Results 9,321-9,340 of 14,706 for speaker:Phil Hogan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: 2013 Allocations for Public Expenditure
Vote 25 - Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (13 Nov 2012)

Phil Hogan: Workforce planning is the mechanism we are using to model and determine where additional staff are needed and where pressure points are located.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Report of Pyrite Panel: Discussion with Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (13 Nov 2012)

Phil Hogan: I welcome the opportunity to discuss the report with the committee and to provide an update to it on the progress being made on the implementation of the report's recommendations. Many homeowners affected by pyrite have been waiting for a considerable period and without success to date for a resolution. The purchase of a home is likely to be the largest investment most people make in their...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Report of Pyrite Panel: Discussion with Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (13 Nov 2012)

Phil Hogan: Up to last week, I had expected I would be obliged to proceed immediately with the imposition of a solution - in other words, to bring forward the necessary legislation to introduce the levy on a mandatory basis. While I may still be so obliged, there has been substantial engagement by all stakeholders in recent days. We received a highly positive response and indication from the financial...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Report of Pyrite Panel: Discussion with Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (13 Nov 2012)

Phil Hogan: There is a meeting of the Construction Industry Federation tonight and a meeting of the Irish Concrete Federation tomorrow. They are considering proposals that I have brought to their attention today arising from my engagement with the financial institutions. The State does not have money to deal with this problem in the same way as we would have had in the good days. That is no use to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Report of Pyrite Panel: Discussion with Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (13 Nov 2012)

Phil Hogan: The Deputy will get no credit for what she is saying now. We are trying to solve this problem.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Report of Pyrite Panel: Discussion with Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (13 Nov 2012)

Phil Hogan: While Deputy Murphy was talking I was trying to do something about it. I am the first Minister to deal with this legacy issue in the Department and the first person to do something about it. I got to the root of the issue by bringing everybody together through the pyrite panel. Nobody had done anything about this until I became Minister. The Deputy talked about practicalities; I can...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Report of Pyrite Panel: Discussion with Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (13 Nov 2012)

Phil Hogan: I am not addressing the Construction Industry Federation or the Irish Concrete Federation. I am not a member of either of those outfits; maybe Deputy Murphy is.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Report of Pyrite Panel: Discussion with Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (13 Nov 2012)

Phil Hogan: I have brought those organisations up to date on one side of the equation where I can get access to some funds, but I want them to participate in the process as well. Let us see what happens.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Report of Pyrite Panel: Discussion with Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (13 Nov 2012)

Phil Hogan: I was ready to go to Government at the appropriate time, which I indicated was ten days after the end of September. I got a call to indicate that there were possibilities of further engagement that would be worth exploring. I have put all the pressure I can on the stakeholders to ensure that will be the case. As of today, I am satisfied that one side of the equation - namely, the financial...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Report of Pyrite Panel: Discussion with Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (13 Nov 2012)

Phil Hogan: I have to get approval from the Department of Finance and my Government colleagues. I can assure the Deputy, however, that I will not be wasting any time in putting a mandatory levy in place and will do so as quickly as I can.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Report of Pyrite Panel: Discussion with Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (13 Nov 2012)

Phil Hogan: I do not want to be as negative as Deputy Clare Daly on the prospects of doing something for home owners. She has been engaging with the pyrite panel herself and has had many opportunities to meet it to make her points. There was a positive engagement with the panel but now Deputy Clare Daly does not want to accept the outcome of its recommendations.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Report of Pyrite Panel: Discussion with Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (13 Nov 2012)

Phil Hogan: I was the first to do something about this when Deputy Clare Daly did not even make any representations to the previous Government. I inherited this particular problem and I am dealing with it. Deputy Clare Daly can make all the political comments she wishes but I am trying to solve the problems for the home owners. She claims no progress has been made; substantial progress has been made...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Report of Pyrite Panel: Discussion with Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (13 Nov 2012)

Phil Hogan: As Deputy Wallace knows from direct experience, it is not an easy business to get people in the construction sector to agree collectively. I hope they will because they have caused the problem, not the home owners. The reputation of the industry is at stake. They have an opportunity to repair it and, more importantly, to remediate the dwellings of the unfortunate people who have been...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Report of Pyrite Panel: Discussion with Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (13 Nov 2012)

Phil Hogan: If I have to, I will impose it on them. I will know in the next few days if their bona fides are sound. I agree with the Deputy they have not shown it up to now. I am prepared to give it another couple of days. The pyrite resolution board will be established in the next few days. It will be the oversight and supervisory authority on behalf of the consumer. It will deal with issues like...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Report of Pyrite Panel: Discussion with Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (13 Nov 2012)

Phil Hogan: I was made aware of that in recent times. I certainly will be prepared to engage with the company on that basis again to see whether its position has shifted. I can assure Deputy Ryan that we are in a position to proceed immediately with a pyrite resolution board. We have the terms of reference approved. However, I must go to Government on the matter of the mandatory level, if that is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Report of Pyrite Panel: Discussion with Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (13 Nov 2012)

Phil Hogan: Every time I make a deadline, the Deputy pulls me back and states I missed it by a couple of days. I will not give the Deputy any comfort on that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Report of Pyrite Panel: Discussion with Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (13 Nov 2012)

Phil Hogan: The Building Regulations Advisory Board was no more and no less than an advisory board, but the Government, on my recommendation, abolished it in recent days. The information matters that have arisen from this, from Priory Hall and other issues will form part of the solution in terms of future building regulations which I will bring to Government shortly. It is not acceptable that those who...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Nuclear Plants (14 Nov 2012)

Phil Hogan: I welcome the publication of the Report by the UK’s National Audit Office Nuclear Decommissioning Authority – Managing risk reduction at Sellafield. Given Ireland’s long-standing concerns in relation to the operation of Sellafield, it is important that the Sellafield site and its operations are subject to independent scrutiny, such as that undertaken in the preparation of...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Energy Conservation (14 Nov 2012)

Phil Hogan: The European Communities (Energy End-Use Efficiency and Energy Services) Regulations 2009 transposed Directive 2006/32/EC into Irish Law. Part 4 of the Regulations outlines a number of obligations relevant to individual public bodies (including local authorities) in relation to improving their performance with regard to energy efficiency. In this context, Ireland’s National Energy...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Regeneration Projects (14 Nov 2012)

Phil Hogan: The Clones Regeneration Partnership sought funding to support the employment of a co-ordinator to undertake a programme of development work in preparation for the opening of the Ulster Canal. It is hoped that the opening of the canal will make a major contribution to the economic regeneration of Clones and surrounding areas. The formal approval given to Clones Regeneration Partnership in...