Results 9,581-9,600 of 10,035 for speaker:Martin Cullen

Planning Issues. (3 Feb 2004)

Martin Cullen: There was differing professional advice available.

Planning Issues. (3 Feb 2004)

Martin Cullen: If the Deputy is asking whether or not I went outside the Department to obtain further advice, the answer is "No".

Planning Issues. (3 Feb 2004)

Martin Cullen: That is very easy to answer — I made this point in my answer to the Deputy. There is a whole range of issues under the National Monuments Acts and the Heritage Act where I can ensure that the same objectives are achieved. I will answer the Deputy directly. I am not absolutely certain as I do not have the files in front of me. However, I recall that one of the objections, which was in north...

Planning Issues. (3 Feb 2004)

Martin Cullen: Yes, 1,100 houses. I answer questions in the House every day of the week about our efforts to build houses. I took the view that there should be a balance between protection of the heritage on one side and other Government policy issues on the other.

Planning Issues. (3 Feb 2004)

Martin Cullen: The Deputy is not saying that, in several of the cases to which he refers, we sent the proposal back to the local authority concerned and said that we would not accept the scale of the facility in question but that if it were substantially scaled back, it would meet the requirements of heritage. That was what happened. Some officials met those requirements after doing that and taking account...

Planning Issues. (3 Feb 2004)

Martin Cullen: I am not a rubber stamp and I will not be one for anyone.

Planning Issues. (3 Feb 2004)

Martin Cullen: I am not doing so. However, the point was why I engaged in this. I discovered that objections were made in my name about which I knew nothing.

Nuclear Plants. (3 Feb 2004)

Martin Cullen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 142 and 197 together. Access to Sellafield by Irish experts has been sought by the Irish Government on an ongoing basis and in February 2000 staff of the RPII received permission for a formal visit to the site. Based on its examination of the safety documentation, in December 2000 the RPII produced a report on the storage of liquid high-level radioactive waste...

Nuclear Plants. (3 Feb 2004)

Martin Cullen: I do not accept that. There is, and has been, fairly strong consensus in this House. As a former Minister with some responsibility in the area, the Deputy knows the difficulties first hand. However, we have advanced matters quite far under two cases, OSPAR and UNCLOS — the Deputy referred only to one. The situation regarding the European Court of Justice and the Commission believing that it...

Nuclear Plants. (3 Feb 2004)

Martin Cullen: The Deputy knows this is an issue in which the Taoiseach engages in a fulsome way and which is always on his agenda. I think he has confirmed to the House that he raised this matter with the British Prime Minister. I do not have the details but I am confident he has confirmed it to the House.

Nuclear Plants. (3 Feb 2004)

Martin Cullen: Following the cases, serious discussions are going on as to how we implement and improve substantially the relationship between Ireland and the UK covering the full range of issues which the Deputy, Deputy Stagg, others and I have raised. However, these are not complete. I am anxious for them to be completed and when they are, I will give a full account to the House as to what the position...

Nuclear Plants. (3 Feb 2004)

Martin Cullen: I did so just before Christmas, less than two months ago. I raised it in my pre-Presidency discussions with Minister Beckett. The Minister of State, Deputy Gallagher, was with me and we went on to meet the Minister for Energy on the same occasion. We had lengthy meetings on various subjects and I raised this with them. As I said to Deputy Allen, negotiations and discussions are taking place...

Nuclear Plants. (3 Feb 2004)

Martin Cullen: As the Deputy knows, the RPII visited the site previously. When we talk about the site, one of the issues is that it is a vast site. The issue is perhaps more important than simply getting on to the site. I hope we can resolve this issue and see a further visit in the near future, but I am guarded in what I say for specific reasons, which the Deputy may appreciate, as I follow up on the...

Nuclear Plants. (3 Feb 2004)

Martin Cullen: I reiterate that the Government remains committed to and is deeply concerned about the activities at Sellafield, as it always has been. The Government will use every avenue open to it, legal and otherwise, to ensure it gets the message home to the British Government and, ultimately, to achieve its objective which many people in Ireland and elsewhere would like to see, that is, the closure of...

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2004)

Martin Cullen: It is not.

Written Answers — Nuclear Plants: Nuclear Plants (3 Feb 2004)

Martin Cullen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 143 and 147 together. Since June 2002, the Government has taken significant steps to bring about the closure of Sellafield, in accordance with our commitment in the agreed programme for Government. That policy objective has been advanced through separate legal actions, under the OSPAR Convention and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The OSPAR tribunal,...

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (3 Feb 2004)

Martin Cullen: The national spatial strategy, or NSS, was published by Government in November 2002. The strategy is a 20-year planning framework designed to enable every part of the country to achieve its potential. The strategy aims to promote a dynamic urban and rural structure throughout Ireland through a set of interdependent spatial policies which focus on five main elements: a stronger,...

Written Answers — Environmental Policy: Environmental Policy (3 Feb 2004)

Martin Cullen: Dioxins arise mainly from incomplete combustion. Various studies have confirmed their ubiquitous nature, even in remote areas. Humans have contributed to the dioxin load in the environment since the first use of fire, and in practical terms it is impossible totally to eliminate dioxins. The real challenge is to reduce levels of emissions. The most recent emissions data available are in the...

Written Answers — Waste Disposal: Waste Disposal (3 Feb 2004)

Martin Cullen: The European Commission has initiated legal proceedings against Ireland regarding alleged failures to comply with aspects of the Waste Framework Directive (75/442/EC). Following the submission of papers by both the Commission and the Irish authorities, including a request by Ireland for an oral hearing, it is now a matter for the European Court of Justice to decide on the timing of the case's...

Written Answers — Water and Sewerage Schemes: Water and Sewerage Schemes (3 Feb 2004)

Martin Cullen: Group sewerage scheme grants of up to 75% of the approved cost, subject to a maximum grant of €2,031 per house, are available for the provision of common or shared waste water disposal systems. The national rural water monitoring committee is overseeing the implementation of a pilot programme by local authorities to test a range of new, small-scale waste water collection and treatment...