Results 8,101-8,120 of 14,706 for speaker:Phil Hogan

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2012)

Phil Hogan: Amendment No. 4 is to delete any reference to charging a registration fee. I am surprised that Sinn Féin has tabled such an amendment, considering what has happened in Northern Ireland.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2012)

Phil Hogan: I see. I thought Sinn Féin was a united Ireland party.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2012)

Phil Hogan: It is a different regime but Sinn Féin's position is not consistent with what it is doing in government in another jurisdiction. It should have understood that before tabling this amendment. Some money is required to deal administratively with some of the costs involved in respect of local authority staff if one wishes to eliminate the prospect of any re-registration charge, to which I am...

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2012)

Phil Hogan: I cannot dictate what will happen under a future Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government but in primary legislation-----

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2012)

Phil Hogan: The Deputy and I might not be in the House by then. However, my point is this is a completely different scenario-----

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2012)

Phil Hogan: ----- to that which applies to the refuse collection charge because Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan and I, if we still are Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas, will have an opportunity to have a say about it.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2012)

Phil Hogan: Members do not have that say.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2012)

Phil Hogan: I am telling Deputy Flanagan what is in this legislation, although I acknowledge that might not suit him. However, the inclusion of a charge of up to €50 in primary legislation means it would require an Act of the Oireachtas to amend the proposed Act to change that.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2012)

Phil Hogan: I do not believe the Deputy appreciates that. On the household charge, I note Deputy Niall Collins made the valid point that all charges such as the household charge and the septic tank charge could have been lumped into a single charge. I would have loved to have done this but the Data Protection Commissioner, Mr. Billy Hawkes, has a say in all these matters. It seems he has a say in many...

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2012)

Phil Hogan: Deputy Mattie McGrath may have a point. However, my point is it would require an amendment to the Data Protection Act to do what Deputy Niall Collins asked. He made a fair point and I would love to validate it.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2012)

Phil Hogan: The call for a single system is understandable.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2012)

Phil Hogan: That was a point of information. Deputy Healy-Rae may have spoken of bluff and confusion, but if that is the case, he is the cause of it. He should tell people the truth about what I have said in the Chamber and about what is contained in the legislation.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2012)

Phil Hogan: They are.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2012)

Phil Hogan: Thankfully, people are able to hear me as well as the Deputy.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2012)

Phil Hogan: There is no criminalisation of householders in this legislation. Deputy Healy-Rae will be familiar with a previous Bill that was passed by this House and which criminalised people. It provided for up to €15 million in fines and five years in jail. As no such proposals are contained in this legislation, he has got the wrong Bill for the wrong place, the wrong time and the wrong Government.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2012)

Phil Hogan: May I continue?

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2012)

Phil Hogan: I thank Deputy Tom Fleming for his measured contribution on his worries regarding the EPA guidelines. He is right and I will consider these guidelines in conjunction with the regulations the Department will bring forward. The EPA will be involved in training the staff, who will be local government staff.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2012)

Phil Hogan: Local government will be in charge of the implementation of this measure. I do not know what numbers are employed by any particular local authority. If a local authority wishes and if it does not have the requisite staff, it may go outside.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2012)

Phil Hogan: However, the local government system will be in charge of implementing this measure and I suspect that 99% of the time, local authorities will not need to go outside for staff. However, if they must go outside for assessors, as the previous Government sought to do in 2010, they will be able to so do. Nevertheless, I expect that local authorities have sufficient staff to implement this...

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2012)

Phil Hogan: Deputy Tom Fleming mentioned the standardisation of EPA guidelines, which is of national importance. This is a worry for people because sometimes there is a difference in interpretation, which is the reason I will do everything I can to ensure there is standardisation in respect of all aspects of implementation of this measure. As for Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan, he is an environmentalist...