Results 641-660 of 8,379 for speaker:Mark Daly

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jan 2012)

Mark Daly: I, too, call for a debate on the recommendation of the Fiscal Advisory Council. The council produced only one previous report to the Government. Prior to the budget it suggested cuts of €4.8 billion, which the Government rejected out of hand. The council is now saying there should not be a referendum on the forthcoming intergovernmental treaty. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jan 2012)

Mark Daly: The question is, can we have a debate on the forthcoming EU treaty? As has been pointed out, Ireland does not have a position. We are going into the negotiation with our hands hanging. We have no position paper and we have not debated the treaty here or in the Dáil. We will be presented with a fait accompli. There is a democratic deficit in this House and in the Dáil. We will be shown...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jan 2012)

Mark Daly: I know Senator Coghlan has been in consultation with the Attorney General and I thank him for his input.

Seanad: Agriculture and Fisheries: Statements, Questions and Answers (26 Jan 2012)

Mark Daly: I welcome the Minister. The area applied for permission for afforestation in 2011 was 38% lower than in 2010. Is he aware that the change made by departmental officials directly contributed to the decline and, as a result, vast areas of productive land were excluded? The grant and premium rates were also cut and severe restrictions were put on the area of land allowable. Other issues are...

Seanad: Order of Business (31 Jan 2012)

Mark Daly: I ask the Leader to organise a debate on the treaty published yesterday. Unlike the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, I believe we should have a referendum. To quote him directly, he is not a fan of referendums and does not believe they are democratic. I have great time for the Minister but he might have to go back to political science class to learn that referendums are very democratic. In that...

Seanad: Order of Business (31 Jan 2012)

Mark Daly: Ministers cannot engage in scare-mongering or tell lies on national television. If they want the truth they must tell everybody what is in the treaty and not indulge in scare-mongering based on what it does not contain.

Seanad: Rent Supplement Payments (31 Jan 2012)

Mark Daly: My query relates to the payment of rent allowance directly to persons in receipt of social welfare benefits. This system was changed a number of years ago in order that landlords would no longer receive the rent allowance and that it would be paid directly to social welfare recipients. I have received information from a number of agents that recipients of rent allowance are telling their...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Feb 2012)

Mark Daly: Last week I raised the issue of Article 27 and the facility it provides for a majority of Members of this House to sign a petition requesting that the President not sign a Bill but instead put it to the people by way of referendum. Even where a Bill is found by the Attorney General to be constitutional, it can and should be put to the people if the President deems it to be of such national...

Seanad: Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 Feb 2012)

Mark Daly: It is interesting that Members opposite are making the point that they have to pay for the maintenance of their septic tanks. In urban Ireland the council does all that. That is why people should be given grants by the Government. The Minister is talking about grants, but not about 100% grants. He has said that in 2013 the Government will see how many septic tanks are not in compliance...

Seanad: Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 Feb 2012)

Mark Daly: The Poolbeg sewage treatment plant was done at a cost of hundreds of millions of euro - although it is still not working entirely well - and urban dwellers do not have to pay a penny towards its building or maintenance.

Seanad: Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 Feb 2012)

Mark Daly: Senator Whelan says he has to pay €150 a year for the maintenance of his septic tank. That does not happen in urban Ireland.

Seanad: Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 Feb 2012)

Mark Daly: That is why Fianna Fáil are making the point that there should be a 100% grant. Householders received planning permission and installed septic tanks in accordance with the laws and regulations at the time, and now we are changing the laws and regulations. I do not disagree with the need to upgrade septic tanks because we are polluting our own water supply. The Senator made that point very...

Seanad: Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 Feb 2012)

Mark Daly: Kerry County Council is refusing planning permission in rural areas because the ground will not take the waste water.

Seanad: Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 Feb 2012)

Mark Daly: Yes.

Seanad: Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 Feb 2012)

Mark Daly: If planning permission is refused in one field and there is a house in the next field which has the same soil, that house will fail even the 2012 standard. If that house's septic tank was put in 30 years ago, it is going to fail the standard.

Seanad: Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 Feb 2012)

Mark Daly: This is the problem. As my colleagues have pointed out, we are being sold a pig in a poke. The Minister must decide the standards and we do not know what they are. His officials know but we do not. That is why we are asking for them to be published. I know the Minister is conducting a review, but the matter should be brought back to the House in order that we can debate it. Let us...

Seanad: Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 Feb 2012)

Mark Daly: I do not know that Senator Mullins is doing in his part of the world.

Seanad: Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 Feb 2012)

Mark Daly: I will finish on this point. It would be very interesting for the people of rural Ireland to know how much money we gave towards waste water treatment units throughout the country. Could a percentage of the hundreds of millions of euro spent on that not be spent on upgrading septic tanks? Those systems were funded from income tax, development levies and other taxes. People who are now...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (1 Feb 2012)

Mark Daly: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Seanad Éireann" and substitute the following: --noting that Ireland is a strong position to develop our renewable energy sector; --noting that in Government, Fianna Fáil prioritised investment in the green energy grid and implemented measures to improve energy efficiency across the economy; --noting that in government Fine Gael has failed...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (1 Feb 2012)

Mark Daly: I welcome the Minister. What is his opinion on the recent retirement of the chairman of the ESB and his sizable pension, an issue that is of concern to us all? The wages paid within the ESB account for the significant increases in electricity bills. I am sure the Minister is well aware of the figures for energy costs, but one in four people claim they cannot cope with the increases, 15%...