Results 761-780 of 7,278 for speaker:Dick Roche

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 May 2007)

Dick Roche: This group deals with the changes to offences and penalty provisions. Penalty provisions under the Bill have been updated to align them with the latest drafting practice and a number of new offences have been created. I will outline the background and then deal with some of the offences in question. Amendment No. 38 was inserted on the advice of the Attorney General to categorise the...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 May 2007)

Dick Roche: I reflect some of the Senator's surprise in this regard. I had assumed there was a strong legislative base for controlling the abuse of water and I could not agree with him more. Water is not something that is free. It should be cherished and protected as a very important resource. The Senator's reference to Galway is apposite and I do not mind it because it illustrates the lacunae that...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 May 2007)

Dick Roche: Several amendments were designed to ensure that sufficient powers to undertake the essential function of installing or taking in charge of pipes and related water services infrastructure were made available under the Bill. Amendment No. 207 to section 95 enables a water services authority to regularise the status of private water supply pipes or wastewater collection pipes where their...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 May 2007)

Dick Roche: Would that all debates were so well focused, for which I thank the Senators. Senator Ryan had a specific query with regard to water services and pipes. I agree with him on this matter. As domestic pipes in urban areas were laid in the 19th century, local authorities do not have a clue as to their location. Section 49 deals specifically with this point in that it provides that local...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 May 2007)

Dick Roche: I hope Senator Ryan takes solace from that information. On the issue of polluted water, which was referred to by my colleague, the local authority will have the power under section 59 to order closure of a polluted source until the problem is fixed. This Bill is timely, coming as it does on top of the Galway issue. It is a consistent response to all the problems that have presented...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 May 2007)

Dick Roche: I share Senator Ryan's aversion to the concept of privatising water. If there was ever one innovation in public administration that was introduced in our nearest island and which we should never emulate, it is privatisation of water supplies because it has been a disaster. I was happy, therefore, to accept amendment No. 55 on Committee Stage in the Dáil which inserted an additional...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 May 2007)

Dick Roche: I am delighted to inform the Senator that as recently as last year, I argued long and hard at a UN session about the criminal folly of the idea that some of the largest corporations in the world might provide water or waste water treatment services out of the goodness of their hearts to the people of the developing world. I pointed out — a Kenyan minister who was present was extremely...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 May 2007)

Dick Roche: The Senator has jumped a little ahead. The issue of metering will be dealt with in the fifth group of amendments. As a basic service, water will continue to be supplied without charge in domestic settings. Metering is an extremely good way to detect leaks. A lovely story was told by the president of the Federation of Group Water Schemes about how, when meters were first introduced to a...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 May 2007)

Dick Roche: This group of amendments provides for enhanced supervisory arrangements regarding the provision of water services and the oversight of trade effluent discharges. Amendment No. 57 to section 59 removes the immunity from proceedings to claim damages arising from the non-performance of a duty under the Act by the Minister, a water services authority or other prosecuted person. There was some...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 May 2007)

Dick Roche: I draw the Senator's attention to section 70 which introduces a specific requirement in the proposed legislation that places a duty of care on all persons, irrespective of the source, that could form a contamination. This is a major step forward which addresses a lacuna that existed.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 May 2007)

Dick Roche: Amendments Nos. 82, 83 and 84 provide for the substitution of new sections, respectively, for sections 36, 37 and 38 regarding the making of water services strategic plans by water service authorities. Section 36 now provides that the making of a water services strategic plan will be a reserved function for the members in the first instance. There was lengthy debate on this issue when the...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 May 2007)

Dick Roche: I agree with the point made by Senator Ryan. I have made provision elsewhere in the Bill that monitoring will not only take place but that the results of such monitoring must be published and placed on websites. I believe this is the best way of making information available. The Senator is correct that people should not have to use FOI to obtain such information.

Written Answers — Local Authority Staff: Local Authority Staff (26 Apr 2007)

Dick Roche: Based on the information supplied by local authorities, the number of staff, expressed in whole time equivalents, employed by local authorities (including town councils) at the end of 2006 are included in the table below. Separate statistics for Town Councils are not yet available. End of December 2006 Local Authority Total County Councils Carlow 344 Cavan 501 Clare 922 Cork 2,623...

Written Answers — Motor Taxation: Motor Taxation (26 Apr 2007)

Dick Roche: The amount of motor tax, which includes driving licence duties and other related charges, collected by each local authority and through the online motor tax service operated by my Department, for 2006 is set out in the following table. Motor Tax Receipts 2006 County Total Receipts Carlow 10,151,892 Cavan 11,512,562 Clare 19,323,658 Cork 75,322,247 Donegal 24,766,816 Galway 36,335,693...

Written Answers — Road Safety: Road Safety (26 Apr 2007)

Dick Roche: A number of meetings have been held between my Department, the Department of Transport and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to discuss issues relating to the management of road works in the interest of road safety. My Department is also in regular, informal contact with local authorities in relation to this issue and the associated cost implications, and I have received...

Written Answers — Accessibility Audits: Accessibility Audits (26 Apr 2007)

Dick Roche: As required under the Disability Act 2005, my Department's sectoral plan was approved by the Houses of the Oireachtas in October 2006. The plan, covering my Department, its partner bodies and local authorities, provides for a range of positive measures which will promote and pro-actively encourage equal opportunities for persons with disabilities to participate in the economic, social and...

Written Answers — Election Management System: Election Management System (26 Apr 2007)

Dick Roche: Under electoral law, returning officers are responsible for all matters in connection with the conduct of elections in the constituencies concerned. The detailed arrangements for the appointment of presiding officers and poll clerks are set out in section 95 of the Electoral Act 1992.

Written Answers — Planning Issues: Planning Issues (25 Apr 2007)

Dick Roche: I am not clear what type of monitoring group is envisaged by the Deputy. Section 48 of the Local Government Act 2001 provides that each city and county council must establish strategic policy committees (SPCs), comprising elected members and sectoral interests, to consider the formulation, development, monitoring and review of policy relating to local authority functions, including planning,...

Written Answers — Traffic Calming Measures: Traffic Calming Measures (25 Apr 2007)

Dick Roche: Improvements to non-national roads, including the provision of traffic calming measures, are matters for the relevant local authority to be funded from its own resources supplemented by State grants provided by my Department. In 2007, the total grant allocation by my Department to Mayo County Council for non-national roads is €31,625,821. This includes a Discretionary Improvement grant...

Written Answers — Farm Waste Management: Farm Waste Management (25 Apr 2007)

Dick Roche: To address the issue of accumulated backlogs of farm plastic, designated facilities are being provided on a temporary, once-off basis by local authorities where farmers may deposit stockpiled farm film plastic and silage wrap. These special arrangements operated on a pilot basis in the first instance in counties Clare, Galway, Mayo, Offaly and Waterford during June and July of last year....