Results 541-560 of 5,027 for speaker:Victor Boyhan

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I will raise two issues, the first of which relates to the District Court. I am conscious and mindful of the separation of powers, but I do not know if many of my colleagues saw the "RTÉ Investigates" programme on Monday night, in which we heard about a litany of issues, specifically in the District Court, the element about which I want to talk. I want to make it clear before I say...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome Deputy Cassells and thank him for coming. Rather than questions, I have some comments to make. We are dealing here with the Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017. I do not think we have local government anywhere in this country. Rather, we have local administration. That includes city councils, county councils, municipal districts and anything...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I thank Mr. Lemass and his team for coming in today. I read the paper they submitted in advance and thank them for it. I am conscious that we are dealing with the Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017 and I want to keep my remarks focused on that. I am conscious of the document Putting People First, produced in 2012. Many of its recommendations were...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: When was the survey carried out?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: What about the Local Authority Members Association, LAMA?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: Nobody is arguing against that. We have 31 overarching local authorities. They are not stand-alone municipals. People are talking about working within other structures.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I mentioned the 16 scenarios which Mr. Lemass posed in his paper. What are his views on those valid and interesting areas? We are asking questions but Mr. Lemass seems to be asking them too. Somehow we need answers or thoughts. Will Mr. Lemass flesh his thoughts out on this? I know it is Christmas but maybe he could send them to us in the new year. I would like to see the thought...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: Given that Mr. Lemass raised these specifically, will he send us some detail on those scenarios?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I would be happy to engage too but, if we had a paper, we could tease it out and use our time constructively.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Local Authority Expenditure (14 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this item on the Commencement today. I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy John Paul Phelan, to the House. I wish to raise a very important issue. I ask for the Minister of State to consider whether local authority expenditure should be scrutinised by the Committee of Public Accounts. I...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Local Authority Expenditure (14 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I thank the Minister of State for his considered response. Ultimately, there are 31 local authorities and 31 chief executives. People are beginning to question whether those chief executives are accountable to anyone. They are well remunerated for their responsible jobs, which they do exceptionally well, on the whole. We need greater scrutiny of the financial affairs of these authorities....

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy John Paul Phelan, for his announcement yesterday that he has established two committees to review the local electoral boundaries, which is important. The issue will affect all the 31 local authorities at some stage. The committees are being formed, the people have been nominated and approved and I understand they must commence their work early in the...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: CLÁR Programme (17 Jan 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Ring. I especially wish to acknowledge that the Minister is responsible for CLÁR and that it was he who reopened the programme in 2016. While the Minister might be based in Dublin 4, he is certainly working hard for rural communities. It is interesting to note that the CLÁR covers a programme relating to various...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: CLÁR Programme (17 Jan 2018)

Victor Boyhan: What the Minister has secured for CLÁR is really good news. Will the Minister release or publish the national map setting out the CLÁR areas? Some people are still in doubt about that. It is also important to keep local councils informed of what is going on. Departments tend to engage with local authority executives but not necessarily local elected members. The Minister will...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Jan 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I will raise three issues. The first is the fodder crisis. The Leader indicated that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine will come to the Seanad. We should ask him to specifically address the fodder crisis in the north and west as a result of the bad weather. The Minister spoke at some length at the IFA annual general meeting yesterday. The Taoiseach attended the AGM...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Jan 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I think it is a disgrace. I see enough journalists around this House every day, but I do not see them in here. I do not see them commenting about what we do on Commencement Matters. I am more interested in people taking the time to come in here and listen. They do not even have to come into this Chamber. They have the privilege, as many of us have, of looking at proceedings on monitors...

Seanad: Report of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements (17 Jan 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I was in the Dáil earlier for some of the debate on this issue, which was particularly interesting and respectful and which took into consideration other people's views. Likewise, the debate here has been very respectful. The Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution was established by the Oireachtas. It is important to make that point because we are Members of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development (Amendment) Regulations 2018: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (23 Jan 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I thank the Minister of State. I see the logic behind all of the regulations. Let me preface my remarks by saying I am conscious that the Minister now has this power. While I am not suggesting this committee is just a talking shop, we do not have a great deal of power. We cannot effectively-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development (Amendment) Regulations 2018: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (23 Jan 2018)

Victor Boyhan: Absolutely. We cannot amend the regulations, but the Minister could revoke them and come back with something better if he thought there were grounds to do so. I am not going to deal with the proposals for water services, as I see the logic in them. I want to deal with the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations and change of use. Will the Minister of State outline the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development (Amendment) Regulations 2018: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (23 Jan 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I referred to section 57.