Results 4,161-4,180 of 4,773 for speaker:Paudie Coffey

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: This section provides that the mandatory population threshold for preparing local area plans will be raised from 2,000 to 5,000 persons, after which it will be discretionary. Fine Gael also has an issue with this provision because the language employed in this section is similar to that being used by planners and managers in local authorities to justify, as previously discussed, the new...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I acknowledge the Minister of State's remarks that this measure and this section do not exclude the development of local area plans but they remove the statutory requirement on local authorities to develop local area plans for towns with a population of 2,000 and more. In essence it is left to the discretion of senior planners and managers within a local authority area whether a local...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: This amendment is about trying to retain the existing system within local authorities whereby a simple majority of the council can make material amendments, or whatever is required to make those amendments, to a development plan. Requiring two thirds of the members of a council to make these amendments could cause difficulty in trying to get development plans passed. That is our fundamental...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I thank the Minister of State for his response. I understand that he will bring forward technical amendments, but I am not sure that will change the fundamental difficulty that my party has with the issue. We are prepared, however, to await whatever technical amendments the Minister of State will bring forward. We reserve the right to table amendments on Report Stage. The Minister of...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: We are debating an important section which deserves time and consideration. What we are dealing with is a proposal to change essentially and fundamentally how county and city development plans are formed. Senators on the Government side are also concerned with this section and how it is elevating the role of regional authorities in the making of development plans. The Bill gives primacy to...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I appreciate the Minister of State's response but we have serious concerns. We are not saying the power is being taken away, rather that the primacy is being taken away. More authority through law is being given to regional authority development plans and there is now an insistence through law that local city and county development plans comply with regional guidelines. The concern is that...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I thank the Minister of State for trying to clarify the matter but I disagree fundamentally with his claim that he is not taking power from local authorities or materially affecting regional authorities. If that is the case, why are there sections in the Bill that apply to regional authorities? Why are we changing the law such that it will require local authorities to comply with regional...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: The Leader obviously does not understand the word. That is why we are where we are.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: On a point of order, Senator Glynn wants to raise important issues. It may be preferable to adjourn the Seanad to allow the Minister of State and his officials to reflect on this fundamental part of the Bill.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I move amendment No. 7: In page 7, lines 33 to 47, page 8 and in page 9, lines 1 to 38, to delete paragraph (c).

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: As I mentioned on Second Stage, development plans will be required by law to refer to projected population statistics. It is fundamental that whatever projected population statistics are used are credible. I am sure the Central Statistics Office and other such organisations will be referred to. As we have seen with the compilation of the electoral register, many of the statistics we use...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I accept the Minister of State's point that there is no legal requirement on the councils but that could be a problem. I see no reason smaller towns and villages should not be legally required to have area plans in the same way as larger ones. Every town and village should have the opportunity to grow or exploit its potential to grow. A legal requirement on a town or village to provide an...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I move amendment No. 19: In page 12, lines 12 and 13, to delete "a vote of not less than two-thirds" and substitute "a majority". Fine Gael tabled this amendment because we do not see why the existing legislation should be changed. At present, a simple majority of the council can make a resolution to amend a development plan. That is local democracy in action. In this section, the Bill...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I move amendment No. 2: In page 6, to delete lines 18 to 20. On Second Stage, I predicted that the Bill would be heavily amended as it went through subsequent Stages. I felt the Bill was very incomplete as has been borne out by the number of Government and Opposition amendments. Regarding amendments Nos. 2 and 5 to 7, inclusive, Fine Gael has a fundamental difficulty with everything being...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: As I said, it is unacceptable that statutory development plans and regional guidelines should have to be compliant with what are non-statutory documents such as the national development plan and the national spatial strategy. These documents are prepared without public consultation or democratic approval and can be amended at the whim of the Minister. That is my fundamental difficulty with...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I welcome the proposal to require local authorities to carry out flood risk assessments. We are all aware of cases where conflicts have arisen in regard to development plans where, for example, development has been allowed in areas where significant Exchequer investment has been required to guard against flooding. This provision will oblige local authorities to focus on flood risk...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I welcome this amendment, which gives us an insight into the thinking behind the legislation. The draft wording used was "urban settlement hierarchy". I raised a concern on Second Stage that the planning law was moving swiftly towards urbanisation. The mindset and the language of the Bill, as drafted, clearly outlines that. The reference was to "urban settlement hierarchy" but somebody...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I ask the Leader to pass on my welcome for the Taoiseach's signal last night that the current rate of the old age pension will be upheld, as far as possible. We are all aware that elderly people are probably the most vulnerable people in the community. They made an investment in the State by working to get us to where we are today. I would like the Leader to take into account the special...

Seanad: Foreshore and Dumping at Sea (Amendment) Bill 2009: Second Stage (18 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I am not often in agreement with Senator O'Malley but I agree with most of what she said today. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, and his officials for this debate. I welcome the broad thrust of the Bill but, like Senator O'Malley, I am not sure that it goes far enough. It is an attempt to address very outdated legislation, going as far back as the Foreshore Act 1933. It is...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2009)

Paudie Coffey: I join other Members in offering my sympathies to the families of the six people who lost their lives in road accidents yesterday. Four of the victims were young women in their 20s who died in an accident on the N17 in County Galway. The reduction in road deaths was acknowledged in the House yesterday but this accident is a tragic reminder that we must continue to focus on the condition of...