Results 2,381-2,400 of 3,998 for speaker:Martin Kenny

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Water Pollution) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Jun 2019)

Martin Kenny: What the Vice Chairman is really asking is how much of a backlog there is. I do not know how many planning applications have been refused. However, I know how many people would go and meet with a planning officer and say they were thinking about applying for planning. People are always encouraged to have a pre-planning meeting. In many of those pre-planning meetings they are told they...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Scrutiny of the Local Government (Water Pollution) (Amendment) Bill 2018 (20 Jun 2019)

Martin Kenny: I thank the Chairman. Dr. Ryan said the ET system does a very good job in general, but he has particular issues around E. coli and how it can be dealt with. Are there possibilities there? Many systems in the past have had a polishing element at the end which eliminates E.coli. Does Dr. Ryan think it would be possible to add a polishing system to ET systems in order to do that, or does he...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Scrutiny of the Local Government (Water Pollution) (Amendment) Bill 2018 (20 Jun 2019)

Martin Kenny: In the EPA report that has already been produced the conclusions stated: However, chemical and microbiological sampling of the water in the sumps and ponded water over the winter periods showed improved water quality, equivalent to surface runoff from the other systems that had not been fed any effluent If the runoff was equal to areas with no effluent, that suggests there is already E....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Scrutiny of the Local Government (Water Pollution) (Amendment) Bill 2018 (20 Jun 2019)

Martin Kenny: Would it be a statutory instrument that would bring us to that point, which could be moved more speedily than legislation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Scrutiny of the Local Government (Water Pollution) (Amendment) Bill 2018 (20 Jun 2019)

Martin Kenny: A statutory instrument could be brought forward. Does Mr. Ó Coigligh believe it is possible to do that within the confines of the legislation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Scrutiny of the Local Government (Water Pollution) (Amendment) Bill 2018 (20 Jun 2019)

Martin Kenny: In general there is shallow topsoil and then we come to daub, which is almost like the plasticine we had in school long ago. In some places, one can go through 8 or 10 ft of daub before coming to a gravelly subsoil. In other places, there is less of it. It creates a very difficult environment in which to work. This has an impact not just for one-off housing but a range of issues. E. coli...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (19 Jun 2019)

Martin Kenny: In an earlier reply to Deputy Harty, the Taoiseach said there are many vacant posts in the HSE that are not really vacant because there are people already working in them. I know of one post that is definitely vacant, namely, that of specialist diabetic nurse in the north west diabetes services. People who have type 1 diabetes and have been prescribed an insulin pump are unable to avail of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Martin Kenny: I thank the Minister for his comments. I am learning something here. I want to focus on agriculture mainly and on the custodians of the land and the opportunity that may be there for them in future. Forestry has been mentioned as one of the major methods of sequestering carbon. There is a vast amount of forestry in Leitrim. We have more than our fair share at this stage. Almost 30% of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Martin Kenny: It is with scale

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Direct Provision and the International Protection Application Process: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Jun 2019)

Martin Kenny: I am not a member of the committee so I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute. There was a direct provision centre in Ballinamore, County Leitrim, for many years and I knew many of its residents. I often say that none of those residents so much as broke a window in the town in their time at the centre. They were very well integrated into the community. There were issues with the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Direct Provision and the International Protection Application Process: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Jun 2019)

Martin Kenny: Hatch Hall.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Direct Provision and the International Protection Application Process: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Jun 2019)

Martin Kenny: Some individuals might have a social worker because many of them have had trauma in their lives in the past. When they move to somewhere far away, how does that fit in? Will services locally be required to step in? In many cases, even local residents are finding it very hard to find those services. Those are also concerns people have.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Direct Provision and the International Protection Application Process: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Jun 2019)

Martin Kenny: Does an element of that secrecy and people not knowing in advance relate to fear that if information is made public, it will lead to something such as what happened in Rooskey, or is the reason purely one of commercial sensitivities?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Direct Provision and the International Protection Application Process: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Jun 2019)

Martin Kenny: In the Carrick-on-Shannon case, the emergency centre is an entire building that was used previously as bed and breakfast accommodation, whereas in some cases the accommodation is just rooms in a hotel or whatever. Is it a short-term or a long-term contract? Earlier it was mentioned that one individual had spent nine months in the same emergency accommodation. We understand these contracts...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Direct Provision and the International Protection Application Process: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Jun 2019)

Martin Kenny: Are fire certificates and safety procedures always checked in advance?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Direct Provision and the International Protection Application Process: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Jun 2019)

Martin Kenny: I do not know if any research has been done on this. On the other side of the justice sector, what percentage of people, either during the time they were seeking asylum or after they received asylum, have come into contact with the criminal justice system from a negative point of view? Has any research been done on that? I imagine it is a tiny number; that is why I asked the question.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Citizens Assembly (18 Jun 2019)

Martin Kenny: I want to focus on the directly elected mayors and the Citizens' Assembly. The Taoiseach has announced a Citizens' Assembly in respect of the directly elected mayor for Dublin. It strikes me as odd that a similar process was not put in place in advance of the plebiscites in Cork, Waterford and Limerick. The people of Galway are also to have the question put to them without any meaningful...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Citizens Assembly (18 Jun 2019)

Martin Kenny: We need some direction on it. What is the timeframe in regard to the Citizens' Assembly in Dublin? Are there similar processes proposed for other cities that have not been put in place for Galway? What is the situation with regard to other large urban centres throughout the country? Is it envisaged that if the process of directly elected mayors for Cork, Waterford, Limerick, Galway and...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (18 Jun 2019)

Martin Kenny: The issues relating to President Trump range from Brexit, his attitude towards it and his ignorance of its possible impact on Ireland to climate change and other matters. The issue I want to raise with the Taoiseach is President Trump's continued support for Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people. It might be of interest to note that the Israeli Prime Minister only last Sunday...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (18 Jun 2019)

Martin Kenny: We will not get into that at the moment. I understand that the situation is that this issue was not raised with First Minister Sturgeon at the recent meeting and at the time the Taoiseach said that it was decided not to escalate the matter. In addition to that, in response to a parliamentary question last week, the Tánaiste said that the issue of Rockall was directly raised with him as...