Results 6,861-6,880 of 9,994 for speaker:John Gormley

Seanad: Local Government (Charges) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)

John Gormley: We are meant to examine these issues and there may be an issue I may need to reconsider. The matter raised by Senator Doherty is not the intention. I am not someone who looks for tuna or dolphins. I want to be as fair as possible. I will consider the matter overnight to determine what clarity can be provided.

Seanad: Local Government (Charges) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)

John Gormley: I will seek advice from the Attorney General and others to see whether we can nail the issue down. That is all I can do.

Seanad: Local Government (Charges) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)

John Gormley: The house must be habitable. If it is not, it does not fall under this legislation. I meant to refer to Senator Doherty's point in this regard.

Seanad: Local Government (Charges) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)

John Gormley: Yes.

Seanad: Local Government (Charges) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)

John Gormley: I tried to indicate that the fine will be per individual property. Therefore, there would be an accumulation of fines.

Seanad: Local Government (Charges) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)

John Gormley: Senator Glynn is exactly right. In response to the question about on-line payments, the computer boards disburse the money at intervals, probably once a month. The question of which town councils receive how much is a matter for the local authority, or the manager. I hope that as we discuss these issues in more detail in the context of the White Paper we can examine the powers of the...

Seanad: Local Government (Charges) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)

John Gormley: Is the Senator talking about town councils?

Seanad: Local Government (Charges) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)

John Gormley: It is an annual payment.

Seanad: Local Government (Charges) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)

John Gormley: The difficulty is that one does not know what the payments will be. The local authorities have to collect the money and will not know at that stage how much has been collected. That is why we do it annually. The Senator's points on cash flow are correct and no doubt people want to get their hands on money as quickly as possible but the local authorities have to go out and collect the money...

Seanad: Local Government (Charges) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)

John Gormley: I thank Senators for their engagement today. It has been a very fruitful discussion. I believe in teasing out issues as best we can. The legislation was published a week ago and I appreciate the pressures that Members are under in trying to grapple with complex legislation. This is a relatively short Bill but undoubtedly any time a levy is imposed sensitivities are involved, and...

Written Answers — Waste Management: Waste Management (2 Jul 2009)

John Gormley: I refer to the reply to Questions Nos. 409 and 411 of 30 June 2009, which set out in a comprehensive way the position in relation to this matter.

Written Answers — Litter Pollution: Litter Pollution (2 Jul 2009)

John Gormley: My Department first appointed independent consultants to act as the Litter Monitoring Body in May 1999. Their primary function is to operate the National Litter Pollution Monitoring System (NLPMS) through collating litter quantification and litter pollution data from the local authorities throughout the year and providing an analysis on the national position to me annually. Information...

Written Answers — Local Authority Staff: Local Authority Staff (2 Jul 2009)

John Gormley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 141 to 144, inclusive, together. My Department is currently reviewing the data compiled in relation to Local Authority staffing. The data available from the local authorities concerned in relation to the matters raised in the questions are set out in the table below. The staffing figures are expressed as whole time equivalents. Local Authority June 07 June...

Written Answers — End-of-Life Vehicles: End-of-Life Vehicles (2 Jul 2009)

John Gormley: Directive 2000/53/EC on end-of life vehicles (ELVs) sets out specific measures to be put in place by EU Member States in relation to the collection, storage, treatment, dismantling, reuse and recycling of end-of-life vehicles. Under the Directive, each Member State is required, inter alia, to ensure that all end-of-life vehicles are dismantled, treated and recovered at no cost to the final...

Written Answers — Natural Heritage Areas: Natural Heritage Areas (2 Jul 2009)

John Gormley: In relation to case NT/LM/1420/001, my Department executed the contracts of sale in October 2008 and has issued a deposit. The Chief State Solicitor's Office is in the process of arranging the closing of the sale and payment of the balance. In relation to case NT/LM/1420/009, draft contracts were received by my Department in August 2008. However, having regard to available budgetary...

Written Answers — Local Government: Local Government (2 Jul 2009)

John Gormley: Legislation would be required to confer additional statutory powers on town councils which previously had town commissioner status. The White Paper on Local Government, which will be published following Government consideration of the Report of the Commission on Taxation, will address a broad suite of local government development and financing matters, including issues in relation to town...

Written Answers — Electoral Areas: Electoral Areas (2 Jul 2009)

John Gormley: In January 2008, I announced that I had established 2 independent committees to review local electoral areas. The terms of reference which I gave the committees included a requirement that they recommend local electoral areas comprising of not less than 4 seats and not more than 7 seats, except in very exceptional circumstances where 3 seat local electoral areas could be recommended if,...

Written Answers — Planning Issues: Planning Issues (2 Jul 2009)

John Gormley: Section 4 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 enables the Minister, by Regulation, to provide for any class of development to be exempted development for the purposes of the Act where, among other considerations, the Minister is of the opinion that such development, by reason of its size, nature or limited effect on its surroundings, would not offend against principles of proper planning...

Written Answers — Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (2 Jul 2009)

John Gormley: Ireland is required to meet challenging greenhouse gas emission reductions under the Kyoto Protocol for the period to 2012. All relevant Government Departments are working on the development of further measures to reduce Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions. This work is overseen by the Cabinet Committee on Climate Change and Energy Security, which is chaired by the Taoiseach. I have been...

Written Answers — Planning Issues: Planning Issues (2 Jul 2009)

John Gormley: When announcing the publication of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill on 3 June 2009, I also indicated that the retention planning permission system is being examined with a view, in particular, to removing the possibility of retention planning permission for unauthorised development which would otherwise have been subject to environmental impact assessment, other than in...