Results 1,141-1,160 of 4,726 for speaker:Malcolm Noonan

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Wildlife Protection (22 Feb 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: The function of the enhanced Wildlife Crime Unit (to be known as Wildlife Crime Operations) is to support the law enforcement work that has been, and continues to be done by National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Regional staff. Some 110 staff, including District Conservation Officers and Conservation Rangers are working across the country to address wildlife crime. Since December 2020,...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Planning Issues (23 Feb 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: I will give a general overview of disability provision and the Disability Act and then offer some possible solutions to the case the Deputy has raised. The ongoing implementation of disability-related measures has a statutory footing under the Disability Act 2005. The Act comes within the policy remit of my colleague Deputy Rabbitte, who is Minister of State with responsibility for...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Planning Issues (23 Feb 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: A number of years ago when I was a member of Kilkenny Borough Council, an initiative was brought forward by a person who was working with people with disabilities to bring in a disabled parking bay monitoring scheme. The monitors who worked, and are still working, on the streets of Kilkenny are themselves wheelchair users. They monitor the disabled bays and report back to traffic wardens...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Planning Issues (23 Feb 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: They have multiple jobs but within their brief------

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Planning Issues (23 Feb 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: -----they are looking at access all the time. Every planning application and every public realm plan is disability-proofed before it goes out for public consultation. The access group had oversight of those planning applications. That is where the strength lies at local government level, in how effective and active the access group is. I take on board the Deputy's point that they are...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: National Biodiversity Plan (23 Feb 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: My Department is responsible for the implementation of a range of legislation and policy relating to biodiversity and nature in Ireland and is the National Focal Point for the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), an overarching international agreement underpinning the global biodiversity framework. In this context, my Department is the lead authority for the National Biodiversity...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Surveys (23 Feb 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: Hedgerows are an integral part of farmed landscapes in Ireland and play a key role in habitat connectivity as well as being important habitats in their own right. They support a variety of invertebrate, bird and mammal species, and are refuges for biodiversity in landscapes dominated by intensive agriculture. Teagasc has undertaken hedgerow mapping on a national scale, and while no...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Legislative Measures (23 Feb 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: The use of a detection devices will not be prohibited under the proposed Monuments and Archaeological Heritage Bill and as provided for under the existing legislative framework, the use of a detection device to search for or collect archaeological objects will continue to be a licensable activity. The unlicensed use of a detection device for the purposes outlined above will not be permitted...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: National Biodiversity Plan (23 Feb 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: The Programme for Government includes a commitment to ensure that each local authority has a sufficient number of Biodiversity Officers and Heritage Officers among their staff complement. There are currently five biodiversity officers employed in local authorities, mainly in the Leinster area. The role of a biodiversity officer is prescribed at local level by the employing local...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Wildlife Protection (1 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: I will respond to the question on the Commencement and these are additional, if that is okay. My Department has a very strong relationship with our colleagues in the OPW, with the OPW holding statutory responsibility for the day-to-day maintenance of a large number of monuments and buildings in the ownership of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. These sites can of...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Wildlife Protection (1 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: I will make inquiries on that report. I go back to my point about the good working relationship that we have with the OPW in relation to built heritage sites in its care. We are also working on a proposal for a voluntary continuous professional development scheme to equip private and public contractors with practical skills, knowledge and awareness of ecology and environmental law, as well...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Pollution (1 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: Waterways Ireland has notified the ESB of two oil leaks, the first in January 2017 and the second in January 2022, both on the Grand Canal close to Blackhorse Bridge, Inchicore. Since 2019, the  ESB has initiated a ‘Cable Incident Response Protocol’ to notify Waterways Ireland regarding leaks from underground cables based on their own system for...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Constituency Commission (1 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: Article 16 of the Constitution sets out clearly and distinctly the overarching requirements that apply to the membership of Dáil Éireann. In addition, and complementary to the constitutional provisions of Article 16.2 in particular, Part II of the Electoral Act 1997 (as amended) provides for a constituency review following each Census of Population and establishes, among other...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Maritime Jurisdiction (1 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 348 and 349 together. In January 2022, I expressed my concern at the news of proposed military exercises in the deep seas within Ireland’s Exclusive Economic Area. It is understood that underwater sounds such as active military sonar can have devastating consequences for cetaceans including some of our rarest marine mammal species, notably the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: National Parks and Wildlife Service (1 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: My Department established a list of 38 activities that have the potential to damage habitats or species and therefore require consent before they are carried out within a European site. These applications relating to actions requiring consent are managed at a regional level by National Parks and Wildlife Service officials in the location to which the application refers. This process is...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: World Heritage Sites (1 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: The National Monuments Service of my Department is currently undertaking further technical assessment of the applications to a new Tentative List. The following six applications were received by the deadline of 30 June 2021:  - The Passage Tomb Landscape of County Sligo - Inis Cealtra, County Clare - Transatlantic Cable Ensemble: Valentia-Heart’s Content, County Kerry...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Presidential Elections (1 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: My Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs have worked closely on this issue and, on 16 September 2019, the Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Presidential Elections) Bill 2019 was initiated in Dáil Éireann by the then Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to facilitate the holding of a referendum on this issue. The Bill provides for amendments to...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (1 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: Legislative reforms to regulate the short-term letting sector through the planning code, in areas designated as “rent pressure zones” (RPZs), were introduced under the Planning and Development Act 2000 (Exempted Development) (No. 2) Regulations 2019 which came into effect on 1 July 2019. Notwithstanding the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, significant work on...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Waterways Issues (2 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: Waterways Ireland has stated that on the towpath side or the south side of the Royal Canal, the boundary is generally clearly defined and is often bounded by the adjacent railway line. On the north bank of the canal, the boundary is mainly comprised of trees and shrub material, so this boundary is not as clearly defined on the ground as the south side of the canal. Boundary maps of the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Policy (3 Mar 2022)

Malcolm Noonan: The current protections for tenants where a landlord terminates a tenancy because he or she needs vacant possession to substantially refurbish or renovate the rented property are sufficiently robust. The Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2021 provide that where a landlord terminates a tenancy because he or she needs vacant possession to substantially refurbish or renovate the rented...