Results 2,841-2,860 of 7,278 for speaker:Dick Roche

Written Answers — National Parks: National Parks (4 Oct 2006)

Dick Roche: All of Ireland's six National Parks are managed as Category II National Parks under the criteria set out by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Under this Category, ownership and management should normally be by the highest competent authority of the State. Accordingly, all National Parks in Ireland are fully owned and managed by the State. A large proportion of Killarney National Park is...

Written Answers — Water and Sewerage Schemes: Water and Sewerage Schemes (4 Oct 2006)

Dick Roche: The operation of the regional waste water treatment plant in Ringsend is the responsibility of Dublin City Council and my Department has no direct function in the matter. I understand that remedial measures to deal with odour issues are being carried out by the plant operators on behalf of the City Council.

Written Answers — Planning Issues: Planning Issues (4 Oct 2006)

Dick Roche: Section 38(4) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 allows the charging of a fee for photocopies of documents relating to planning applications "not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy". On the basis of a survey carried out in 2005, my Department determined that there was a large variation in practices in planning authorities as regards the method of calculation of charges for...

Written Answers — Architectural Heritage: Architectural Heritage (4 Oct 2006)

Dick Roche: Statutory protection of the architectural heritage is primarily a matter for the planning authorities to whom my Department provides advice in the exercise of their functions in that regard under the Planning and Development Act 2000. Under the provisions of the Act, each planning authority is required, for the purpose of protecting structures, or parts of structures, which are of special...

Written Answers — Alternative Energy Projects: Alternative Energy Projects (4 Oct 2006)

Dick Roche: The generation of methane gas for use as a fuel is a potential benefit of treating sludge, a waste water by-product, by anaerobic digestion. The gas produced from the sludge digestion process in Ireland's largest waste water treatment facility at Ringsend in Dublin supplies some 50% of the heating requirements of the plant. Other sewage treatment plants also recover energy from methane gas...

Written Answers — Fire Stations: Fire Stations (4 Oct 2006)

Dick Roche: The provision of a fire service, including equipment such as breathing apparatus, is a statutory function of the individual fire authorities and my Department has no direct role in this matter. My Department supports the local fire authorities through the setting of general policy, the provision of capital funding, the issue of guidance to fire authorities in relation to fire prevention and...

Written Answers — Air Pollution: Air Pollution (4 Oct 2006)

Dick Roche: Air quality assessment is the responsibility of the Environmental Protection Agency and air quality management a matter for local authorities informed by air quality measurement data. The Environmental Protection Agency's Air Quality in Ireland 2005 report, published in July 2006 (available in the Oireachtas Library), contains details of the monitoring and assessment of national air quality,...

Written Answers — Water and Sewerage Schemes: Water and Sewerage Schemes (4 Oct 2006)

Dick Roche: I refer to the reply to Questions Nos. 1504, 1506 and 1526 of 27 September 2006. I am arranging to forward the information promised to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (4 Oct 2006)

Dick Roche: The Buildings at Risk Grant Scheme operated by the Heritage Council, a statutorily independent body established under the Heritage Act, 1995 and funded by my Department, has been deployed to certain churches which are no longer required for religious service. Enquiries should be made directly to the Heritage Council. The Council is itself broadly based in its membership and has active...

Seanad: Petitions Committee: Motion (4 Oct 2006)

Dick Roche: A temporary arrangement.

Seanad: Petitions Committee: Motion (4 Oct 2006)

Dick Roche: We will not mention the poodles from Tallaght.

Seanad: Petitions Committee: Motion (4 Oct 2006)

Dick Roche: I will do something dangerous and ignore my script. I can give the Senator another story to quote. When I was a civil servant many years ago, one of my senior and wiser people advised me about the dangers of Ministers who got their script too early and wrote on it. The real horror was a Minister who got a script and then changed it. Worse still was a character who actually said what he...

Seanad: Petitions Committee: Motion (4 Oct 2006)

Dick Roche: The Leader should not demur at a compliment. It is right to engage in this discussion. We have established a sub-committee under my chairmanship, as Senators know, which picks up on the work of the Leader's sub-committee. The sub-committee touched on the area of public consultation, which is interesting. I am pleased to say that Senator Tuffy's motion offers clarification in that regard...

Seanad: Petitions Committee: Motion (4 Oct 2006)

Dick Roche: The group's remit was to establish the extent of cross-party agreement on recommendations in the report. Frankly, I am not sure exactly how much agreement there is. There are some areas of consensus but others where I do not think it will emerge. The group held its first meeting in October 2005 and will hold its fourth on 18 October 2006. I will make a proposal to the House and a couple of...

Seanad: Petitions Committee: Motion (4 Oct 2006)

Dick Roche: As a citizen, taxpayer and public representative I felt intense frustration that a valuable property, 14 miles from the centre of Dublin, containing millions of tonnes of sand and gravel, was sold for a ridiculous consideration. When we started to ventilate the issue I found that my frustration was nothing compared with that of citizens who felt that a large and powerful multinational...

Seanad: Petitions Committee: Motion (4 Oct 2006)

Dick Roche: That would not be wise because this is a positive exchange and we should have more positive exchanges. One point the group left out is that the Irish people are put off politics because we are not engaging in politics but in personal petty destruction of individual characters. That is not good. We all have exchanges and sometimes use strong language in both Houses, which is the nature of...

Seanad: Petitions Committee: Motion (4 Oct 2006)

Dick Roche: I think "maze" is more appropriate because we have been going around in slightly decreasing circles, ending up in the circumstance I have outlined. I do not mean to be patronising when I say this proposal is worth considering. I am genuinely committed to and interested in creating a more vibrant role for the Seanad. I share Senator O'Rourke's enthusiasm — she has beaten me on the head...

Water and Sewerage Schemes. (4 Oct 2006)

Dick Roche: I hope I will have less contentious news for Deputy Breen. Discussions between my Department and Clare County Council in respect of this scheme have been satisfactorily concluded. My Department has approved the council's revised proposals for the scope and scale of the new infrastructure to be provided in each of the locations involved which, I understand, do not involve any significant...

Water and Sewerage Schemes. (4 Oct 2006)

Dick Roche: The Deputy has referred to schemes which are not the subject of his question. I will deal with the water services pricing policy and specifically with the point made by the Deputy about Feakle, Quilty and Scarriff. When the preliminary reports for Feakle, Quilty and Scarriff were approved in 2000 and contract documents were received in late 2004, it appeared on the basis of the information...

Water and Sewerage Schemes. (4 Oct 2006)

Dick Roche: I think the Deputy will accept that the figure of €56,000 per house is not acceptable. A further calculation was carried out with the county council to achieve the €8.808 million Exchequer grant. This was agreed in July 2006 and approved by the Department in August. It allows €10,000 each for 99 existing houses in Feakle, 372 existing houses in Scarriff and 351 existing houses in...