Results 2,241-2,260 of 4,773 for speaker:Paudie Coffey

Local Government (Rates and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (21 Nov 2014)

Paudie Coffey: We are out of time, Deputy.

Local Government (Rates and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (21 Nov 2014)

Paudie Coffey: Not agreed.

Local Government (Rates and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (21 Nov 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I thank all Deputies who contributed to the debate, especially Deputy McGuinness for giving us an opportunity to discuss the issue. I also recognise the considerable work and research he did on the legislation. I have outlined the reasons the Government opposes the Bill. The principal reason is that many of the proposals raise significant legal and constitutional issues which essentially...

Local Government (Rates and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (21 Nov 2014)

Paudie Coffey: In this context, any review of rating law, which is essentially a local taxation system, would have to include a detailed review of all extant legislation as well as comprehensive consultation with the key stakeholders, those being local authorities, ratepayers and the Commissioner of Valuation, as well as a number of other statutory bodies, including the Courts Service and the Revenue...

Local Government (Rates and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (21 Nov 2014)

Paudie Coffey: Forbesmagazine also says it.

Local Government (Rates and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (21 Nov 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I thank Deputy John McGuinness for giving me the opportunity to discuss the issue of commercial rates. I am responding to the Bill on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly. The Bill deals with a wide variety of aspects of commercial rates and while the principle of consolidating rating legislation in one Act is not...

Local Government (Rates and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (21 Nov 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I remind all Deputies that rates income constitutes a very important contribution to the cost of services provided by local authorities such as road maintenance, public lighting, development control, parks and open spaces and libraries.

Local Government (Rates and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (21 Nov 2014)

Paudie Coffey: In fact, commercial rates income represented over 33% of income or €1.5 billion to the sector in 2012. All rates collected within a local authority area are spent exclusively on delivering the public services required locally to create the environment in which businesses can prosper. Locally elected members adopt the annual rate on valuation in order to provide the required level of...

Domestic Violence (Amendment) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (21 Nov 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I followed with interest the contributions of all speakers. This debate has shone a spotlight on an important issue, especially in the week that we have had. I acknowledge that the views articulated by Deputies are sincerely held. All of us are Deputies who represent our constituents and we all meet people who are vulnerable to or have been affected by domestic violence. This has been a...

Domestic Violence (Amendment) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (21 Nov 2014)

Paudie Coffey: This Bill proposes to amend the Domestic Violence Act 1996, which is the responsibility of the Minister for Justice and Equality. I am contributing to the debate on behalf of the Government because the change the Bill seeks to make relates to social housing entitlements that are set out in housing legislation. The Government opposes the Bill because, as well as targeting the wrong...

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2014)

Paudie Coffey: Sinn Féin in government in the North and with reference to the budget for the period 2011 to 2015 has stated, "In Northern Ireland the services are currently primarily funded from public expenditure. This creates pressures in other areas ... for example health and education funding needs to be diverted to cover the associated water costs." This is an admission that water services in...

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2014)

Paudie Coffey: They are leading people up the garden path. Vulnerable individuals were left high and dry after attending meetings and hearing about promises that could not be kept.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2014)

Paudie Coffey: The Socialist Party and Sinn Féin have marched people up the hill on many occasions only to then abandon them. I have no doubt that they will do the same on this occasion. Turning to the metering programme, I will respond to comments from Deputies suggesting the new measures being introduced have resulted in water meters being redundant and in the fact that conservation is no longer a...

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2014)

Paudie Coffey: In summary, meters, the first fix scheme and the water conservation grant can and will contribute to conserving and saving water.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2014)

Paudie Coffey: It is important to recap why we need a single national publicly owned utility responsible for water and sewage treatment. The reason is simple - the previous system of providing water services through local authorities with limited public funding was not capable of delivering the scale of investment that we needed.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2014)

Paudie Coffey: The process associated with the investment programme was slow, bureaucratic and inefficient and, inevitably, each local authority prioritised its own needs without, in many cases, examining the potential for regional solutions to deliver economies of scale. Yesterday the Minister highlighted where that had got us and it is no harm to remind the House again. More than 20,000 people are on...

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2014)

Paudie Coffey: Dublin's capacity is on a knife-edge, as we have seen.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2014)

Paudie Coffey: There are 42 towns in the country with wholly inadequate sewage treatment systems, with raw sewage being dispersed into the sea.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2014)

Paudie Coffey: That will remain the reality if there is no single national publicly owned utility, which is precisely the reason Irish Water has been established.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I again thank Deputies for their contributions to this very important debate in the past two days. The Government is committed to reforming the way in which water services are delivered. We have listened to the concerns of the people and are putting in place a simpler, fairer, more certain and affordable system of water charges. I commend the motion to the House.