Results 4,821-4,840 of 10,577 for speaker:Barry Cowen

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Tenant Purchase Scheme Administration (29 Jun 2016)

Barry Cowen: Notwithstanding the fact that we have a housing crisis and great difficulty in providing the units for those on the housing list, as alluded to by the previous speaker and many others on several occasions, there are ways, means and methods to provide units in the coming years. These include implementing the recommendations of the all-party special housing committee, the Minister of State's...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Tenant Purchase Scheme Administration (29 Jun 2016)

Barry Cowen: I thank the Minister of State for his answer. He mentioned that certain criteria are to be reviewed after 12 months, and the figure he has given of 73 applicants tells its own story. Clearly the criteria are not expansive enough to allow people the opportunity to take advantage of any such scheme, hence our bringing forward a Bill in the first instance regarding those who should have the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Tenant Purchase Scheme Administration (29 Jun 2016)

Barry Cowen: Rather than wait the 12 months for the review, I ask the Minister of State to commence it immediately if possible. I further ask him to consider our proposed Bill this week which would seek to include Part V housing in the criteria, allowing those in Part V units the opportunity to purchase them. There should be no discrepancy, and I hope the Minister of State accepts that. I will put the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Local Government Reform (29 Jun 2016)

Barry Cowen: 1. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if and when he will re-establish town councils. [18786/16]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Local Government Reform (29 Jun 2016)

Barry Cowen: This question relates to the Government’s intention to re-establish or re-instate town councils, not necessarily in their previous form but around those towns which have certain population numbers. Will the Minister seek to respond to that commitment? As we all know, and Labour found out to its cost towards the end of the last term, it is not reform when 1,100 councillors are got rid...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Local Government Reform (29 Jun 2016)

Barry Cowen: I thank the Minister for his answer, despite the fact I cannot agree with all that is contained in it. It states an ongoing review is taking place and many city and county managers are happy with the progress being made.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Local Government Reform (29 Jun 2016)

Barry Cowen: That is not the case on the ground and it is not what is being relayed to me by local authority members and constituents. The Minister spoke about the number of councillors per head of population being over 2,800. In Denmark, a country of a similar size, it is one councillor per 1,115. In County Offaly, two electoral areas were joined together, Birr and Ferbane. The new area has six...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Local Government Reform (29 Jun 2016)

Barry Cowen: The Minister has committed to a review to address the functionality of what has taken place and the functionality of what may emanate from a review, how it is funded and the devolution powers. I have mentioned some instances where these were not at all appropriate or have not turned out as one would have expected or wished. There is also the area of facility services available to...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Library Services (29 Jun 2016)

Barry Cowen: 15. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his proposals for amalgamating local library services across the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18557/16]

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: National Planning Framework (29 Jun 2016)

Barry Cowen: 28. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the status of the draft national planning strategy to replace the national spatial strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18555/16]

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Government Reform (29 Jun 2016)

Barry Cowen: 41. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to re-establish town councils; and when he expects town councils to be re-established. [18558/16]

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Waste Management (28 Jun 2016)

Barry Cowen: 174. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if his Department or a body under its aegis has monitored if waste collectors have weighed waste since July 2015 and provided this information to their customers; and if he will provide this data. [18060/16]

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Waste Management (28 Jun 2016)

Barry Cowen: 179. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the percentage of households he estimates do not avail of an authorised waste collection service; if he ensures that local authorities investigate whether these households manage their waste in an environmentally acceptable manner in accordance with legislation and waste management plans; and if he can provide statistics...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Waste Disposal (28 Jun 2016)

Barry Cowen: 175. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to provide statistics and evidence to back the claim made on page three in the Minister's briefing on the introduction of pay-by-weight for household waste that: in areas where pay-by-weight is already operating, householders have become more efficient in preventing and segregating their waste, leading to a reduction in...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Waste Disposal (28 Jun 2016)

Barry Cowen: 177. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to provide a list of references and studies to corroborate the claim in the briefing on introduction of pay-by-weight for household waste that pay-by-weight drives higher household recycling levels of between 27% and 32% and higher diversion rates from landfill of between 28% and 35%, including the margin of error on...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Waste Disposal (28 Jun 2016)

Barry Cowen: 178. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the number of households that have regular waste collection services operating on a pay-by-weight, a flat rate, a pay per lift, or a tag basis, or on a combination of two or more of these, by local authority area, in tabular form. [18095/16]

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Waste Disposal (28 Jun 2016)

Barry Cowen: 183. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if his Department still stands over the credibility and reliability of its claim that 87% of households would receive a reduction in household waste bills under the proposed pay-by-weight system or whether it now questions this claim; how this figure was estimated; and if he believes this claim should have been put into...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Waste Disposal Charges (28 Jun 2016)

Barry Cowen: 180. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if the interdepartmental working group recommended in the National Waste Policy - A Resource Opportunity Report 2012, page 7, to suggest measures to minimise the impact of waste charges on low income households was ever established and if so, its recommendations; and if he will make available its report. [18106/16]

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Waste Management (28 Jun 2016)

Barry Cowen: 181. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government when the last formal review of the household waste collection market was undertaken by his Department or a body under its aegis as well as by the Competition Authority; and to provide an outline of the findings, conclusions and recommendations of the review. [18107/16]

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Waste Management Regulations (28 Jun 2016)

Barry Cowen: 182. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the number of areas for which the separate collection of organics is currently not a required waste permit condition; and the number of households this affects. [18108/16]