Results 9,841-9,860 of 10,035 for speaker:Martin Cullen

Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Second Stage. (26 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: —and having at the time opposed the introduction of new arrangements for the election of county-city cathaoirligh to now suddenly oppose their omission.

Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Second Stage. (26 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: From where I stand, I would place my judgment against that of Senator Hayes any day of the week when I see where he is sitting. Is this a volte-face or simply the lack of a coherent policy? At least Fine Gael cannot be accused of sitting on the fence when it is straddling both sides at the same time.

Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Second Stage. (26 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: To return to the Bill, section 8 is a standard provision providing for the short title and collective citation. I commend the Bill to the House.

Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Second Stage. (26 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: For God's sake—

Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Second Stage. (26 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: Yes.

Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Second Stage. (26 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: We have already done so in the case of MEPs, Ministers and Ministers of State.

Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Second Stage. (26 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: The same principles.

Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Second Stage. (26 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: It will be automatic in much the same way as it is for Members who are appointed Ministers or Ministers of State.

Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Second Stage. (26 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: Yes.

Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Second Stage. (26 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: Yes.

Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: The Senator does not have to take it.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters. - Water and Sewerage Schemes. (26 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. As he is aware and has acknowledged, the provision of modern environmental infrastructure to support social and economic objectives has been and continues to be a major focus of Government spending. The unprecedented increase in investment by my Department on water and sewerage schemes under the current and previous national development...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: By way of background, I have carefully studied all the amendments carefully, some of which will help to improve the Bill. The environmental impact statement is, first, a statement. The assessment is by the authorities and the public which I know can be very subjective. I agree with the Senator in many respects. If there are ten lawyers in a room, they will give ten opinions different from the...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: We have to have some basis for operation, good organisations to deal with it and very good transparency. Other EU member states have the same issues in addressing this. The Planning and Development Regulations 2001 set out the detailed provisions in relation to environmental impact statements and are based on the requirements in EU Directive 85/337/EEC, as amended, which provides that a...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: There is no difference between the Senator's view and mine on this issue. His amendment would come into effect five years from now in 2008. In the Bill I propose a much shorter timeframe up to 2007. The IPPC directive provides that established activities must be IPPC licensed by October 2007. The Bill provides for this deadline to be met in two ways. Established activities are newly...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: The text is an exact transposition from the directive and has been used to be consistent. As I am not a chemist, I am not as qualified as the Senator in this regard.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: I am not being facetious. I take the Senator's point on the Bill's definition of an emission limit value. The EPA will be required under the new Part IV to include emission limit values in IPPC licensing conditions. In practice, the EPA is generally doing this already. Obviously, therefore, it has a measuring system available to it. We could insert a more intelligible definition only to find...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: During Second Stage and in conversation with colleagues before coming to the House today, I pointed out that this is a very technical Bill. By its nature, some of its language is technical. In fairness to the officials who drafted the text, they endeavoured to make it as understandable as possible. Committee Stage provides us with an opportunity to tease out issues to help us understand the...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: I appreciate the thrust of Senator Bannon's amendment and I appreciate his intention with regard to the environment. Senator Dardis hit the nail on the head and almost answered the question he posed. I want to be absolutely consistent with the directive because I want to maintain the competitiveness of our economy against those of our European partners. We would all accept that European...

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (25 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: Yes.