Results 4,621-4,640 of 5,171 for speaker:Victor Boyhan

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Local Authority Expenditure (14 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I thank the Minister of State for his considered response. Ultimately, there are 31 local authorities and 31 chief executives. People are beginning to question whether those chief executives are accountable to anyone. They are well remunerated for their responsible jobs, which they do exceptionally well, on the whole. We need greater scrutiny of the financial affairs of these authorities....

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy John Paul Phelan, for his announcement yesterday that he has established two committees to review the local electoral boundaries, which is important. The issue will affect all the 31 local authorities at some stage. The committees are being formed, the people have been nominated and approved and I understand they must commence their work early in the...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I will raise two issues, the first of which relates to the District Court. I am conscious and mindful of the separation of powers, but I do not know if many of my colleagues saw the "RTÉ Investigates" programme on Monday night, in which we heard about a litany of issues, specifically in the District Court, the element about which I want to talk. I want to make it clear before I say...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome Deputy Cassells and thank him for coming. Rather than questions, I have some comments to make. We are dealing here with the Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017. I do not think we have local government anywhere in this country. Rather, we have local administration. That includes city councils, county councils, municipal districts and anything...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I thank Mr. Lemass and his team for coming in today. I read the paper they submitted in advance and thank them for it. I am conscious that we are dealing with the Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017 and I want to keep my remarks focused on that. I am conscious of the document Putting People First, produced in 2012. Many of its recommendations were...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: When was the survey carried out?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: What about the Local Authority Members Association, LAMA?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: Nobody is arguing against that. We have 31 overarching local authorities. They are not stand-alone municipals. People are talking about working within other structures.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I mentioned the 16 scenarios which Mr. Lemass posed in his paper. What are his views on those valid and interesting areas? We are asking questions but Mr. Lemass seems to be asking them too. Somehow we need answers or thoughts. Will Mr. Lemass flesh his thoughts out on this? I know it is Christmas but maybe he could send them to us in the new year. I would like to see the thought...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: Given that Mr. Lemass raised these specifically, will he send us some detail on those scenarios?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I would be happy to engage too but, if we had a paper, we could tease it out and use our time constructively.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: We are led to believe that progress has been made in the Brexit negotiations since the House last met. I acknowledge the work done on this issue by the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Simon Coveney. It is important that we recap to clearly understand what has been agreed. In that regard, I will be interested to hear if anyone has a...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Occupational First Aid (7 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor. I am in this post because the Cathaoirleach cannot be here.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Occupational First Aid (7 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: Senator Craughwell, I remind you of the time. You are over the four minutes.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Occupational First Aid (7 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: Senator Craughwell, could you finish up?

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Occupational First Aid (7 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: That is not a problem. That was five minutes.

Seanad: Message from Dáil (7 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: The following message has been received from the Dáil:Dáil Éireann has passed the Social Welfare Bill 2017 on 6 December 2017, to which the agreement of Seanad Éireann is desired.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Second Stage (7 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I am supporting this Bill. The Social Welfare Bill proposes to give effect to social welfare and related matters as announced in budget 2016. These include measures to provide an increase in the maximum payment rate for weekly social protection payments. The Bill provides for an increase in the weekly rate of maternity and adoptive benefits and that has to be welcomed. There are always...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Local and Community Development Programme (6 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: A Chathaoirligh, I thank you for selecting this item for the Commencement debate today. I welcome the Minister and thank him for coming to the House to address this matter. I welcome that the Minister has initiated a review of the local community and development committees, LCDCs. They are a very important aspect of local government. They are relatively new in that they have only been in...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Local and Community Development Programme (6 Dec 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I thank the Minister for that very comprehensive reply and the great clarity with which he delivered his response. The initiative of taking someone from local government and from community development is really important and will be a very welcome move.