Results 3,541-3,560 of 5,269 for speaker:Joan Collins

Water Services Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (17 Dec 2014)

Joan Collins: The cheap seats?

Water Services Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (17 Dec 2014)

Joan Collins: Like other Members on this side of the House have mentioned, this amendment arose because of the pressure we put on in the Chamber last week with regard to the use of “may” and “shall” which exposed what the Minister had originally put down but defended, like a dog with a bone, until now. Water is a human right. One cannot live without water for a very short...

Water Services Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (17 Dec 2014)

Joan Collins: It would be difficult but one could survive without gas or electricity. The principle is that water is a human right.

Water Services Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (17 Dec 2014)

Joan Collins: We are paying for it. This idea peddled that we have not paid for it is wrong because we have paid for it for decades through motor tax and VAT.

Water Services Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (17 Dec 2014)

Joan Collins: Excuse me, Deputy, I have always paid my taxes. I worked in the Post Office and I have no problem paying my taxes.

Water Services Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (17 Dec 2014)

Joan Collins: We should start with the premise that water is a human right. Then one must ask how does one protect that. Vulture capitalists and multinationals see water as the new oil. As a nation, we need to examine how we put in the strongest protections to keep our water services in the public domain. The only way we can do that - a point known by the many thousands on the streets - is through a...

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Dec 2014)

Joan Collins: The section reflects the quagmire the Government is in as it tries to get the legislation through. As local authorities anticipate the collection of commercial rates from semi-State bodies and other companies, the Minister has introduced an amendment to ensure Irish Water will not be rateable from the point of view of its assets. He said the Local Government Fund would address the funding...

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Dec 2014)

Joan Collins: I think these amendments are very important because the collection of PPS numbers and the popular belief that they could be sold to third parties were huge issues. The letters that people received from Irish Water stated that the numbers could be sold in future to another company as assets and this is what really raised the ire of the Irish people. Deputy Catherine Murphy and I tabled an...

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Dec 2014)

Joan Collins: They could be sold on.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Functions (17 Dec 2014)

Joan Collins: 247. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the fact that under section 134 of the Local Government Act 2001 as amended by section 49 of the Local Government Act 2014, in an election year, the local authority corporate plan must be prepared and brought before the council for consideration within six months of the annual general...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Crime Data (16 Dec 2014)

Joan Collins: 360. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 264 of 25 November 2014, if she will provide in tabular form the number of arrests made for prostitution offences between the years 2008 and 2014 by offence type, county, gender and age group; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47845/14]

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Dec 2014)

Joan Collins: I am opposing this section. I ask the Minister to reconsider this whole charade that we are going through today. He is setting up a forum that will make comments and suggestions, but only when requested to do so in writing by Irish Water. Section 7(e) states that a function of the forum will be "to comment on any consultation document produced by the Commission in respect of public water...

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Dec 2014)

Joan Collins: It is important to oppose this section. On all my points concerning each section there is a caveat, which is that the Minister should abolish Irish Water and the water tax. This legislation is dead in the water and there is huge public opposition to it. People will not engage with it. Why the Minister is establishing a public forum to discuss the fact that money is not being brought in...

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2014)

Joan Collins: Created by us?

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2014)

Joan Collins: It is a cost to the State.

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2014)

Joan Collins: Is it enough money to buy a vote?

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2014)

Joan Collins: This section deals with the price people will have to pay for their water. I was surprised to hear the Minister for Health, Deputy Varadkar, being very dismissive of the 80,000 people who walked the streets yesterday, mid-week and mid-winter, and saying there are other more important and serious issues. There are other important and serious issues but this is important and serious to...

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2014)

Joan Collins: It is unfortunate that Deputy Naughten was not allowed to outline the reason he was given for his amendment being ruled out of order. It would be helpful to have that clarification. The Minister must see that nothing short of a referendum will satisfy the people. Despite what he says, he clearly is not listening to what he is being told. I wish to refer to an analogy I heard being made...

Social Welfare Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (10 Dec 2014)

Joan Collins: I support the amendments.

Homelessness: Statements (10 Dec 2014)

Joan Collins: I note that on 24 November 2014, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Christy Burke, was very angry that the Minister cancelled a meeting with councillors about the homelessness crisis in the capital. It was only a couple of days afterwards that the tragic situation outside the House happened. I welcome the Minister bringing those groups together along with the Lord Mayor and Members of this House so...