Results 201-220 of 2,500 for speaker:Ciarán Cuffe

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (14 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: True.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (14 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: I propose to respond to each of the Senators in turn. Senator Coffey was concerned about the way the Bill had been handled. The discussions between the Attorney General and the European Commission continued until late May. The officials in the Department and the Bills Office worked long hours and pushed themselves hard to ensure the Bill would be ready. In an ideal world I would have had...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (14 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: This second group of amendments deals with the forward planning aspects of the Bill. Amendment No. 5 amends section 10 of the Bill by inserting subsection(1)(d) to provide for the inclusion of a separate statement in the development plan, which shows that its development objectives are consistent, as far as practicable, with the conservation and protection of the environment. Amendment No. 6...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (14 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: No, it will not.

Written Answers — Unfinished Housing Estates: Unfinished Housing Estates (8 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: As part of its comprehensive response to the issue of unfinished or unoccupied estates, my Department is currently undertaking, with the co-operation of local authorities and other key stakeholders, a national inventory on a county by county basis to quantify, classify and map the various types of unfinished or unoccupied estates so as to facilitate a better understanding of the scale and...

Written Answers — Planning Issues: Planning Issues (8 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: According to the most recently available data which were published in the 2008 Annual Planning Statistics, 4,246 enforcement notices were issued by planning authorities in 2008 under section 154 and section 155 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. 1,028 prosecutions were initiated on foot of these enforcement notices.

Written Answers — Planning Issues: Planning Issues (8 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: Retail strategies are prepared by all planning authorities as part of their development plans. Given the considerable changes in economic and social development since the current Retail Planning Guidelines were published in 2001 and updated in 2005, particularly in relation to population and settlement patterns, it is important that the forward planning context for future retail development...

Written Answers — Vehicle Emissions: Vehicle Emissions (8 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: The Government's Smarter Travel policy set out the steps to create a more sustainable transport system which will reduce pollution levels. These include improving transport integration and connectivity; shifting considerable numbers to more sustainable travel modes such as public transport, cycling and walking; reducing congestion; adoption of alternative and cleaner technologies both for...

Written Answers — Planning Issues: Planning Issues (8 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: I refer to the reply to Question No. 234 of 24 June 2010.

Written Answers — Planning Issues: Planning Issues (8 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: Section 39 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 provides that a condition may be attached to a grant of planning permission for a house, specifying that the house must be occupied by persons of a particular class or description, with provision to that effect to be incorporated in an agreement under section 47 of the Act. My Department's 2005 Guidelines for Planning Authorities on...

Written Answers — Architectural Heritage: Architectural Heritage (7 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: My Department has been in correspondence with Dublin City Council as regards the procedure used to decide not to add the Chapel at St. James's Hospital to its Record of Protected Structures. The Council's response is under consideration by my Department.

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (7 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: The European Commission has issued a reasoned opinion against Ireland alleging that Ireland's transposition of the SEA Directive through the European Communities (Environmental Assessment of Certain Plans and Programmes) Regulations, 2004 and the Planning and Development (Strategic Environmental Assessment) Regulations, 2004, is deficient in certain respects. While Ireland has always...

Written Answers — Planning Issues: Planning Issues (6 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: I refer to the reply to Question No. 498 of 29 June 2010. In relation to the specific national secondary roads mentioned, it is a matter for the relevant planning authority to assess individual planning applications, having regard to the overall proper planning and sustainable development of the area, specific provisions of the development plan, any submissions or observations received,...

Written Answers — Planning Issues: Planning Issues (6 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: Under sections 34(4)(g) and 180(2)(b) of the Planning and Development Act 2000, a planning authority may attach conditions to a planning permission requiring the giving of adequate security for the satisfactory completion of a proposed development and, if a development is not subsequently completed satisfactorily, apply such a security for the satisfactory completion of that development. The...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: This will reinforce local communities, lead to better decisions and lead to a sense of good value for the taxpayer as much as anything else. To that extent I recommend the Bill to the House.

Civil Partnership Bill 2010: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: I support the Minister, Deputy Dermot Ahern, in this regard. I want to take this opportunity to welcome the final stages of the passage of this legislation, which represents an important milestone on the road towards full equality. I may differ from the Minister when it comes to the final destination on that road. My view and that of my party is that there should be no distinction between...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: Far from muddying the waters, this will make it easier to provide clean water. The plan ensures consistency between national, regional and local land use policy to maximise the State investment being made in infrastructure and services. It provides much enhanced provision for public participation at each stage of the development plan process. Instead of last minute rezonings, it will...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: This is about joined-up thinking in transportation and land use, the kind of big picture decisions that must be made. In my county an €80 million sewage plant is under discussion. That must have an impact on the land use and transport decisions that are made, such as if a Luas line should cross a particular piece of land. We cannot put blinkers on and divorce land use, transportation,...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: I understand Deputy Sherlock and his colleagues' frustrations over individual planning decisions. All of us in the Chamber meet people time and again who have genuine housing needs and wish to be accommodated. In so far as we can, we do our best for people. Proper planning is about taking into account all genuine considerations in order that when the floods come the Minister for the...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Ciarán Cuffe: -----decent guidelines in place. When we have an increase in traffic on roads dues to one-off houses being built to the point where we had to build a new road in Kerry because there was so much traffic on the first road that one cannot allow it to be upgraded, we can say we had guidelines in place that prioritised allowing people to build where they can build with due regard to road safety.