Results 4,461-4,480 of 9,994 for speaker:John Gormley
- Written Answers — Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (27 Nov 2008)
John Gormley: I refer to the reply to Question No. 1 of 23 October 2008, in which I outlined the range of work underway, and addressed in my second Carbon Budget in October 2008, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the purposes of the Kyoto Protocol, and the longer-term.
- Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (27 Nov 2008)
John Gormley: The Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992 includes provision enabling the EPA to determine charges or scales of charges in relation to the provision by it of services. I have no function in that regard. The Agency employed 290 staff in the years 2006 and 2007, and this increased to 340 staff in 2008.
- Written Answers — Election Management System: Election Management System (27 Nov 2008)
John Gormley: I refer to the replies to Question Nos. 220 of 13 November 2008 and 152 of 20 November 2008. Responsibility for the security and safe storage of manual voting electoral materials (such as ballot boxes, stamping instruments and stationery) is a matter for the Returning Officers, who are statutorily responsible for conducting the polls. Accordingly, similar responsibility was assigned to...
- Written Answers — Water Pollution: Water Pollution (27 Nov 2008)
John Gormley: An environmental assessment of the current status of the Haulbowline site by consultants, White Young Green, and a peer review of it have been completed. My Department is currently examining the reports and the recommendations contained within them. Once this is completed I will release the reports into the public domain, which I expect will occur early next week. I will then advise...
- Written Answers — Waste Disposal: Waste Disposal (27 Nov 2008)
John Gormley: The Programme for Government signalled the further development of waste and resource policy in the direction of sustainability and, in particular, to move away from mass burn incineration towards alternative technologies. Arising from a commitment in the Programme, a major international review of waste management strategy is now under way. This will inform the Government's approach to waste...
- Environmental Policy. (27 Nov 2008)
John Gormley: The traditional incandescent light bulb is extremely wasteful of both energy and money. Modern compact fluorescent lamps, CFLs, use 20% of the energy and last up to ten times longer. This means the consumer saves significantly, over the long run, on both energy bills and replacement costs, while the reduced electricity usage translates into lower greenhouse gas emissions. Ireland is one of...
- Environmental Policy. (27 Nov 2008)
John Gormley: We have examined all those issues. This is why we are giving a certain amount of flexibility so that people can avail of the halogen bulbs, which do not have the same effect. The Deputy talked about re-introducing mercury but it has been with us for quite some time. The fluorescent tube that we are familiar with for over 50 years contains mercury. Deputy Bannon referred to ultra violet...
- Environmental Policy. (27 Nov 2008)
John Gormley: Rather than calming the situation, Deputy Bannon is trying to hype it up.
- Environmental Policy. (27 Nov 2008)
John Gormley: The claims he is making are spurious. This morning he tried to make out that Fine Gael was an environmental party of some description. Given Deputy Bannon's performance, he would bring us back to the Dark Ages when it comes to environmental progress. He has no ideas at all, only a litany of negativity. Deputy Bannon should come forward with valuable solutions and should stop knocking all...
- Environmental Policy. (27 Nov 2008)
John Gormley: I will talk to my colleague the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources about providing for those who are in, as Deputy Bannon says, in lower socio-economic groups.
- Radon Gas. (27 Nov 2008)
John Gormley: The Government's approach to radon is to concentrate efforts on increasing public awareness of the risks posed by radon in the home. This is similar to the approach adopted in the majority of EU member states. The Government, largely through the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, RPII, has worked towards assessing the extent of the radon problem throughout the country, and...
- Radon Gas. (27 Nov 2008)
John Gormley: The Deputy referred to financial assistance. The radon test kits are available from the RPII at a cost of â¬56. A number of private firms have offered this service. The cost of radon remediation work on a house varies, depending on the severity and the remediation methods employed but, on average, it is â¬1,500 to â¬2,000. There is no provision in the budget of my Department to fund...
- Radon Gas. (27 Nov 2008)
John Gormley: Deputy Tuffy is correct, her colleague Deputy Stagg did that but did not make the money available. I come across this constantly, where the Deputy talks about legislation that must be improved and then I find that the Labour Party introduced the legislation in the first place. That is the nature of politics.
- Radon Gas. (27 Nov 2008)
John Gormley: The Department has received an application for funding for radon testing and remediation in a local authority housing area in north Cork. This request is being examined and will be considered for funding under the 2009 allocation process. We are examining the situation regarding funding. Government policy on radon recognises the individual responsibility on the householder on what, if any,...
- Radon Gas. (27 Nov 2008)
John Gormley: That is a constructive suggestion. The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland is the organisation with the regulatory, monitoring and advisory responsibilities in these matters and it plays a leading role. It has tried to raise awareness of this issue. We fund the RPII and this year it was allocated â¬4.676 million.
- House Completions. (27 Nov 2008)
John Gormley: Planning authorities have a range of powers under the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2008 which may be used to ensure the timely completion of housing estates in accordance with relevant planning permissions. These include attaching a condition to a planning permission requiring the giving of adequate security for the satisfactory completion of the proposed development and, if...
- House Completions. (27 Nov 2008)
John Gormley: The information we got from the local authorities in 2006 indicates there were 2,423 housing estates for which the relevant planning permissions had expired more than two years previously that had not been taken in charge at that time. Of those, some 785 were considered to have been finished to the required standard, while 1,160 were not. The status of the remaining 478 was not determined....
- House Completions. (27 Nov 2008)
John Gormley: The Deputy is correct. As part of the monitoring and review arrangements set out in my Department's circular, each planning authority was advised to make available to the public their policy on taking in charge. They were to publish it on their website and continue to report on it to the elected members, which is an important aspect, on a regular basis or at least on one occasion annually....
- House Completions. (27 Nov 2008)
John Gormley: I thank the Deputy for that proposal. To reply to Deputy Lynch, we can have a centralised system. I have been criticised here for my interventions, as the Deputy is aware.
- House Completions. (27 Nov 2008)
John Gormley: He did not compliment me either.