Results 5,561-5,580 of 7,278 for speaker:Dick Roche

Waste Management. (22 Feb 2007)

Dick Roche: I will take the points in sequence. Regarding the planning process, Deputy Quinn asked an important question. I understand Dublin City Council is the planning applicant and promoter of the project. It chose the site. As Deputies know, the Department does not have a role in that issue. I was careful throughout the debate not to make a comment on the site. Neither did I make a comment...

Waste Management. (22 Feb 2007)

Dick Roche: I do not know what the Deputy is referring to from this morning but it was not in this context, as far as I know.

Waste Management. (22 Feb 2007)

Dick Roche: It would be very strange if Cabinet members did not speak to each other on issues of mutual interest. As the conversation was on the telephone I was not slapping the Tánaiste's back, nor was he mine.

Waste Management. (22 Feb 2007)

Dick Roche: There are three separate questions and "Yes" is not the answer to all three. It is not possible to answer all of them either in the affirmative or the negative. The planning and EPA processes are independent processes which have started and can proceed.

Waste Management. (22 Feb 2007)

Dick Roche: I will not speculate on whether the agency which promoted them will withdraw. With regard to the second question, I have made clear the point about the public private partnership process. Deputy Quinn would understand my point but Deputy Gormley does not have that experience. I do not state this in a patronising way. The PPP process is very exacting, and properly so. If any significant...

Waste Management. (22 Feb 2007)

Dick Roche: Yes, it was a fair question. Such a partnership is very intricate because the process, by its nature, requires that a decision be made under a specific set of circumstances. It is therefore appropriate to be pedantic in terms of the fulfilment of all the detailed requirements of the PPP. The point being made by the Deputy was whether there is much flexibility in the PPP, as there is in...

Waste Management. (22 Feb 2007)

Dick Roche: I see the point being made by the Deputy.

Waste Management. (22 Feb 2007)

Dick Roche: I do not want to speculate on what will happen tomorrow. Deputy Quinn has put the points very fairly to me but it really would be no more than speculation, which would be unhelpful, and I wish to deal with facts. I agree with Deputy Durkan that there is a problem, or even a crisis, with waste in this country. Although we have acted phenomenally through recycling and reduction etc., we still...

Waste Management. (22 Feb 2007)

Dick Roche: I am not being flippant, but whether the PPP is site specific is not the issue.

Waste Management. (22 Feb 2007)

Dick Roche: The PPP is site specific because this case is mentioned.

Waste Management. (22 Feb 2007)

Dick Roche: However, the issue is not whether the PPP is site specific, but whether the planning is site specific and who will comprise the financial elements.

Waste Management. (22 Feb 2007)

Dick Roche: On that point, Deputy Gormley and his party are used to throwing out remarks that become the truth if they are not denied. The Deputy knows as well as every Deputy that the Minister of the Department responsible for the agency proposing the PPP merely ensures that the PPP falls within the criteria. If the Deputy wants to be truthful with his constituents, he will not mislead them on that fact.

Post Office Network. (22 Feb 2007)

Dick Roche: I am dealing with this matter. As a former post office man, this is a matter in which I take considerable interest.

Post Office Network. (22 Feb 2007)

Dick Roche: I thank Deputy Broughan. As a former post office clerk, I take a great interest in this matter. I have met the IPU, the Minister and some colleagues from my days in the post office and I know that honest efforts are being made to address the issue. While this is primarily a matter for the management of An Post, the programme for Government sets out the Government's commitment to the...

Languages Programme. (22 Feb 2007)

Dick Roche: I apologise for the fact that the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin, is not in a position to be here this evening. I thank Deputy Burton for raising the question. One of the most extraordinary features of modern Ireland is that we are becoming a multicultural society. I was recently in a school in Galway and was stunned by the number of children from right across the world...

Social and Affordable Housing. (22 Feb 2007)

Dick Roche: I compliment the Deputy on using her time well and straying over a variety of topics, all of which are important and could be separate topics for debate. While set in an affordable housing context, the issues raised by the Deputy have a broader context concerning the creation of sustainable communities, which I know is as much a passion of the Deputy's as it is of mine — places where people...

Written Answers — Tribunals of Inquiry: Tribunals of Inquiry (22 Feb 2007)

Dick Roche: In relation to fees charged by external counsel engaged by the Tribunal to represent it in litigation, the highest fee submitted by the Tribunal to my Department for payment in respect of a senior counsel in a single case amounted to €254,221. This comprised a brief fee, per diem refreshers and other related charges.

Written Answers — Planning Issues: Planning Issues (22 Feb 2007)

Dick Roche: The Planning and Development Regulations 2005, generally exempt peat extraction below a threshold of 10 hectares from the requirement for planning permission. However, there are exceptions where the peat extraction would have significant effects on the environment. In these limited cases, planning permission must be applied for, accompanied by an environmental impact statement. If a person...

Written Answers — Waste Water Management: Waste Water Management (22 Feb 2007)

Dick Roche: Part H of the Building Regulations (Drainage and Waste Water Disposal) sets out the requirements for the treatment of effluent from waste water systems. The relevant Technical Guidance Document H (TGD-H) provides guidance on how to comply with the requirements of Part H. TGD-H calls up the following standards: (1) Septic tanks serving single houses: Irish Standard Recommendations SR6 of 1991...

Written Answers — Nuclear Safety: Nuclear Safety (22 Feb 2007)

Dick Roche: Ireland has long been concerned about the threat posed by the large and complex nuclear installation site at Sellafield. In 2001, and in response to the imminent commissioning of a further plant at the site, the MOX plant, Ireland instituted legal proceedings against the United Kingdom under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The action related, inter alia, to the...