Results 2,381-2,400 of 9,994 for speaker:John Gormley

Written Answers — Natural Heritage Areas: Natural Heritage Areas (3 Dec 2009)

John Gormley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 198, 207, 209, 210 and 211 together. Corry Mountain Bog Natural Heritage Area is of considerable conservation importance for its upland blanket bog habitat and also as a habitat of various notable flora and fauna, including Grouse. Natural Heritage Areas (NHAs) are protected under the Wildlife Acts, enforced by authorised officers of my Department's National...

Written Answers — Flood Relief: Flood Relief (3 Dec 2009)

John Gormley: My Department will shortly ask the local authorities for reports on the consequences of the flooding and an assessment of the remedial works required. I will circulate these reports to other Government Departments and Agencies for consideration and appropriate action. I have recently announced the provision of supplementary funding amounting to €10m to assist local authorities in meeting...

Written Answers — Election Management System: Election Management System (3 Dec 2009)

John Gormley: Section 5 of the Electoral Act 1997 (as amended by section 9 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009), provides for the establishment of a Constituency Commission upon the publication by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) of a census report setting out the preliminary result of the Census in respect of the total population of the State. Section 9 of the Electoral Act 1997 (as amended by...

Written Answers — Architectural Heritage: Architectural Heritage (3 Dec 2009)

John Gormley: Under the provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2000, each planning authority is required, for the purpose of protecting structures or parts of structures which are of special architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, social or technical interest, to include in its development plan a Record of Protected Structures and shall include in that record...

Written Answers — Water Quality: Water Quality (3 Dec 2009)

John Gormley: The European Communities (Water Policy) Regulations 2003 require that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prepare a programme of monitoring in order to provide an assessment of water quality status within each river basin district. An interim assessment of status will be included in the first River Basin Management Plans, and a final assessment will be published by the EPA by 22 June...

Written Answers — Departmental Reports: Departmental Reports (3 Dec 2009)

John Gormley: In 2007, my Department established a task force to examine the planning land use implications of the siting and location of adult entertainment venues. The task force was chaired by my Department and comprised representatives from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Office of the Revenue Commissioners, An Garda Síochána and Dublin City Council. The task force met on a...

Written Answers — Noise Pollution: Noise Pollution (3 Dec 2009)

John Gormley: There is a commitment to introduce comprehensive legislation on noise pollution within the lifetime of this Government. As part of the preparatory process extensive public consultation was undertaken in 2008 during which 235 submissions were received from the public and key stakeholders. The main issues of concern were noise from continuously sounding intruder alarms, barking dogs and other...

Written Answers — Departmental Correspondence: Departmental Correspondence (3 Dec 2009)

John Gormley: I have received the correspondence in question and have referred it to my colleague the Minister for Transport for consideration.

Written Answers — Planning Issues: Planning Issues (3 Dec 2009)

John Gormley: In considering an application under the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act, An Bord Pleanála is required to consider whether any of the area of the development is within a European site or whether the proposed development would have an effect on a European site. In either of these situations, the Board must have regard to the provisions of the EU Birds and Habitats...

Written Answers — Turf Cutting: Turf Cutting (3 Dec 2009)

John Gormley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 208, 214 and 215 together. Section 4 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 provides that development consisting of the use of land for agriculture is exempted development within the meaning of the Act. However, the Act provides, notwithstanding this, that the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, in connection with the implementation...

Written Answers — Waste Management: Waste Management (3 Dec 2009)

John Gormley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 212 and 213 together. I have not received legal advice on the implications of the issuing of the commencement notice nor engaged in correspondence with Dublin City Council on the matter. As I have previously indicated, in terms of the capacity of the proposed facility, it is my understanding that the quantities of residual waste currently being collected by...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Second Stage (2 Dec 2009)

John Gormley: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to bring the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 before the House. Planning is an issue that affects all of us in many aspects of our daily lives. As I have said on many occasions, planning is about people. For this reason, I have adopted a very hands-on approach when it comes to improving the planning system. Since...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Second Stage (2 Dec 2009)

John Gormley: It means value for money.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Second Stage (2 Dec 2009)

John Gormley: The Deputy should check it out.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Second Stage (2 Dec 2009)

John Gormley: I apologise to the Deputy but I must go to a meeting. I will read her contribution in the Official Report.

Hunting Licences. (2 Dec 2009)

John Gormley: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The renewed programme for Government includes a commitment to ban the practice of stag hunting. I should explain that under existing wildlife legislation I can, as Minister, issue a licence for the hunting of deer by a pack of hounds. As the Deputy is no doubt aware, there is now only one hunt club in the State which continues to hunt deer using...

Waste Disposal. (2 Dec 2009)

John Gormley: I was on a television programme some nights ago being harangued by members of Fine Gael who were telling me I should do more about floods. In the audience was a Fine Gael councillor who had rezoned land in a flood plain. I now feel like I did on that night because, as Deputy Creighton will know, it was her party that introduced the legislation to provide for incineration and her party,...

Written Answers — Water and Sewerage Schemes: Water and Sewerage Schemes (2 Dec 2009)

John Gormley: The rate of grant available for Group Sewerage Schemes is €2,031.58 per house or 75% of the cost of the scheme, whichever is the lesser. My Department has funded a pilot programme to test a range of new, small-scale waste-water collection and treatment systems under Irish conditions. The objective of this pilot programme was to evaluate new approaches to meeting the waste water collection...

Written Answers — Major Emergency Plan: Major Emergency Plan (2 Dec 2009)

John Gormley: The purpose of the Major Emergency Development Programme was to enable the Principal Response Agencies (the Garda Síochána, Health Service Executive and the main local authorities) to respond to a major emergency which occurs in, or affects, their functional areas in any part of the country. Under the Framework for Major Emergency Management, the Major Emergency Development Programme...

Written Answers — Turbary Rights: Turbary Rights (2 Dec 2009)

John Gormley: I understand that this application was received on 4 November 2009. My Department will arrange a survey of the land in question and will be in touch with the vendor in due course. This land is on one of the 32 raised bog Special Areas of Conservation that was designated in 1997. Bog plots and turbary rights on these sites are being prioritised for purchase under the voluntary bog purchase scheme.