Results 66,361-66,380 of 74,100 for speaker:Bernard Durkan

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 Oct 2006)

Bernard Durkan: I move amendment No. 17: In page 5, line 34, to delete "services" and substitute "services affecting other forms of home heating". The legislation, as it stands, reads: 'market in energy' includes a market in respect of— (a) the generation, supply, transmission, distribution and trading, including the export or import, of electricity, including electricity generated from renewable sources,...

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 Oct 2006)

Bernard Durkan: That is right.

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 Oct 2006)

Bernard Durkan: He threw it into the mix.

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 Oct 2006)

Bernard Durkan: In its rawest form.

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 Oct 2006)

Bernard Durkan: We could have had free gas.

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 Oct 2006)

Bernard Durkan: I move amendment No. 8: In page 4, line 11, after "market" to insert the following: "for which the Minister will be accountable to the Oireachtas". I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I thought that I was seeing things for a moment, but I presume the Minister will be back soon.

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 Oct 2006)

Bernard Durkan: He was not in any way magnanimous while he was here. We had hoped that he might start off with a certain amount of magnanimity, but we will have to see how things progress. This amendment is important for the same reason I mentioned previously. It requires that the Minister be accountable to the House, and I have been pursuing this theme throughout the Bill. It relates to the lack of...

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 Oct 2006)

Bernard Durkan: It is critical to the House in so far as duty, responsibility and accountability are concerned. Sadly, our system is becoming more like the American and European systems, where less accountability is evident in the House and more responsibility and accountability is delegated to groups outside the House over whom we have no control. This process sets aside the House and makes its Members...

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 Oct 2006)

Bernard Durkan: I will do my best but one can never be sure of anything, although I am sure the Minister of State would like to do his best to accommodate the amendments. I do not accept the independence of the regulator. It is a crazy and outlandish notion. As has been evident in the past few weeks, regulators make decisions about the prices of electricity and gas against a backdrop of oil prices falling...

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 Oct 2006)

Bernard Durkan: The committee can ask him questions but he is not accountable.

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 Oct 2006)

Bernard Durkan: I was afraid the Minister of State was going to read out that reply. I will try to be a good boy and not interfere as much. I could anticipate the list of responsibilities of the regulator. However, I do not accept that and in my view there are serious flaws in the system. There would be serious political embarrassment if we persist with the notion that we should have this so-called...

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 Oct 2006)

Bernard Durkan: I move amendment No. 9: In page 4, line 31, after "Commission" to insert the following: "or from the Commission on the Direction of the Minister". This is a similar amendment to amendment No. 8. I await a firm, robust and warm response from the Minister of State. I do not expect such a response but I try to encourage it.

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 Oct 2006)

Bernard Durkan: I move amendment No. 10: In page 4, line 43, after "2005" to insert ", subject to the approval of Dáil Éireann". I do not see any great benefit in my pressing the amendment because the Minister of State is not amenable to accommodating the House. A number of associated amendments have been tabled. I assure the Minister of State I will be pressing a number of them.

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Oct 2006)

Bernard Durkan: The universally suitable and acceptable answer is yes and no. The Minister is right in saying that there are some situations where the gradual introduction of particular sections of an Act may be desirable. In that case, the provisions of the Act are merely being introduced as required or on request. While that may be fine in some cases, Members of the House will recall that some sections...

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Oct 2006)

Bernard Durkan: Two minutes is a long time if one uses it well but if one uses it badly it could be of no benefit at all. It has been necessary for me to try to incorporate the theme which the Minister says I have been pursuing all the time, particularly from the point of view of the Opposition. We find our interaction with the Government in the House is being narrowed time and again. Eventually Parliament...

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Oct 2006)

Bernard Durkan: It is the same but different.

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Oct 2006)

Bernard Durkan: I would be willing to trade the amendment for amendment No. 7.

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Oct 2006)

Bernard Durkan: It is no harm to test that as well as everything else.

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (24 Oct 2006)

Bernard Durkan: Question 106: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she has identified the schools at which the most serious and pressing needs in respect of remedial resource or speech and language therapy or other special needs teaching requirements exist; her proposals to meet these requirements as a matter of urgency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34143/06]

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (24 Oct 2006)

Bernard Durkan: Question 211: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the extent to which pupil teacher ratios here compare with best practice throughout Europe; her plans to address the issue in early date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34144/06]