Results 6,241-6,260 of 7,278 for speaker:Dick Roche

Written Answers — Water and Sewerage Schemes: Water and Sewerage Schemes (17 May 2005)

Dick Roche: The Milltownpass sewerage scheme has been approved for funding under the rural towns and villages Initiative of my Department's water services investment programme 2004-2006, at an estimated cost of €4.3 million. The preliminary report for the scheme was approved in November 2003. The water services pricing policy report submitted by Westmeath County Council is under examination in my...

Written Answers — Hazardous Substances: Hazardous Substances (17 May 2005)

Dick Roche: Asbestos cement piping complying with the specifications of Irish Standard 188 which, inter alia, requires bitumen lining and coating, was widely used in the provision of new local authority water mains for more than 30 years. It has also been extensively used and is a well-established and accepted product for this purpose, internationally. The main health risk associated with asbestos...

Written Answers — Water and Sewerage Schemes: Water and Sewerage Schemes (17 May 2005)

Dick Roche: The Glasson-Ballykeeran-Coosan sewerage scheme has been approved for funding under the rural towns and villages initiative of my Department's water services investment programme 2004-2006, at an estimated cost of €3.6 million. My Department recently approved Westmeath County Council's brief for the appointment of consultants to prepare contract documents for the scheme and is now awaiting...

Written Answers — Departmental Charges: Departmental Charges (17 May 2005)

Dick Roche: A review has been initiated on the adequacy of the legal basis for charges and fees levied by my Department and by authorities and other agencies under legislation for which my Department is responsible. This review is in progress.

Written Answers — Water and Sewerage Schemes: Water and Sewerage Schemes (17 May 2005)

Dick Roche: Omeath sewerage improvement scheme was included in the list of water services schemes submitted by Louth County Council in response to my Department's request to all local authorities to undertake fresh assessments of the needs for capital works in their areas and to prioritise their proposals on the basis of the assessments. The priority lists were taken into account in the framing of the...

Written Answers — Fire Service: Fire Service (17 May 2005)

Dick Roche: I propose to take Questions Nos. 397 to 399 inclusive together. My Department has implemented a number of the important recommendations of the report, Review of Fire Safety and Fire Services in Ireland. These include the enactment of the Licensing of Indoor Events Act 2003, which addressed a number of legislative changes called for in the review. In addition, the high level of capital...

Written Answers — Departmental Properties: Departmental Properties (17 May 2005)

Dick Roche: I propose to take Questions Nos. 400 and 405 together. There were no assets worth more than €100,000, land or buildings disposed of by my Department during the periods in question.

Written Answers — Waste Management: Waste Management (17 May 2005)

Dick Roche: The making of waste service charges is a matter for individual local authorities engaged in the direct provision of waste collection services and for private providers of such services. Similarly, the type of pay-by-use system used is principally a matter for service providers, having regard to Government policy. My Department has not previously collated information in respect of waste...

Written Answers — Recycling Policy: Recycling Policy (17 May 2005)

Dick Roche: A central element of Government policy on waste management is the development of producer responsibility initiatives, PRIs, for particular waste streams. The producer responsibility approach has been employed with considerable success in other waste streams, notably packaging waste, where the industry based Repak model has been operating successfully in Ireland under the EU Packaging and...

Written Answers — Recycling Policy: Recycling Policy (17 May 2005)

Dick Roche: The EU directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment, WEEE, which came into effect on 13 February 2003, involves challenging requirements for all relevant stakeholder groups, including retailers. Draft regulations which will transpose the directive into Irish law were published on 15 April last for public consultation. These were prepared by my Department working closely with the...

Written Answers — Recycling Policy: Recycling Policy (17 May 2005)

Dick Roche: Implementation of the EU directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment, WEEE, which came into effect on 13 February 2003, requires close co-operation between all stakeholders — producers, retailers and central and local Government. For this purpose, a task force representative of all relevant sectors, including retailers, was established in February 2003 to draw up proposals for...

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: My Department is co-operating with the Department of Finance, the decentralisation implementation group, DIG, and the Office of Public Works to ensure the Government's decentralisation programme is implemented efficiently and effectively. An implementation plan, which sets out the broad issues to be addressed in implementing the decentralisation programme for this Department, has been...

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: Draft regulations which will transpose the directive into Irish law have been published for consultation. These were prepared by my Department working closely with the relevant public sector and industry stakeholders through a dedicated WEEE taskforce. Retailer interests are represented on this taskforce which was established in February 2003. It is intended to make regulations early in June...

Written Answers — Water and Sewerage Schemes: Water and Sewerage Schemes (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: Schemes to the value of €27 million to improve wastewater collection and treatment infrastructure in County Kerry are included in my Department's water services investment programme for 2004 to 2006, a copy of which is available in the Oireachtas Library. The Kerry villages sewerage scheme, which includes Caherdaniel, is among the schemes being advanced under the programme. Kerry County...

Written Answers — Water and Sewerage Schemes: Water and Sewerage Schemes (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: The Glin sewerage scheme is included in my Department's water services investment programme for 2004 to 2006 as a scheme to commence construction this year. My Department awaits Limerick County Council's proposals for the appointment of consultants to prepare the preliminary report for the scheme.

Written Answers — Planning Issues: Planning Issues (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: My Department's guidelines for planning authorities on sustainable rural housing came into effect on 13 April 2005. Their purpose is to support the accommodation of rural housing needs, while ensuring that housing development in rural areas is sustainable in economic, social and environmental terms. Draft guidelines were published in March 2004 to give all those interested an opportunity to...

Written Answers — Fairtrade Products: Fairtrade Products (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: My Department does not directly source Fairtrade products for use in its offices. However, the company providing catering services in my Department's headquarters has made and will continue to make available a number of Fairtrade products.

Written Answers — Appointments to State Boards: Appointments to State Boards (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: There are two vacancies on the boards of statutory agencies under the remit of my Department, one each in both the Heritage Council and the Rent Tribunal. I will consider the position regarding the filling of these vacancies in the coming months.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: I thank Deputies from all sides of the House for their contributions to this debate. They have raised many issues across the political horizon but, as my time is limited, I will focus on some points arising from the Bill. Other matters can be discussed in more detail on Committee Stage. Some Deputies suggested alternatives to the schemes of constituencies proposed by the commission and set...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (12 May 2005)

Dick Roche: I listened to the rants by the last two Deputies and they both traduced good people. I did not interrupt them and I would be grateful——