Results 9,921-9,940 of 10,035 for speaker:Martin Cullen

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

Martin Cullen: While I understand the point the Senator is trying to make, I do not accept it. The manager is in charge when the landfill is established, but the determination is made by the Environmental Protection Agency. I cannot foresee circumstances in which a local authority would forego potential income from its landfill by driving landfill charges to such levels that nobody would consider using it....

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

Martin Cullen: Given that I have been accused of introducing incineration, I do not mind using the term. As politicians, we had better begin to understand about what we are talking when we refer to incineration. We are not talking about traditional incineration facilities associated in the public mind with mass burning. No such facilities will ever be built here. They would not be acceptable to the...

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

Martin Cullen: The Senator is correct. I wish we could get more of that message across because what we want to do here in a management sense is light years from what has been the case heretofore. I was not talking about the facility but, thankfully, I have very good officials sitting behind me. The facility about which the Senator is talking was an experimental one which did not deal with incineration but...

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

Martin Cullen: While we will not get into an argument about it, we have to be clear and fair. I attended a large public meeting recently when for the first time in my life I was on a platform with a young lady who was absolutely expert in this area. I had never met her before but she was brilliant. She had the simple gift of English, yet was highly technically qualified. She dealt with every issue and there...

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

Martin Cullen: I agree. That is what we will do.

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

Martin Cullen: A hole in the ground.

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

Martin Cullen: I do not want to delay proceedings, but I am pleased there is a good substantive discussion on this matter even if, as Senator Dardis said, one is not sure what section we are dealing with. I do not like doing this to Senator Bannon, but the Longford application was wholly inadequate and unacceptable in its quality, presentation, documentation and back-up material. I will go no further, as I...

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

Martin Cullen: Yes. We must understand what we are discussing. It is almost comical, but 100 times more dioxins are created on bonfire night than would be generated in 12 months by all the incinerators one could put in place. That is the reality with which we must deal. We are out there with our kids shovelling stuff on to bonfires. We go collecting with them and help to poison them. Those fires, with all...

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

Martin Cullen: I accept that there are councils which are struggling to get this right. There are different solutions being tried in different areas and we will come to a conclusion about all of them. We should not expect to win the Grand National the first time we enter it. There is a long course before us, this is not a seven furlong sprint. An enormous amount is being done and we should not be led by the...

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

Martin Cullen: I will not accept an amendment that would compel any local authority which made waste charges under the new section 75 of the 1996 Act also to provide a mandatory system of waivers in respect of all or part of such charges. It would be a departure from the status quo that would not be useful or necessary. Currently local authorities are not under an obligation to provide for waivers in...

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

Martin Cullen: Making the system mandatory would not improve it, it would simply mean a manager could introduce a system that observed the legal niceties of the Bill without any meaningful basis. The current system is working well across the State. If it is not broken, we should not try to fix it. I am loath to go any further and cannot accept the amendment.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (13 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: I was referring to flyers that are put under people's windscreen wipers and material of that sort.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (13 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: In a controlled environment emissions are less than 2%.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (13 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: The Senator is missing the point. With 100% of dioxins coming into the air we are killing each other. There is no controlled environment.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (13 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: Galway is an example but, being realistic, only 12% is being recycled. What is happening with the other 88%?

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (13 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: I am talking about the total figure. I admire and acknowledge what is being done in Galway but we should not be over the top.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (13 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: Not at all. There is no reference to that.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (13 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: I recently visited a 70,000 tonne unit.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (13 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: That is exactly what I am doing.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (13 Feb 2003)

Martin Cullen: I thank all the Senators for their contributions to what was a detailed Second Stage debate, which I welcome. I listened to the issues raised by various Senators from their perspective as councillors, as I was myself, and I understand the system. Some of the issues, however, are not always somebody else's responsibility. We have to make decisions collectively. There appears to be some...