Results 3,921-3,940 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Water Services Bill 2017: Referral to Select Committee (19 Oct 2017)

Damien English: I move:That the Water Services Bill 2017 be referred to the Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government pursuant to Standing Orders 84A(3)(a) and 149(1).

National Archives (Amendment) Bill 2017: Order for Second Stage (19 Oct 2017)

Damien English: I move: "That Second Stage be taken now."

National Archives (Amendment) Bill 2017: Second Stage (19 Oct 2017)

Damien English: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased, on behalf of the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Heather Humphreys, to introduce the National Archives (Amendment) Bill 2017. The National Archives is one of the State’s most important cultural institutions and plays an essential part in the cultural life of the country by collecting, managing...

Financial Resolutions 2018 - Financial Resolution No. 4: General (Resumed) (19 Oct 2017)

Damien English: I think LIHAF has got quicker.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (19 Oct 2017)

Damien English: I thank Senator Ó Clochartaigh for raising this matter. I apologise that the line Minister cannot be present to deal with it. The community sector high-level forum was reconvened in 2015 by the then Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, to examine certain issues pertaining to the community employment sector, having regard to the consequences for costs and...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (19 Oct 2017)

Damien English: It is best to let the forum do its work. It was convened by the then Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and will meet again in November. A process is in place.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (19 Oct 2017)

Damien English: It is only a few weeks away. It is best to let that continue and see what comes out of it. We can debate the matter further at a later date. Again, I apologise. The Minister was caught up in the Dáil and could not be here to take the debate. The Senator must understand that a process is in place and it is best to let that continue its work for now.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects (19 Oct 2017)

Damien English: I thank the Senator for raising this matter as it allows me to provide an update on the current position regarding the planned developments at Roslyn Park in Dublin 4 and at the former Harold's Cross greyhound stadium in Dublin 6. The Minister apologises for being unable to attend the debate. I will address most of the issues raised by the Senator, but if he requires any additional...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects (19 Oct 2017)

Damien English: I will make sure the Minister gets back to the Senator without delay. The purchase of this key site for educational purposes is something I would expect to be welcomed by all.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects (19 Oct 2017)

Damien English: The intention is that the new facility will solve all the problems the Senator raised. I cannot comment, however, on which areas it will cover. The demographic analysis is looking at all the available options to ensure accommodation is found for all pupils who need it over the course of the coming years. Up to date data from birth certificates and child benefit records are utilised to work...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Fire Safety Regulations (19 Oct 2017)

Damien English: Under the Building Control Acts 1990 to 2014, primary responsibility for compliance with the requirements of the Building Regulations, including Part B (Fire Safety), rests with the owners, designers and builders of buildings. Enforcement of the Building Regulations is a matter for the 31 local building control authorities who have extensive powers of inspection and enforcement under the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Planning Framework: Discussion (18 Oct 2017)

Damien English: I will try to catch up with where we are on most of these issues. Deputy Casey is of course speaking from a County Wicklow perspective. We have had a similar situation in County Meath so I can understand the logic behind his questions. Following on from last night's debate, I believe that the plan we are discussing here provides the answer to most of the Deputy's questions if we can only...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Planning Framework: Discussion (18 Oct 2017)

Damien English: The Senator raised a range of issues, and while this is a chance to raise them, this is not the budget. Nonetheless, it is a document that will help us shape budgets, and that is what this is about. The Senator is right. We have not always planned, not just for land use management, but for activities or investment. We have seen this take effect in Wicklow, Meath, Kildare, Louth and the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Planning Framework: Discussion (18 Oct 2017)

Damien English: I will try to speak slowly but speak less, if that helps. If the Chair allows, I may call on some of my colleagues to contribute as I am not an expert in all of these areas. I will bring them in if that is okay. I believe it is a good way to do business. The Senator is right, this is about ambition. That is what we are trying to set out here. What is our ambition for this country? Do...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Planning Framework: Discussion (18 Oct 2017)

Damien English: If we then asked the NRA if it would be able to talk to somebody whose concern it was and if we could have the same conversation to build the motorway together, perhaps, we would be told that it could not do that, that the thinking pertaining to both areas was different. Those planning the motorway were two or three years ahead in their research than the others were with their railway line...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Planning Framework: Discussion (18 Oct 2017)

Damien English: Senator Grace O'Sullivan spoke of intercity transport and joining the towns and villages but I want to stress once more that we do the same within the towns and cities in order to make transport easier. If we merely join them together people will move from one to the other. We want to grow and develop jobs within these towns and villages also. That is what we are trying to do.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Planning Framework: Discussion (18 Oct 2017)

Damien English: I will try to shorten my answers. I might bring in Mr. Niall Cussen on the planning and transport around Galway because he is familiar with and is working closely with it, and has been corresponding with the Deputy on it as well. We have visited Galway on this plan as well and we have held local consultation there. We met the local authorities, both city and county. I have not met the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Planning Framework: Discussion (18 Oct 2017)

Damien English: Deputy Hildegarde Naughton also asked about the high-speed rail. The Deputy will have heard a reference in conversation. Both the former Minister, Deputy Coveney, and the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, have repeatedly talked about those options. In our sustainable mobility section, we talk about investing in rail, and that connection, and public transport. That is what we mean there. It...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Planning Framework: Discussion (18 Oct 2017)

Damien English: It is. The reason Galway developed as a med-tech sector of the world is because of that connection between our education system and our enterprise system. I saw that collaboration in my time as Minister of State with responsibility for research. We have done a lot in Galway, both in the university and in GMIT, around that connection and collaboration across all the stakeholders. It has...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Planning Framework: Discussion (18 Oct 2017)

Damien English: I understand the frustration that Deputy Eamon Ryan is bringing to the table, but he is probably slightly wrong in what he is saying. We had a conversation about this plan but Deputy Ryan was out of the room for most of the discussion we have had thus far. This plan is about setting out the plan, ambition and business case. If we do not do that, we will not win any investment. It is not...