Results 6,801-6,820 of 7,278 for speaker:Dick Roche

Written Answers — House Prices: House Prices (9 Feb 2005)

Dick Roche: I am aware that the Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute, IAVI, has published results of a 2004 survey of its members purporting to show, among other things, that the price of residential development land across the country rose more quickly last year than the price of new homes. The IAVI suggests that this may reflect improved economies of scale through higher residential densities, low...

Written Answers — End-of-Life Vehicles: End-of-Life Vehicles (9 Feb 2005)

Dick Roche: Enabling provisions to facilitate implementation of European Parliament and Council Directive 2000/53/EC on end-of-life vehicles were incorporated in the Protection of the Environment Act 2003. The delay in transposing and implementing the directive principally reflects difficulties in reaching agreement with the relevant sectors on the detailed mechanisms for the operation of the take back...

Written Answers — National Development Plan: National Development Plan (9 Feb 2005)

Dick Roche: I am satisfied, having regard in particular to the mid-term review of the national development plan overseen by the Economic and Social Research Institute, in co-operation with a number of consultancy firms, that progress on the various NDP programmes and measures falling within the remit of my Department has been generally satisfactory. I am determined that we will continue to make progress...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (9 Feb 2005)

Dick Roche: In accordance with section 4 of the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act 1947, the Clerk of Seanad Éireann is the returning officer for the Seanad. The arrangements for the establishment and maintenance by the returning officer of the register of nominating bodies are set out in Part 2 of that Act. The register is currently being revised for 2005 and the register as revised will be published...

Written Answers — Radon Gas Levels: Radon Gas Levels (9 Feb 2005)

Dick Roche: I am aware of this recent report, which was published in the British Medical Journal, of a study concerning radon and lung cancer which was funded by Cancer Research UK and the European Commission. This report was the result of a collaborative analysis of individual data from 13 case control studies of residential radon and lung cancer in nine European countries, which did not include...

Written Answers — Litter Pollution: Litter Pollution (9 Feb 2005)

Dick Roche: I propose to take Questions Nos. 90 and 133 together. On foot of the success of the environmental levy on plastic bags, which was introduced in March 2002 and has resulted in a reduction in the dispensing of plastic shopping bags at retail outlets by over 90%, An Agreed Programme for Government contained a commitment to consider the extension of the levy on plastic bags to other materials...

Written Answers — Local Authority Staff: Local Authority Staff (9 Feb 2005)

Dick Roche: In 1997, the Government established the rapid response register of experienced persons willing to make themselves available at short notice to meet the personnel needs of Irish and international humanitarian agencies working in crisis situations. The register operates under the aegis of the Department of Foreign Affairs' volunteer 21 programme. Under existing arrangements, suitably qualified...

Written Answers — Nuclear Safety: Nuclear Safety (9 Feb 2005)

Dick Roche: I propose to take Questions Nos. 92 and 153 together. I refer to the reply to Question No. 1366 of 26 January 2005.

Written Answers — Election Management System: Election Management System (9 Feb 2005)

Dick Roche: The information requested is set out in the following table. Constituency No. of Voting Machines Location of Storage Premises Annual Storage Costs (rent, insurance, service charges, rates etc.) â'¬ Carlow 115 Mortarstown 28,506 Kilkenny 135 Cavan 148 Monaghan Town 25,828 Monaghan 140 Clare 200 Ennis 10,800 Cork County 425 Togher 37,609 ...

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (9 Feb 2005)

Dick Roche: I refer to the reply to Question No. 346 of 1 February 2005. I intend that a substantive response to the letter of formal notice from the European Commission will be made by the due date of 22 March 2005.

Written Answers — Pay Awards: Pay Awards (9 Feb 2005)

Dick Roche: I propose to take Questions Nos. 95 and 174 together. Following the recommendation of the review body on higher remuneration in the public sector in its report of 25 September 2000, a scheme of performance related awards was introduced in the local authority sector for managers, assistant managers and directors of services commencing in 2003. The review body recommended that a committee for...

Written Answers — Environmental Policy: Environmental Policy (9 Feb 2005)

Dick Roche: Polystyrene is widely used internationally as protective packaging in the transport of electrical and other goods. While such packaging can be recycled, for example, for insulation purposes, manufacture of roof tiles, window frames and so forth, there are limited outlets for it in Ireland. Recycling of this material is hindered by its high volume to weight ratio and the associated costs of...

Written Answers — Waste Management: Waste Management (9 Feb 2005)

Dick Roche: An effective basis for addressing our waste management responsibilities has been put in place through my Department's policy statements, Changing our Ways, Delivering Change 1998 and Taking Stock Moving Forward 2004, statutory waste management plans — largely prepared on a regional basis — and the comprehensive regulatory framework now in place regarding waste. The Government's approach...

Written Answers — Election Management System: Election Management System (9 Feb 2005)

Dick Roche: I propose to take Questions Nos. 99, 138, 160 and 288 together. The Electoral (Amendment) Act 2004 confirms the policy objective of electronic voting and counting at Irish elections and maintains the mandate to my Department from the Oireachtas to work towards implementation of this objective. In this context, my Department is developing, in parallel with the continuing work of the Commission...

Written Answers — Planning Issues: Planning Issues (9 Feb 2005)

Dick Roche: Under planning legislation, the processing of planning applications is a matter for the individual planning authorities and management of workloads and deployment of resources to that end is an administrative issue for those bodies. My Department is satisfied that planning authorities generally have sufficient resources to deal with the numbers of planning applications received.

Written Answers — Nuclear Safety: Nuclear Safety (9 Feb 2005)

Dick Roche: The reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel undertaken at Sellafield includes operations in respect of substantial overseas contracts. Under these contracts there is an obligation on the UK to repatriate the recovered nuclear materials and also the substantial radioactive waste products to the country of origin. The wastes include so called high level waste, HLW, and intermediate level waste, ILW....

Written Answers — Litter Pollution: Litter Pollution (9 Feb 2005)

Dick Roche: There is ongoing consultation between the office of environmental enforcement and Wicklow County Council concerning the actions being undertaken currently by the council in relation to illegal waste activities in the county with a view to a structured approach to dealing with them. The last such meeting took place on 28 January 2005. Wicklow County Council also periodically updates my...

Written Answers — House Prices: House Prices (9 Feb 2005)

Dick Roche: I propose to take Questions Nos.107 and 176 together. The Government has received the findings of the ninth progress report of the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution — Property Rights; report No. 112 of the National Economic and Social Council, NESC, "Housing in Ireland: Performance and Policy"; and the report by Goodbody Economic Consultants. The Government is committed to...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (9 Feb 2005)

Dick Roche: I propose to take Questions Nos. 108 and 177 together. I believe that there is wide consensus that we should have a regulatory system for major infrastructure projects that delivers projects in the right place at the earliest possible time and in a cost effective way. In addition, the system must, of course, be capable of mitigating the impact of any major project on the environment and on...

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (9 Feb 2005)

Dick Roche: Work on drafting legislation to transpose the EU directive on environmental noise assessment and management into national law is continuing, in consultation with the various bodies concerned including relevant local authorities, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Roads Authority, the Department of Transport and bodies under its aegis. My Department is aiming to complete the...