Results 601-620 of 4,773 for speaker:Paudie Coffey

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I move amendment No. 7: In page 7, lines 33 to 47, page 8 and in page 9, lines 1 to 38, to delete paragraph (c).

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: As I mentioned on Second Stage, development plans will be required by law to refer to projected population statistics. It is fundamental that whatever projected population statistics are used are credible. I am sure the Central Statistics Office and other such organisations will be referred to. As we have seen with the compilation of the electoral register, many of the statistics we use...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I accept the Minister of State's point that there is no legal requirement on the councils but that could be a problem. I see no reason smaller towns and villages should not be legally required to have area plans in the same way as larger ones. Every town and village should have the opportunity to grow or exploit its potential to grow. A legal requirement on a town or village to provide an...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I move amendment No. 19: In page 12, lines 12 and 13, to delete "a vote of not less than two-thirds" and substitute "a majority". Fine Gael tabled this amendment because we do not see why the existing legislation should be changed. At present, a simple majority of the council can make a resolution to amend a development plan. That is local democracy in action. In this section, the Bill...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: On a point of order, Senator Glynn wants to raise important issues. It may be preferable to adjourn the Seanad to allow the Minister of State and his officials to reflect on this fundamental part of the Bill.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: The Leader obviously does not understand the word. That is why we are where we are.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: This amendment is about trying to retain the existing system within local authorities whereby a simple majority of the council can make material amendments, or whatever is required to make those amendments, to a development plan. Requiring two thirds of the members of a council to make these amendments could cause difficulty in trying to get development plans passed. That is our fundamental...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I thank the Minister of State for his response. I understand that he will bring forward technical amendments, but I am not sure that will change the fundamental difficulty that my party has with the issue. We are prepared, however, to await whatever technical amendments the Minister of State will bring forward. We reserve the right to table amendments on Report Stage. The Minister of...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: We are debating an important section which deserves time and consideration. What we are dealing with is a proposal to change essentially and fundamentally how county and city development plans are formed. Senators on the Government side are also concerned with this section and how it is elevating the role of regional authorities in the making of development plans. The Bill gives primacy to...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I appreciate the Minister of State's response but we have serious concerns. We are not saying the power is being taken away, rather that the primacy is being taken away. More authority through law is being given to regional authority development plans and there is now an insistence through law that local city and county development plans comply with regional guidelines. The concern is that...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I thank the Minister of State for trying to clarify the matter but I disagree fundamentally with his claim that he is not taking power from local authorities or materially affecting regional authorities. If that is the case, why are there sections in the Bill that apply to regional authorities? Why are we changing the law such that it will require local authorities to comply with regional...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: This section provides that the mandatory population threshold for preparing local area plans will be raised from 2,000 to 5,000 persons, after which it will be discretionary. Fine Gael also has an issue with this provision because the language employed in this section is similar to that being used by planners and managers in local authorities to justify, as previously discussed, the new...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I acknowledge the Minister of State's remarks that this measure and this section do not exclude the development of local area plans but they remove the statutory requirement on local authorities to develop local area plans for towns with a population of 2,000 and more. In essence it is left to the discretion of senior planners and managers within a local authority area whether a local...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I will be brief because I have already outlined my views and some of the views of Fine Gael on this amendment. We see no logical reason the statutory threshold for local area plans should be increased from 2,000 to 5,000 people. I still have not heard from the Government side or the Minister of State why this measure is being taken and the benefit associated therewith. It is moving...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: Senator Ellis's party has a good track record in that regard.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: It is on the public record.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: Senator Ellis is pontificating about Fine Gael. He should look more closely at Fianna Fáil.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: Senator Ellis is pontificating.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I thank the Minister for putting that view on the record but if that is the view and if nothing changes with regard to the local area plans and the way councils operate them, why is it proposed to insert a new section in the Bill which changes the way local area plans are to be managed within the councils? What is the rationale for doing that if there is to be no change? Are we further...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I can understand the rationale behind amendment No. 29, whereby there shall be no presumption in law that any land zoned in a particular local area plan shall remain so zoned in any subsequent local area plan. We agree with that, because it clarifies this whole area. What is the present position regarding zoning? Is the Government introducing this amendment because there are problems around...