Results 1,261-1,280 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Spring Economic Statement (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Heather Humphreys: We tidied up and finished off a lot of the ghost estates.

Spring Economic Statement (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Heather Humphreys: Many Deputies will remember the last time an Irish Government delivered a significant economic statement in the month of April. It was back in 2009 when Fianna Fáil rushed through an emergency budget in a bid to plug the ever widening gap in the public finances. It did not work, of course, and the decisions that followed that emergency budget plunged the country into deep crisis....

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Commemorative Events (29 Apr 2015)

Heather Humphreys: The Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme places a special focus on the Seven Signatories of the Proclamation. A number of specific projects and activities in the programme relate to the Seven Signatories and individual signatories will also be remembered in a wide variety of ways. In regard to the naming or renaming of any street, this is, under law, a matter for the relevant local authority.

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Special Areas of Conservation Designation (29 Apr 2015)

Heather Humphreys: Natura 2000 is the centrepiece of EU nature and biodiversity policy. It is an EU-wide network of nature protection areas established under the 1992 Habitats Directive. The aim of the network is to assure the long-term survival of Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats. It is comprised of special areas of conservation (also referred to as sites of community importance in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: National Monuments (30 Apr 2015)

Heather Humphreys: My primary function in this case arises from the preservation order that was placed on Nos. 14 to 17 Moore Street in 2007 under the National Monuments Acts and to protect No. 16 as the site of the final council of war and final headquarters of the leaders of the 1916 Rising. The area surrounding the Moore Street national monument is largely in private ownership and is not covered by the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: National Monuments (30 Apr 2015)

Heather Humphreys: The Deputy will appreciate some fundamental matters must be dealt with before there is any question of getting the work under way in Moore Street. He can be assured the intention is to have the restoration work completed and the commemorative centre up and running in the shortest possible time-frame. How long that will take I cannot say at present, but all options will be looked at with a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: National Monuments (30 Apr 2015)

Heather Humphreys: To be clear, my role as Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht is to assess what is best for the national monument, and the national monument has been designated as Nos. 14 to 17 Moore Street. I do not have any powers under the National Monuments Acts to create an historic quarter in Moore Street. The properties around the national monument are in private ownership. They are not...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: National Monuments (30 Apr 2015)

Heather Humphreys: As I outlined in my reply to today’s Priority Question No 1, my primary function in this case arises from the preservation order that was placed on Nos. 14-17 Moore Street under the National Monuments Acts 2007 in order to protect No. 16 as the site of the final council of war and final headquarters of the leaders of the 1916 Rising. The area surrounding the Moore Street national...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: National Monuments (30 Apr 2015)

Heather Humphreys: I can give a guarantee that Nos. 14-17 Moore Street will be developed as a commemorative centre to the 1916 leaders. There are some details remaining to be worked out and I have yet to bring a memo on the matter to Government. Work will commence as soon as possible. On the remainder of the site, as I have said previously, it is outside of the national monument and is in private...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: National Monuments (30 Apr 2015)

Heather Humphreys: On the area surrounding Nos. 14-17 Moore Street, a detailed battlefield assessment has already been carried out and I am satisfied with the quality and findings of that research. As part of the Minister's consideration of the consent application, the consent applicant, Chartered Land Limited, which owns the national monument site, was asked by the Department in January 2012 to commission an...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Protection Areas Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Heather Humphreys: The designation of special protection areas, SPAs, is a legal obligation placed on all member states in the EU. In 2007, Ireland was found by the European Court of Justice to have failed to designate a sufficient number of SPAs. It is essential that, wherever possible, use is made of opportunities for co-funding from the EU in providing payments to farmers who own lands subject to such...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Protection Areas Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Heather Humphreys: I live on a farm and I understand farming. The scheme in place in my Department ceased in 2010 and 42 farmers are getting funding under it. The funding available for heritage purposes is not unlimited. We are trying to work with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and what we want to achieve is to strike a balance between protecting the environment and allowing farmers to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Protection Areas Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Heather Humphreys: The designation was put in place a considerable number of years ago. Ireland was faced with multi-million euro fines and the likelihood of daily fines if we did not do something about the designations.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Protection Areas Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Heather Humphreys: These are EU directives and we have gone through this before. We are where we are and we must deal with it. My Department is working with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and it is clear that these farmers will get priority under the GLAS scheme. There was a scheme in my Department but, under the GLAS scheme, many more farmers with lands designated will be able to avail...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Protection Areas Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Heather Humphreys: Staff in the Department are in direct contact with colleagues in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to ensure the rules protect the habitat and species and the income of farmers who farmed the land. The issue is being dealt with. I assure the Deputy of that.

Other Questions: Special Areas of Conservation Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Heather Humphreys: Natura 2000 is the centrepiece of European Union nature and biodiversity policy. It is an EU-wide network of nature protection areas established under the 1992 habitats directive. The aim of the network is to assure the long-term survival of Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats. The establishment of this network of protected areas also fulfils a community obligation...

Other Questions: Special Areas of Conservation Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Heather Humphreys: There is-----

Other Questions: Special Areas of Conservation Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Heather Humphreys: Yes. There is a final, technical part to be addressed, which is the making-----

Other Questions: Special Areas of Conservation Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Heather Humphreys: I will answer the question. There is a final technical part to be addressed, which is the making of a statutory instrument for each site. There is a programme in place to deliver that over the period ahead but the fact remains that the sites have full legal protection since they were initially proposed. That is the situation and it is recognised in planning law and environmental legislation.

Other Questions: Special Areas of Conservation Designation (30 Apr 2015)

Heather Humphreys: No, no. I am saying there is a process, which is fully in accordance with the law. There was full legal protection from the time of the initial proposal for designation. There is a final technical part to be addressed. That is the making of a statutory instrument and, in conjunction with the signing of the necessary statutory instruments formally designating sites, landowners, users and...