposed of in this context; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40419/16]

Other Questions: Criminal Assets Bureau (16 Dec 2016)

Bernard Durkan: This question seeks to ascertain the extent, scale and volume of assets confiscated by the Criminal Assets Bureau over recent years, the extent to which the assets have been successfully disposed of for the benefit of the State and if the Minister will make a statement on the matter.

Other Questions: Criminal Assets Bureau (16 Dec 2016)

Bernard Durkan: I thank the Minister for her comprehensive reply. Is there any continuing litigation concerning the assets involved? Has the State been successful in proving its case in these cases? Are cases still pending which might affect the extent to which the taxpayer might benefit from the seizures in the first instance?

Other Questions: Criminal Assets Bureau (16 Dec 2016)

Bernard Durkan: Has the litigation illustrated a further amendment to legislation to strengthen it? Have any cases been brought to court that may have a knock-on effect in the future that might be prejudicial to the bureau's retention?

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)

Bernard Durkan: Like other speakers I do not wish to delay the proceedings. I was here last night during the course of the debate. The only issue about which I have a concern, and I have already expressed this to the Minister, is I have an allergy in respect of equations. The Ceann Comhairle and I will remember that we had an equation to determine eligibility for local authority loans in the past with...

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)

Bernard Durkan: -----in such a way as to make absolutely certain that no amount of interpretation from any quarter by any group, legal personality or non-legal personality could change what it was meant to do in the first place. I say this not as a criticism but because of sad experience in the past which I would not like to go through again.

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)

Bernard Durkan: I will do my best to set some kind of a good example, however I will be tempted from time to time, as the Ceann Comhairle himself would be, to occasionally refer to previous contributions. I do not claim to be an expert on the issue, and I am trying to address the amendments in the grouping. I declare a lack of interest. I am not a landlord, in case anybody got the wrong impression, nor do...

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)

Bernard Durkan: This provision proposes to deal with planning of an emergency nature where there is an infrastructural deficit or an urgent need to provide a particular service which otherwise would require emergency legislation. I am always in favour of retaining as much influence as possible at local level with local authorities to try to ensure local information is readily available and the decisions...

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)

Bernard Durkan: Absolutely. There is another issue that must be borne in mind, and I am sure some Members will empathise with this. Rural planning is almost a thing of the past. The possibility of getting planning permission in a rural area is almost-----

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)

Bernard Durkan: I know, but I wish to give a quick example in passing. It relates to housing planning and housing need. Every house that is provided lends itself to the housing stock, whether it is a private house in a rural area, a private house in an urban setting or a local authority house. Each contributes to the housing stock in their own way. In those circumstances I ask the Minister to bear in...