Results 1,981-2,000 of 7,082 for speaker:John Paul Phelan

Topical Issue Debate: Social and Affordable Housing (17 Oct 2017)

John Paul Phelan: I will contact Fingal County Council. I was there a couple of weeks ago in Swords with the manager and senior officials. I will certainly contact them. I was not aware of the full extent of the landholding until this was brought up. There is also, in terms of the planning laws, the necessity for a local area plan to be adopted before the houses can be constructed but that could happen...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Boundaries (17 Oct 2017)

John Paul Phelan: Cork County Council has initiated a proposal for alteration of the boundary under Part V of the Local Government Act 1991. As this proposal is the subject of a statutory process which may lead to an application for Ministerial decision, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on the matter.

Financial Resolutions 2018 - Financial Resolution No. 4: General (Resumed) (12 Oct 2017)

John Paul Phelan: It is interesting to hear some of the Fianna Fáil speakers claim all of the good bits in the budget are from that party while the bad bits are all from those bold people in the Independent Alliance and Fine Gael.

Financial Resolutions 2018 - Financial Resolution No. 4: General (Resumed) (12 Oct 2017)

John Paul Phelan: It is not quite how things work.

Financial Resolutions 2018 - Financial Resolution No. 4: General (Resumed) (12 Oct 2017)

John Paul Phelan: The most damning indictment of Fianna Fáil is that in 2011, when I was elected to the Dáil, Exchequer income tax receipts were €11 billion. Next year, they will be €21.5 billion. That is how any social service provided by the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Finian McGrath, or anyone else, can be funded. There is no greater acknowledgement of...

Financial Resolutions 2018 - Financial Resolution No. 4: General (Resumed) (12 Oct 2017)

John Paul Phelan: I will respond to some of the issues that have been raised in the Chamber by earlier contributors. I note that Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin is still in the Chamber and I believe it is always best to attack those who are still present. It will, however, be a gentle attack in that Deputy O'Loughlin's initial criticism of the budget referred to overcrowded classrooms. I believe that the greatest...

Financial Resolutions 2018 - Financial Resolution No. 4: General (Resumed) (12 Oct 2017)

John Paul Phelan: On the issue of overcrowded classrooms, it is ironic that the post-Celtic tiger Fianna Fáil did not manage to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio to 26:1. It is the standout issue and an unusual one upon which to start the attack. The affordable housing component of the budget had a whole section dedicated to the introduction of a new agency, Home Building Finance Ireland, HBFI, which...

Financial Resolutions 2018 - Financial Resolution No. 4: General (Resumed) (12 Oct 2017)

John Paul Phelan: I know that Deputy Troy was a postmaster, so he has some understanding. Two of the post offices that closed were in villages in my own area of Tullogher and the village of Ballyhale in south Kilkenny. Both of these were Phelan post offices as it happens and involved members of my own extended family. They got very little succour from the government at the time over the closures. That...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Members (11 Oct 2017)

John Paul Phelan: Section 18(4) of the Local Government Act 2001, as amended, provides that councillors may be absent from meetings of a local authority for up to 6 months, either on health grounds or for another reason in good faith, and retain their seats subject to a resolution of the elected members of the Council. This period may be extended to 12 months, upon the passing of a resolution by the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Boundaries (10 Oct 2017)

John Paul Phelan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 709 and 710 together. The Cork Local Government Implementation Oversight Group was established to oversee arrangements for the alteration of the boundary between the respective areas of jurisdiction of Cork City Council and Cork County Council, in light of the recommendation in the report of the Cork Expert Advisory Group. The group’s first task is...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Boundaries (10 Oct 2017)

John Paul Phelan: The general responsibility of the Cork Local Government Implementation Oversight Group is to oversee arrangements for the alteration of the boundary between Cork City and County Councils. The Group's terms of reference are designed to facilitate and support the agreement of arrangements between the two local authorities. Cork County Council has initiated a proposal for alteration of the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Management (10 Oct 2017)

John Paul Phelan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 724 and 744 together. The Guidelines issued by my Department under section 133(10) of the Local Government Act 2001, as amended, in relation to the Corporate Policy Groups (CPGs), and section 54(2) of the same Act in relation to Strategic Policy Committees (SPCs), provide a common general framework for the establishment and operation of the CPG and SPC...

Water Services Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (28 Sep 2017)

John Paul Phelan: The Deputy is against meters.

Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Sep 2017)

John Paul Phelan: No, I am here.

Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Sep 2017)

John Paul Phelan: There are six reports on boundaries, four of them concerning county boundaries between neighbouring local authorities, the Cork city and county boundary review and the Galway city and county review, on which a report has been completed. It is the Government's intention that the six reports would be dealt in the middle of next month, around the time the boundary review committees for the...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Local Authority Members' Remuneration (27 Sep 2017)

John Paul Phelan: This is a good opportunity to outline the current position with regard to councillors' pay and conditions. I thank Senators Davitt and Gallagher for raising it. I think Senator Davitt was a little melodramatic in calling the Department the Department of broken promises. A commitment was given and it is still intended that it would be honoured. There was a time not that long ago when the...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Local Authority Members' Remuneration (27 Sep 2017)

John Paul Phelan: Yes, that is the intention. It is part of the reason for the delay.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Local Authority Members' Remuneration (27 Sep 2017)

John Paul Phelan: I will not comment on individual cases.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Local Authority Members' Remuneration (27 Sep 2017)

John Paul Phelan: I think it is a broader question about how we pay local government members and ensure the same benefits that accrue to other workers accrue to them. Following on from this decision, there will be some consideration as to further reforms for members in local authorities to bring them in line with every other public servant, which is effectively what they are.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Carbon Monoxide Poisoning (26 Sep 2017)

John Paul Phelan: I do. I welcome the opportunity to answer the important query raised by Senator Swanick and I am glad to be here for the first sitting of the Seanad in its new building. I am looking at the roof and see alarms on the ceiling, though I do not know if there are also carbon monoxide detectors. It is a fantastic room and I wish Senators well in their time here. I am taking this matter on...