Results 6,301-6,320 of 7,082 for speaker:John Paul Phelan

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Electoral Commission Establishment (3 Oct 2019)

John Paul Phelan: The establishment of an Electoral Commission is a key commitment in the Programme for Partnership Government.   My Department prepared a Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) in respect of the establishment of an Electoral Commission, which was published on 27 December 2018, and followed by a public consultation process. The RIA set out four options, having regard...

Financial Resolutions - Budget Statement 2020 (8 Oct 2019)

John Paul Phelan: It is a crow, not a vulture.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Electoral Commission Establishment (8 Oct 2019)

John Paul Phelan: The establishment of an Electoral Commission is a key commitment in the Programme for Partnership Government. My Department prepared a Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) in respect of the establishment of an Electoral Commission, which was published on 27 December 2018, and followed by a public consultation process. The RIA set out four options, having regard to a commission's legislative...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Government Fund (8 Oct 2019)

John Paul Phelan: The accounts of the Local Government Fund, including income and expenditure, are audited by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General each year. The audited accounts for 2010 to 2018 are available on my Department's website at the following link; . Information concerning the Local Government Fund for 2019 is contained on page 166 of the Revised Estimates 2019 which is available at the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Electoral Register (8 Oct 2019)

John Paul Phelan: Arising from a commitment in the May 2016 Programme for a Partnership Governmentto examine the voter registration process, a set of policy proposals was developed, based on the 2016 Report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Proposed Electoral Commission. The proposals include the provision of online registration as an optional alternative to paper-based registration, as well as: the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Commercial Rates Valuation Process (9 Oct 2019)

John Paul Phelan: The Valuation Acts 2001-2015 provide for the valuation of all commercial and industrial property for rating purposes. The Commissioner of Valuation is independent in the performance of his functions under the Acts and the making of valuations for rating is his sole responsibility. As Minister, I have no function in decisions in this regard. Under the relevant legislation,, there is a...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Rates (9 Oct 2019)

John Paul Phelan: Local authorities have powers to charge for the services they provide, including housing rents, waste charges, parking charges and planning application fees. Income from fees and charges are an important revenue source for local authorities. In most cases charges are set locally, although certain charges are fixed at national level. The setting and management of many charges are...

Financial Resolutions 2019 - Financial Resolution No. 9: General (Resumed) (10 Oct 2019)

John Paul Phelan: In the area of local government the funding announced in the budget on Tuesday amounts to €156 million paid directly by the local government section into the local authority structure throughout the country, in which there are 31 local authorities. The local government fund supports a range of local government initiatives and services across the country, with which Members of this...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Commercial Rates Valuation Process (15 Oct 2019)

John Paul Phelan: Local authorities have a statutory obligation to levy rates on any property used for commercial purposes in accordance with the details entered in the valuation lists prepared by the Commissioner of Valuation under the Valuation Acts 2001 to 2015.  The Commissioner of Valuation has responsibility for valuation matters, including the revaluation of properties, and is independent in...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Government Reform (15 Oct 2019)

John Paul Phelan: The Government approved the merger of Galway City Council and Galway County Council on 18 June 2018. While the elements of the Local Government Bill 2018 that provided for this merger were not ultimately passed by the Oireachtas. In this context, I recently met Galway County Council and indicated that the Government is prepared, in principle, to make a special...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Government Reform (15 Oct 2019)

John Paul Phelan: The people of Limerick City and County decided in a plebiscite held on 24 May 2019 to support the Government's proposals for a directly elected mayor with executive functions for their Council area. Work is now well underway on the necessary and extensive preparatory work  to deliver on the will of the people of Limerick. Under Section 44 of...

Road Traffic (Amendment) (Use of Electric Scooters) Bill 2019: Second Stage (16 Oct 2019)

John Paul Phelan: I wish to share a minute and a half of my time at the start of this time slot with Deputy Rock, if that is agreeable.

Road Traffic (Amendment) (Use of Electric Scooters) Bill 2019: Second Stage (16 Oct 2019)

John Paul Phelan: Once again, on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Ross, I express my appreciation to Deputy MacSharry for bringing this Bill before the House but, for the reasons already outlined by Deputy Rock and the Minister of State, Deputy Griffin, we have tabled a timed amendment to the motion that the Bill be now read a Second Time to allow three months for consideration of the outcome of the current...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Commercial Rates Valuation Process (16 Oct 2019)

John Paul Phelan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 268, 269 and 274 together. As Minister with special responsibility for Local Government and having served as a member of Kilkenny County Council I know first-hand the vital role local businesses play in supporting local authorities to deliver critical services to their communities. Commercial Rates, at approximately €1.5bn per annum, make up roughly...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Commercial Rates (16 Oct 2019)

John Paul Phelan: Decisions with regard to the selection of rating authority areas for revaluation are a matter for the independent Commissioner for Valuation, who has responsibility under the Valuation Acts 2001 to 2015 to maintain a valuation list for each Local Authority, of all rateable properties in that Local Authority area, which is used to calculate the rates due from individual ratepayers. ...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Government Fund (16 Oct 2019)

John Paul Phelan: The Government is providing €156 million to support local authorities through the exchequer contribution to the Local Government Fund (LGF) in 2020. On a like-for-like basis local authorities will be in receipt of €23 million more in funding in 2020 when compared to 2019. The extra €23 million represents an increase of 27% in exchequer support for local authorities to...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Commercial Rates Calculations (16 Oct 2019)

John Paul Phelan: Local authorities are required by legislation to levy rates on any property used for commercial purposes in accordance with the details entered in the valuation lists prepared by the independent Commissioner of Valuation under the Valuation Acts 2001 to 2015. The levying and collection of rates are matters for each individual local authority. The annual rate on valuation (ARV) is decided...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Local Authority Members' Remuneration (16 Oct 2019)

John Paul Phelan: I thank the Senator for raising this matter which is to the forefront of my mind. Like her, I deal with councillors every day of the week and the underlying reality is that they are underpaid. The purpose in conducting the review was to examine how we should remunerate them appropriately into the future. Following on from the feedback from local authority elected members and their...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Local Authority Members' Remuneration (16 Oct 2019)

John Paul Phelan: It was intended that the report would be with me before the summer recess. To this effect, we met some of the representative groups, but a number of issues arose that prevented it from being finalised before the summer recess. When I use the word "shortly", I mean that I expect to be receipt of it within the next two weeks. At that stage, there will be consultation between my officials and...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Local Authority Members (16 Oct 2019)

John Paul Phelan: I thank the Senator for raising this important matter, which is relevant as it is now being discussed to a much greater extent than it previously was. Councillors, similar to Members of these Houses, members of the Judiciary and others, are officeholders rather than employees. As such, they are not covered by the statutory framework for employees on issues such as maternity leave, sick...