Results 2,601-2,620 of 5,046 for speaker:Paschal Mooney

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Hydraulic Fracturing: Discussion (10 Oct 2012)

Paschal Mooney: I was only asking if the witnesses were less concerned.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Hydraulic Fracturing: Discussion (10 Oct 2012)

Paschal Mooney: Ms Burke mentioned the EPA's bilateral international discussions. Is the EPA having these discussions with its opposite numbers in the UK. Is there an EPA-type agency in the UK?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Hydraulic Fracturing: Discussion (10 Oct 2012)

Paschal Mooney: Is the EPA dealing with this agency in respect of Northern Ireland because, as I said earlier, geology knows no borders. It is already evident that the activities they are proposing to undertake in County Fermanagh will have a direct impact across the Border in Leitrim because it contains part of the same north-western shale area. Where does that leave the EPA? What would happen if the EPA...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Hydraulic Fracturing: Discussion (10 Oct 2012)

Paschal Mooney: Through the Chair, can the Northern Ireland Environment Agency make unilateral decisions or will it have to rely on a British Government decision? Can the agency make its own autonomous decisions on the future of fracking?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Hydraulic Fracturing: Discussion (10 Oct 2012)

Paschal Mooney: I thank Ms Burke. I appreciate the comprehensive nature of her presentation. Is there an understanding that the shale gas components would be made up in this country? Is there enough geological evidence to indicate that this country's geological composition could be different from that of other countries? Has the EPA received any indication of that? What sort of criteria will the EPA use...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Hydraulic Fracturing: Discussion (10 Oct 2012)

Paschal Mooney: My main point is that we are concerned about the possible contamination of groundwater. That is the main concern in all of this.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Hydraulic Fracturing: Discussion (10 Oct 2012)

Paschal Mooney: Within the last couple of days the British Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced that he is going to reduce the royalty tax rate for hydraulic fracturing operations in Britain. That is a sinister development because activity is already under way in County Fermanagh, directly across the Border. This is the same operational area from which shale gas could be extracted and it affects both...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Hydraulic Fracturing: Discussion (10 Oct 2012)

Paschal Mooney: There is a senior geologist present. Has the Department established any fact on the ground? The only facts and figures we are getting come from Tamboran Resources about what is to be found under the ground and what can be extracted. I know Mr. Ó hÓbáin touched briefly on this issue, but it is important to find out the Department's view because we have not heard anything from...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Hydraulic Fracturing: Discussion (10 Oct 2012)

Paschal Mooney: Therefore, the figures being given by the company are questionable?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Hydraulic Fracturing: Discussion (10 Oct 2012)

Paschal Mooney: I asked that question because there are wide variations between what is proposed to be taken out, what is supposed to be there and what can be taken out. I presume this is all being watched in the Department.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Hydraulic Fracturing: Discussion (10 Oct 2012)

Paschal Mooney: If there is a requirement to formally second Deputy Colreavy's proposal, I am very happy to do so.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Hydraulic Fracturing: Discussion (10 Oct 2012)

Paschal Mooney: I am not attempting to gainsay Deputy Colreavy but what I would like to think he has in mind is that we would inform ourselves on the ground and also take the opportunity to engage with some of the local opinion.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Hydraulic Fracturing: Discussion (10 Oct 2012)

Paschal Mooney: I ask Mr. Ó hÓbáin to elaborate on the issue of consent for any transfer. It is a matter of concern that this is a front organisation and that it would sell out to a larger multinational. What is the context in which that could happen?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Hydraulic Fracturing: Discussion (10 Oct 2012)

Paschal Mooney: I am grateful to Mr. Ó hÓbáin and the officials of his Department. It is vital that the information provided for this committee is conveyed to the wider public because of the concerns expressed, particularly in the areas in which it is proposed to carry out hydraulic fracturing. One of my questions relates to a comment made earlier about the licence application option,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Business of Joint Committee (10 Oct 2012)

Paschal Mooney: Although I understand the frustration experienced while at a meeting, the transcripts are available.

Seanad: Radical Seanad Reform Through Legislative Change: Statements (Resumed) (9 Oct 2012)

Paschal Mooney: I wish to make a number of brief points, one of which was raised in the report. Since the 1937 Constitution, there have been ten reports on reform of the Seanad - I emphasise the word "reform" - but none has proposed abolition. In the last significant report, the committee under the former Leader, Mrs. Mary O'Rourke, was pleasantly surprised that, of the 49 oral submissions and 161 written...

Seanad: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Statements (9 Oct 2012)

Paschal Mooney: I welcome my constituency colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Perry and, as I have done in the past, wish him continued success in his very challenging position. It is not one that can always deliver on aspirations in these difficult times. I know the Minister of State's business background has prepared and equipped him very well for the job in hand. Two reports published in the past...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (9 Oct 2012)

Paschal Mooney: I support my colleague, Senator O'Neill, as he and I serve on the joint committee. At the meeting earlier today, Senator O'Neill raised this issue, which was unanimously agreed on by all members present from all parties and none. We discussed exactly what Senator O'Neill has outlined regarding the attitude towards discards. The issue has arisen in this House in the past few years. The...

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy: Motion (4 Oct 2012)

Paschal Mooney: I will not delay the House because my colleague, Senator Ó Domhnaill, has covered the position we have taken comprehensively. The Minister has also outlined the position in a comprehensive fashion, which is his modus operandi. I welcome the clarification on many of the important issues. I endorse all that has been said so far in wishing the Minister well. In particular in the agriculture...

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy: Motion (4 Oct 2012)

Paschal Mooney: When I examined the issue of greening ? I am sure the Minister is even more familiar with it than I ? I noted that farming organisations worry that the European Commission?s plans to make the CAP more environmentally friendly could leave producers drowning in paperwork. The Minister referred to the matter. For example, COPA, which represents European farmers and farm co-operatives says the...