Results 3,781-3,800 of 9,994 for speaker:John Gormley

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (24 Mar 2009)

John Gormley: Work has been ongoing for some time in my Department in drafting measures to provide for statutory regulation of dog breeding establishments within the dog control legislative regime. The issues involved are complex and required detailed consideration. This process has included discussions with a number of organisations, bodies, public agencies and interests active in this area. It is my...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (12 Mar 2009)

John Gormley: The Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009 states that any public servant who is a member of a public service pension scheme, is entitled to a benefit under such a scheme, or receives a payment in lieu of membership in such a scheme, is subject to a deduction from their remuneration. In 1996, changes were introduced to the superannuation scheme affecting Non Officers,...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (12 Mar 2009)

John Gormley: No money has been provided from my Department for this website.

Written Answers — Local Government: Local Government (12 Mar 2009)

John Gormley: I am currently finalising the content of the White Paper on local government, for Government consideration and subsequent publication. In this context I will be dealing with a range of matters, including the issue of establishment of new town councils and the broader matter of democratic representation in towns which do not have town councils.

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (12 Mar 2009)

John Gormley: The Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009 states that any public servant who is a member of a public service pension scheme, is entitled to a benefit under such a scheme, or receives a payment in lieu of membership in such a scheme, is subject to a deduction from their remuneration. In 2008, retained firefighters were given the option of joining the Local Government...

Written Answers — Election Management System: Election Management System (12 Mar 2009)

John Gormley: I am aware of the recent decision in the German courts in relation to the future use of electronic voting machines in the conduct of elections held in that country. Relevant experiences and developments in other jurisdictions are being taken into account in considering the next steps in relation to electronic voting and counting in Ireland. As part of this process, I am also taking into...

Written Answers — Departmental Licences: Departmental Licences (12 Mar 2009)

John Gormley: Details of licences or permits issued by my Department are listed in the following table. Licences or permits issued by bodies under the aegis of the Department are an administrative matter for the bodies themselves, and the Department holds no records on these. Name of Licence Purpose of Licence No. of Licences Issued/Renewed Revenue Accruing Each Year Last Time Licence Fee was Increased...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

John Gormley: Going back to Deputy Lynch's point, it is not accurate to say that someone categorised as homeless has no right to vote. A homeless person faces particular difficulties in engaging with the electoral process, including his name being entered on the register of electors. Current law provides that persons shall be registered where they are ordinarily resident. The question arises of the best...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

John Gormley: I fully understand the intent of the amendment which I have discussed with my officials. We have looked at examples, including the Kilkenny People. The Deputy mentioned Tuesday afternoon, but the newspaper comes out on Wednesday, and Friday is the date referred to on the masthead. Those are difficult matters. I understand what the Deputy is trying to get at in the same way as I understood...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

John Gormley: I thank the Deputy for his amendment and he is right to say that campaigns can be exhausting. In particular, if a candidate has lost an election, his or her enthusiasm for taking down posters can be somewhat diminished.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

John Gormley: However, the seven day period has worked well. The best way for any candidate to approach this matter is to ensure that, if he or she has a team that is paid to put up posters, the contract includes their removal also. That is happening increasingly and it seems to work fairly well. I have been impressed by the way in which all political parties have approached this matter. For the most...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

John Gormley: I thank Deputy Flanagan and his colleagues, Deputies Hogan and Bannon, for bringing forward this amendment. It may be beneficial for me to outline in greater detail the intention behind the provision contained in section 4, which deals with the allocation of a portion of the candidate's spending limit for the use of the national agent or political party. As is the case with Dáil and other...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

John Gormley: There have been very interesting contributions to the debate on this amendment. I agree with Deputy Shatter that politicians are not quite normal. Many of us here have a degree of dysfunction. We will not go there, but we will have to talk about it some other time.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

John Gormley: It might be an idea. Deputy Shatter's contribution today was like a Second Stage speech, something at variance with what his Fine Gael colleague gave yesterday, who welcomed the Bill. Deputy Shatter seems to have a principled objection, and he claims that the Fine Gael Party has adopted his position. That is interesting, because Fine Gael abstained on the last vote and on the Labour Party...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

John Gormley: The Deputy then talks about the Green Party, but we should look at the facts. An excellent document was prepared for the joint committee on this and it showed the spending of the various political parties. Which political party spent the least amount of money? The Deputy is now trying to make out that Fine Gael and its members are going around like church mice. If he looked at the...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

John Gormley: I am not sure what the whole thing was about, but I am responding to many of the points made.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

John Gormley: Incumbency clearly gives people an advantage. There have been many cases on this. Each Deputy is an incumbent. They have the facilities, including envelopes, secretaries and so on. That gives a certain advantage to them as candidates. We are trying to set certain limits and adopt a common sense approach. It is not political correctness gone mad, but is simply looking for an even playing...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

John Gormley: I hope it is relevant, but if the Deputy had tabled an amendment referring to zombies, I would have been more than pleased to consider it. Since he has not, I am afraid I cannot. Question, "That the words proposed to be deleted stand", put and declared carried.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

John Gormley: I move amendment No. 5: In page 5, between lines 48 and 49, to insert the following: "(4) In this section, 'population' means population as ascertained by the Central Statistics Office in the census report setting out the final result of the most recent census of population.". As previously indicated on Second Stage, for the 2009 local elections population data from the 2006 census report is...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

John Gormley: The amendment attempts to extend the parameters within which the Minister makes the order setting the spending limit period. Bearing in mind the proximity of the forthcoming local elections, 60 days is the maximum period that can be realistically set for the 2009 elections. This period effectively will be more than double that currently for Dáil and European Parliament elections. It also...