Results 2,281-2,300 of 7,278 for speaker:Dick Roche

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (29 Nov 2006)

Dick Roche: I was just about to finish, a Cheann Comhairle. In fact, I manfully delayed matters because I knew Deputy Gilmore wanted to talk on the issue covered by his amendment. I support the spirit of his amendment and I am trying to strengthen it somewhat. As regards amendment No. 28a, the nub of the issue is that we are allowing additional time for councils to complete their work on the electoral...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (29 Nov 2006)

Dick Roche: Deputy Gilmore and I have discussed his important final point privately. I do not share the optimism, trumpeted in the press, of the chairman of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council that somehow the system operated there is superior to everywhere else. Deputy Dan Boyle made the point yesterday that it would be preferable if all councils operated on the same basis and that is why...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (29 Nov 2006)

Dick Roche: As I indicated last night, I do not anticipate that a general election will be held between 15 February and 1 March 2007. We would be in odd territory if we did not have a valid electoral register. I am not taking a hard-nosed position on this matter. It would create a bad precedent to extend the 15 February deadline. It is important to have a voting register. I do not disagree with the...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (29 Nov 2006)

Dick Roche: In the Deputy's absence last night I indicated my approval of his proposal to have a rolling register. The amendment makes a specific change which applies to this year only. I am not being bloody-minded on this matter and I ask Deputies to accept my bona fides. If it had been possible to make further changes to the dates, I would have done so.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (29 Nov 2006)

Dick Roche: In normal circumstances country registrars would be able to start their work on 23 September. The time available to them is already truncated. Councils will have to work hard because, as Deputy Gilmore pointed out, if substantial changes are required after the register is signed off, some process will have to be observed. It would not be wise to change the deadlines as the local...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (29 Nov 2006)

Dick Roche: No, for the good reason that county registrars must comply with the dates prescribed. They do not have the facility to ask for an extension. The mechanism to trigger an extension was available to councils.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (29 Nov 2006)

Dick Roche: No.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (29 Nov 2006)

Dick Roche: I am assured that is not the case. However, the issue highlights the inflexible position in which we find ourselves. As I stated before the Committee on Environment and Local Government when Deputies Gilmore and O'Dowd asked me about extensions, it is open to me to accede to a local authority's request for an extension.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (29 Nov 2006)

Dick Roche: That is not quite correct. I am not quibbling, this is significant. Under the legislation, there was a mechanism that would apparently allow the Minister to trigger an extension at the request of a local authority. In 1997, Monaghan County Council found itself in difficulties and the dates were changed, by coincidence to dates roughly the same as those I now propose. When we discussed...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (29 Nov 2006)

Dick Roche: The county registrar cannot trigger anything beyond those dates. He has no more discretion than me.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (29 Nov 2006)

Dick Roche: He does not, he has the opportunity to amend the register. On election day, a voter might arrive at the polling station to vote only to be told he cannot vote because his name is not on the register. He can then say to the polling clerk that his name was on the proof register when he checked it. The polling clerk can check that and then contact the registrar who can say the person can...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (29 Nov 2006)

Dick Roche: My advice is that it would not be possible to do it any faster.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (29 Nov 2006)

Dick Roche: I am not being difficult, I have always said that when anyone made a request I would be flexible but I have been strongly advised against doing this. Deputy Gilmore made a good point that there are Members of this House, Deputy Crowe is one of them, who have not had access to the deletion list. I expect that if that is the case, any submissions Deputy Crowe makes up until 2 January will be...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (29 Nov 2006)

Dick Roche: The deletions list has never before been available. I cannot accept the hypothesis that making additional information available that was never available before is a bad thing.

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (28 Nov 2006)

Dick Roche: In accordance with the most recent progress Report from the Decentralisation Implementation Group, the indicative timescale for completion of the Department's Office in Waterford is Quarter 3, 2010. At this stage a total of 31 staff have confirmed their availability to decentralise with this Department to Waterford, with 15 of these currently assigned and working in the Department; the...

Written Answers — Water and Sewerage Schemes: Water and Sewerage Schemes (28 Nov 2006)

Dick Roche: I refer to the reply to Question No. 574 of 21 November 2006.

Written Answers — Public Service Charges: Public Service Charges (28 Nov 2006)

Dick Roche: I propose to take Questions Nos. 555, 558, 559 and 565 together. Local authorities are required to recover the cost of providing water services from all users of these services, with the exception of householders. Waiver provisions in relation to local government services are intended only to address cases of personal hardship and would therefore not accommodate schools or other non-profit...

Written Answers — Animal Welfare: Animal Welfare (28 Nov 2006)

Dick Roche: The principal statutes governing welfare and prevention of cruelty to domestic animals, including dogs and cats, are the Protection of Animals Acts 1911 and 1965. As responsibility for that legislation is a matter for the Department of Agriculture and Food, it would not be appropriate for my Department to take on the lead role in relation to the Convention referred to in the Question.

Written Answers — Water and Sewerage Schemes: Water and Sewerage Schemes (28 Nov 2006)

Dick Roche: I refer to the reply to Question No. 438 of 22 November 2006. Detailed information in relation to the proposed upgrading works to the treatment plant and the timescale for carrying out these works may be obtained from Mayo County Council.

Written Answers — Local Authority Lands: Local Authority Lands (28 Nov 2006)

Dick Roche: I propose to take Questions Nos. 560 and 561 together. Under the provisions of section 211 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, a decision to dispose of local authority land, including the granting of a lease, is a matter for the relevant local authority and my Department has no power under that Act to direct an authority to exercise such power in individual cases.