Results 7,181-7,200 of 9,994 for speaker:John Gormley

Written Answers — Forestry Sector: Forestry Sector (11 Oct 2007)

John Gormley: A wildlife officer of my Department visited the site on 4 December 2006 and made a written report to the Felling Section of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on 18 December. This report did not note any grounds for refusing the felling licence. The site is not a designated conservation area. It is not normal practice to lay routine reports of this nature before the Houses of...

Written Answers — Ministerial Appointments: Ministerial Appointments (11 Oct 2007)

John Gormley: The procedures for the appointment of ordinary members of An Bord Pleanála are set out in the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended by Sections 14-16 of the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act 2006. In addition, Article 11 of the Planning and Development Regulations, 2006 amended the list of prescribed bodies for the purposes of making nominations to the Board and...

Written Answers — Wildlife Conservation: Wildlife Conservation (11 Oct 2007)

John Gormley: Section 40 of the Wildlife Act 1976, as amended by Section 46 of the Wildlife Amendment Act, 2000, provides protection for vegetation on uncultivated land such as hedgerows by providing that "it shall be an offence for a person to cut, grub, burn or otherwise destroy, during the period beginning on the 1st day of March and ending on the 31st day of August in any year, any vegetation growing...

Written Answers — Architectural Heritage: Architectural Heritage (11 Oct 2007)

John Gormley: My Department provided just over €2m this year to fund conservation works on Irish Medieval Walled Towns. The funding is being administered by the Heritage Council. The Council drew up a list of 18 walled towns to be assisted namely Athlone, Athenry, Carlingford, Cashel, Clonmel, Cork, Drogheda, Dublin, Fethard, Galway, Kilkenny, Kilmallock, Limerick, New Ross, Trim, Waterford, Wexford,...

Written Answers — Heritage Council: Heritage Council (11 Oct 2007)

John Gormley: As I indicated in the reply to Question No. 323 of 10 October 2007, for each of the years 2006 and 2007, my Department provided an annual subvention of €200,000 for archaeological research purposes disbursed through the Royal Irish Academy. In 2006, my Department requested the Heritage Council to prepare a report and recommendations on archaeological research needs. The Heritage Council...

Written Answers — Heritage Council: Heritage Council (11 Oct 2007)

John Gormley: Under the terms of the Heritage Act 1995 the Heritage Council, with the consent of the governing Minister and the Minister for Finance, is required to employ its own staff, to determine the grades of the staff of the Council and the number of staff in each grade. The Council may employ such consultants or advisers on contract for services as it considers necessary for the proper discharge of...

Written Answers — Election Management System: Election Management System (11 Oct 2007)

John Gormley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 169 to 174, inclusive, together. Information provided by returning officers to my Department indicates that the total annual storage costs incurred by them in respect of the electronic voting machines and ancillary equipment in 2006 amounted to some €706,000, with figures for 2005 and 2004 amounting to some €696,000 and €658,000 respectively. The...

Written Answers — Election Management System: Election Management System (10 Oct 2007)

John Gormley: The total cost incurred to date in the development and roll-out of the electronic voting and counting system is €51.3 million (including some €46 million in respect of hardware costs and €2.6 million in respect of awareness and education initiatives). In addition, information provided by returning officers to my Department indicates that the total annual storage costs incurred by them...

Written Answers — National Parks: National Parks (10 Oct 2007)

John Gormley: I assume that the Question refers to the proposal from a local group to establish what it calls a 'North Midlands Peatlands Park' — formerly titled a 'National Wetlands Wilderness Park' — in the cutaway area of the Mount Dillon group of bogs in Longford and Roscommon, which is owned by Bord Na Móna plc. It is estimated that some 80,000 hectares of cutaway Bord na Móna bog will become...

Written Answers — Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (10 Oct 2007)

John Gormley: Ireland's commitment under the Kyoto Protocol is to limit emissions to 13% above 1990 levels. The Government's approach to meeting Ireland's Kyoto Protocol commitment is set out in the National Climate Change Strategy 2007-2012, published in April 2007. This Strategy provides a framework for reducing emissions across all sectors of the economy and sets out a series of measures that,...

Written Answers — Electoral Boundaries: Electoral Boundaries (10 Oct 2007)

John Gormley: The Local Government Act 1994 provided that the boundaries of certain town councils could be altered by regulation, solely for local electoral purposes, following agreement by the relevant local elected councils. This was done in order to extend the franchise to individuals living in built up areas that form part of the towns but are outside of the towns' administrative boundaries. These...

Written Answers — Archaeological Sites: Archaeological Sites (10 Oct 2007)

John Gormley: In relation to the National Monument at Rath Lugh, I refer to the reply to Question No. 89 on today's Order Paper. The National Monument at Lismullin is a previously unknown national monument discovered during the course of the archaeological works on the route of the M3 Clonee-North of Kells motorway scheme. The monument fell, therefore, to be dealt with under the provisions of section...

Written Answers — Waste Management: Waste Management (10 Oct 2007)

John Gormley: My Department has no role in determining the location of municipal waste incinerators. Such decisions are taken by local authorities, in the context of the regional waste management plans for which they have statutory responsibility, and by commercial enterprises in relation to private sector facilities, and are subject to the statutory planning and waste licence approval processes. However,...

Written Answers — Food Labelling: Food Labelling (10 Oct 2007)

John Gormley: The substantive political and policy decision on the item referred to was taken at the EU Council of Agriculture Ministers on 11 June 2007 at which Ireland was represented by the then Minister for Agriculture and Food. In accordance with EU procedures, all political decisions are subject to further legal and other processes — unrelated to the relevant political or policy decision — and...

Written Answers — Litter Pollution: Litter Pollution (10 Oct 2007)

John Gormley: The Litter Monitoring Body's 2006 National Litter Pollution Monitoring System Results report, released in June 2007, is based on an analysis of data received from 72 local authorities, or almost 80% of all local authorities. The number of local authorities operating the system has increased significantly in the last three years and steps continue to be taken by the consultants who manage the...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (10 Oct 2007)

John Gormley: My Department is currently examining options to strengthen legislation on noise pollution, with a view to meeting the Programme for Government commitment as a matter of priority.

Written Answers — Building Regulations: Building Regulations (10 Oct 2007)

John Gormley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 110 and 130 together. To meet the commitment in the Programme for Government in this area, I published draft Building Regulations and an associated Technical Guidance Document under Part L of the Building Regulations, which deals with the Conservation of Fuel and Energy, on 21 September 2007. These draft Regulations provide for a 40% improvement in energy...

Written Answers — Local Government Reform: Local Government Reform (10 Oct 2007)

John Gormley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 114, 128 and 147 together. In accordance with the Programme for Government, my Department will be publishing a Green Paper on local government reform in the coming months. The Green Paper will examine a number of issues with the objective of making local government more transparent and responsive, and will set out options for reform in advance of a subsequent...

Written Answers — Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (10 Oct 2007)

John Gormley: The Government has designated €270 million for the purchase of carbon allowances over the period 2007-2013. This sum is in addition to €20 million provided in my Department's Vote in 2006. Following the enactment of the Carbon Fund Act in March 2007, the National Treasury Management Agency is now statutorily designated as the Government's purchasing agent for the acquisition of carbon...

Written Answers — Hunting Licence: Hunting Licence (10 Oct 2007)

John Gormley: Section 26(1) of the Wildlife Act 1976 provides that the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government may grant to the master or other person in charge of a pack of stag hounds, a licence authorising the hunting of deer by that pack, during such period or periods as is or are specified in the licence. I sought advice from the Attorney General as to the view that this section...