Results 23,041-23,060 of 23,109 for speaker:Paddy Burke

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 Mar 2003)

Paddy Burke: Some local authorities have advanced more than others by using their own resources and by borrowing. They have received no help from the Department of the Environment and Local Government. The Minister's predecessor levied a charge of €25 per tonne of waste dumped at landfill sites, which has gone into the State's coffers.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 Mar 2003)

Paddy Burke: Only a small amount of it has come back out. The 15 cent levy on plastic bags has been very successful. All this money should have been channelled out, including extra funding. Local authorities are strapped for cash and cannot make progress, yet the Minister had the audacity on Second Stage to blame public representatives for a lack of recycling facilities and a proper waste management...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 Mar 2003)

Paddy Burke: I have never heard such arrogance from any other Minister in this House. I would sympathise with his position if he had engaged with members of the local authorities.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 Mar 2003)

Paddy Burke: I withdraw the word. The Minister has contacted all 28 local authority managers in the country and has pestered them to spend €15 million when they have only spent €3 million. I sympathise with his position, but part of the fault could lie with his Department. Heretofore, the Estimates for the local authorities were agreed in November or December of every year, but this year the Minister...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 Mar 2003)

Paddy Burke: The Minister said that local authorities had drawn down only €3 million out of €15 million provided. He now says he has another €50 million. It is ludicrous to blame the local authorities for this. The Minister has spoken rubbish because he has not a single proposal to put to any local authority. Yet he now proposes to give powers to the county managers to implement waste management...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Paddy Burke: Senator Bannon has raised a good point. The Minister is saying that there is no outlet for appeals other than through the courts. The EPA is the expert authority on these matters in the State. If a case goes to court, the EPA will presumably be the expert called upon to give evidence.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Paddy Burke: The provisions of this section are very complex in relation to licences. Where a person or company in possession of a licence is in breach of planning regulations, would the Environmental Protection Agency or this agency have authority to withdraw the licence?

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Paddy Burke: In a later section the Minister will hand powers to county managers to recover the costs of collection and the provision of services in local authority areas. Heretofore, local authority members, when striking their rates and making provisions for the cost of a bin or collection at estimates time, always included an amount for a waiver. What will be the effect on local authority waivers? The...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Paddy Burke: Will the Minister answer my question on the waiver?

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Paddy Burke: Operators will be obliged to notify the agency annually of the charges and cost of running a landfill for the previous 12 months. In the majority of cases, the local authority will operate the landfill. How will this be scrutinised? The Minister is transferring powers for waste management to county managers, who can provide whatever figures they like on the operation of a landfill. They can...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Paddy Burke: I understand what the Minister is saying and fully appreciate that the EPA will be responsible for licensing. Let us consider Sligo County Council, which has no landfill and takes its waste to landfills in County Mayo. It is possible that running a landfill will become so expensive that Sligo County Council could easily be compelled to bring its waste to an incineration facility. The Minister...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Paddy Burke: In County Mayo recently a waste collection operator who was segregating waste applied to extend and modernise his premises. Permission was granted by Mayo County Council but was subsequently refused by An Bord Pleanála on the grounds that the plant was four and a half miles from Castlebar. That is the ludicrous position in which this man found himself. The plant is located in a rural area...

Seanad: National Drugs Strategy 2001-2008: Statements. (19 Feb 2003)

Paddy Burke: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern. I thank Senator Brian Hayes for calling for this debate, which I welcome. I had not intended to speak on this matter, but I feel obliged to do so. The Minister of State said that he has consulted various groups and organisations throughout the city. I would like to put on the record of the House that drug addiction is not just a problem in...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (13 Feb 2003)

Paddy Burke: I welcome the Minister. There are some very good provisions in this Bill. I agree with some of the sections but not all. When some pay, all should pay. There should be a generous waiver system in place for those who cannot afford to do so. The Bill should make it an offence to walk dogs in built-up areas without a poop-scoop. Too often we see dog excrement on the streets. It is not too much...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (13 Feb 2003)

Paddy Burke: As the Minister knows, in time only a few operators will collect waste and eventually multinationals will take over collection and disposal systems and channel everything towards incineration. To run an incinerator efficiently one requires 200,000 tonnes of material per year.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (13 Feb 2003)

Paddy Burke: The minimum figure for viability is 200,000 tonnes.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (13 Feb 2003)

Paddy Burke: Perhaps the Minister has more information available to him than I. It is estimated that 200,000 tonnes of waste is required to run an incinerator efficiently.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (13 Feb 2003)

Paddy Burke: That is much the same thing.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (13 Feb 2003)

Paddy Burke: Recycling was started in some Canadian provinces in 1995, some of which have already achieved recycling rates of 85%. I see no reason the Minister should not take the recycling route before turning to incineration.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (13 Feb 2003)

Paddy Burke: That does not appear to be the case from reading the Bill, which promotes incineration. The Minister expressed support for incineration several times today and previously on "Today with Pat Kenny".