Results 1,181-1,200 of 7,082 for speaker:John Paul Phelan

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Garda Reserve (24 Jan 2019)

John Paul Phelan: I understand.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Exploration Licences (24 Jan 2019)

John Paul Phelan: I thank the Senator for raising this matter. The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, is taking oral parliamentary questions in the Dáil at the same time as this, so it is just one of those scheduling issues, but I will respond on behalf of his Department and relate to him the questions raised. It is important to note that mineral exploration drilling projects do not ordinarily require...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Exploration Licences (24 Jan 2019)

John Paul Phelan: I will take the questions, though.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Funding (24 Jan 2019)

John Paul Phelan: Central Government funding of local authorities presents a complex picture, with transfers, both current and capital, coming from a range of Departments and Offices for a variety of purposes. Some streams of funding are delivered directly from funding departments to local authorities, while others are routed through departmental agencies. Most of the funding sourced from Central Government...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Electoral Divisions Report (24 Jan 2019)

John Paul Phelan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 308 and 309 together. I established two independent Local Electoral Area Boundary Committees (No. 1 and No. 2) in December 2017 to review and make recommendations on local electoral areas (LEAs) having regard to, among other things, the results of Census 2016 as well as the commitment to consider reducing the size of territorially large local...

Local Government Bill 2018: From the Seanad (23 Jan 2019)

John Paul Phelan: Maybe Roscommon as well. A directly elected mayor is what is envisaged in the plebiscite legislation. Cork city is a separate local authority. It is the directly elected mayors of the single authorities in question that people will be asked about in May. That question has been removed in the Galway context, but that is the legitimate decision of the Seanad, which I am sure will be agreed...

Local Government Bill 2018: From the Seanad (23 Jan 2019)

John Paul Phelan: I will refer to Cork briefly to begin. An amendment was agreed to, which I tabled, to ensure that the financial review period is extended to ten years, specifically with a view to ensuring the situation with Cork County Council. I have no role in boundaries, through fields or otherwise, but I agree with the Deputy. I have always supported geographic boundaries being boundaries, whether it...

Local Government Bill 2018: From the Seanad (23 Jan 2019)

John Paul Phelan: With regard to amendment No. 5, we accepted the purpose behind the Fianna Fáil amendment, which was to ensure that there would be a report published within two years which would reflect the outcome of the plebiscites that are to be held on the issue of directly elected mayors. Parliamentary draftsmen felt that the wording of the Fianna Fáil amendment was such that, if it were to be...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: National Planning Framework (22 Jan 2019)

John Paul Phelan: It is the first time in his life that the Senator has been brief.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: National Planning Framework (22 Jan 2019)

John Paul Phelan: I thank him for his congratulations as well. The Senator is correct that this is a major issue in rural areas. It is fair to state, however, that rural housing has been a major issue for 20 years, not least in the Senator's area of north Kildare. I will outline the position from the perspective of the recently announced national planning framework, NPF. The latter was published in 2018...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: National Planning Framework (22 Jan 2019)

John Paul Phelan: The councillors' role is to devise the development plan for their area. If there is an issue with the development plan in County Kildare, it is open to the councillors in the county to amend it. I understand what the Senator is saying about objective 19. By the way, I do not see how the use of the word "occupational" complicates things. It is quite clear that in the case of someone like a...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: National Planning Framework (22 Jan 2019)

John Paul Phelan: It is open to the councillors in Kildare to have their planning meeting in the morning. In the meantime, the Minister will issue the planning guidelines when he has finalised them.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Constitutional Convention Recommendations (22 Jan 2019)

John Paul Phelan: I thank the Senator. This is at least the second time that we have had this discussion on Commencement Matters. I acknowledge that the Senator and other Members are strong advocates for a reduction in the voting age to 16, which was recommended by the report of the Constitutional Convention in 2013, as the Senator pointed out. The convention examined this issue extensively and during its...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Brexit Issues (22 Jan 2019)

John Paul Phelan: It is intended to bring legislative proposals to Government shortly to amend the European Parliament Elections Act 1997 (as amended) in order to give effect to the recommendations in the Report on European Parliament Constituencies 2018 in connection with the configuration of our European Parliament constituencies and the number of members to be elected from each such constituency. This...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Funding (22 Jan 2019)

John Paul Phelan: The funding system that applies to local authorities is a complex one, as authorities derive their income from a variety of local sources including commercial rates, charges for goods and services and funding from Central Government. Central Government funding of local authorities similarly presents a complex picture, with transfers, both current and capital, coming from a wide range of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Elected Office Requirements (22 Jan 2019)

John Paul Phelan: I have no current plans to introduce a pilot scheme to specifically financially assist candidates with disabilities who wish to stand for election. The focus of my Department's work in this area relates to progressing the accessibility of voting and voter information, which is set down in the National Disability Inclusion Strategy 2017 -2021 as an action point for my Department in order to...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee Report (17 Jan 2019)

John Paul Phelan: Following the completion of reports by the two Local Area Boundary Committees established to review and make recommendations on local electoral areas, maps of local electoral areas and of municipal districts are currently being prepared on behalf of my Department by Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSI). It is expected these will be completed and made available in the near future.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee Report (15 Jan 2019)

John Paul Phelan: Section 22(a) of the Local Government Act 2001, as amended by section 19 of the Local Government Reform Act 2014, provides for the naming of municipal districts, including the naming of certain municipal districts containing the administrative areas of former boroughs. In December 2017 the Department established two local electoral area boundary review committees. The terms of reference...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee Report (15 Jan 2019)

John Paul Phelan: The paper on municipal governance, which was proposed by the Department and agreed by the Government, is currently before the Oireachtas joint committee. I do not think it has yet got a chance to discuss it, but it goes into some of the detail to which the Deputy refers. Specifically identified is the return of some version of the old block grant that town councils used to have and which I...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee Report (15 Jan 2019)

John Paul Phelan: -----the other things being considered are additional reserve functions, decisions on local capital works and local disposals of property by municipal councillors from those borough districts.