Results 5,381-5,400 of 7,082 for speaker:John Paul Phelan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Reform: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (31 May 2018)

John Paul Phelan: Yes, and I have not spoken with them since.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Reform: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (31 May 2018)

John Paul Phelan: I am open to consideration, but there has to be some sort of a mechanism whereby, rather than having the Minister looking at each individual issue as it arises, if there is a process that can look at a function that can be delivered more or as efficiently at local level, then that should apply. We have a very centralised system, and I do not dispute that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Reform: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (31 May 2018)

John Paul Phelan: He was up at six o'clock looking at a water leak, I believe.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Reform: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (31 May 2018)

John Paul Phelan: I do not think we will ever agree about the reforms of 2014. I have a fundamental view when it comes to voting that one person one vote applies. That applies equally in local authority areas. The situation that existed in Navan and in many towns across the country, where some people got two ballot papers and others only got one, is democratically unsustainable. I have no great difficulty...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Reform: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (31 May 2018)

John Paul Phelan: I do not know the ins and outs but I know when I look across the country and see other counties where the county town does well, and a good example is my own county, Kilkenny city is a strong county town and always has been. There was severe opposition to the abolition of Kilkenny Borough Council which was there for hundreds of years. It should not have been abolished and it should have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Reform: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (31 May 2018)

John Paul Phelan: We are singing off the same hymn sheet regarding the south east. It has never ceased to amaze me since I first became a Senator 16 years ago that when investment in the regions was raised, Senators from the west would rise one after the other and support each other and their region and party political colours went out the window whereas that lack of cohesiveness in the south east was always...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Reform: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (31 May 2018)

John Paul Phelan: I suspect that we do not agree on many of the issues raised by the Deputy in the first half of his contribution. I come from a very rural part of County Kilkenny and have to admit that in the past ten or 15 years there has been an increase in illegal dumping. There are about 10,000 acres of State forestry just above my home place and the scale of illegal dumping is huge. It is in close...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Reform: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (31 May 2018)

John Paul Phelan: Did I?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Reform: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (31 May 2018)

John Paul Phelan: If I did, it was in error. I was talking about land use designation rather than zoning.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Reform: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (31 May 2018)

John Paul Phelan: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Reform: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (31 May 2018)

John Paul Phelan: If I used the word "zoning", I emphasise that it was unintentional.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Reform: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (31 May 2018)

John Paul Phelan: Zoning is a function that is reserved separately for each authority. Equally, responsibility for the raising of finance through commercial rates or the local property tax will remain with individual authorities. These groups will be set out in the local government Bill that is due to be discussed in the coming weeks. It is possible that additional powers will be given to this structure if...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Reform: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (31 May 2018)

John Paul Phelan: I reiterate that the process is at an early stage and that nothing has been finalised. The current regional structure might have some resonance with the general public in the greater Dublin area but not in the southern region of the country which extends from County Wexford to County Clare. Equally, however, there are three specific old former regions, the south east, the south west and the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Reform: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (31 May 2018)

John Paul Phelan: There could be many elections in 2019.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Reform: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (31 May 2018)

John Paul Phelan: The objective, which is still on course. is that this remuneration group will produce an interim report by Halloween, which will offer a route or a mechanism to link the pay of councillors directly to a grade in the public service.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Reform: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (31 May 2018)

John Paul Phelan: Yes. The Senator's point is correct. Whether it is related to boundaries or remuneration people are entitled to know in advance before they make decisions on whether they will standing. I do not deal with these matters on a national level, but there is no shortage of people looking to run for the Fine Gael Party in the local elections in County Kilkenny.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Reform: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (31 May 2018)

John Paul Phelan: It is not just about the remuneration; it is about pension entitlements and other supports. Some local authorities provide secretarial supports. The Taoiseach in his initial discussions with me about this matter was adamant that local authorities should provide not just secretarial support but research facilities. That might mean one person in a local authority who can check the statute on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Reform: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (31 May 2018)

John Paul Phelan: The point the vice chairman has made is virtually identical to the first point that Deputy Fergus O'Dowd made. There are similarities between Bray and Drogheda in that sense. I will certainly talk to my colleagues regarding the planning and development proposals under the national development plan and whether further resources be given to the districts with towns that have experienced large...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Reform: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (31 May 2018)

John Paul Phelan: No, it had been made a town council. The commissions were abolished 15 or 20 years ago. They were all made town councils. However, the Vice Chairman is right in that it was originally a town commission. There were five local authorities in Wicklow, which did not make sense. I do not know the population off the top of my head, but I am guessing it is about 140,000. One local authority is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Reform: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (31 May 2018)

John Paul Phelan: They will all be published before summer. We will have a local government Bill and the reports before summer. I expect to be back to the committee before summer.