Results 13,001-13,020 of 13,214 for speaker:Pat Gallagher

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (16 Jun 2004)

Pat Gallagher: I appreciate the point the Senator made about waste management. The powers were transferred as a result of legislation enacted by the Oireachtas. If this or a future Government were to contemplate privatisation of water schemes, it would not rely on this Bill which features nothing to give power to a Minister in this regard. The enactment of further legislation would be absolutely necessary....

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (16 Jun 2004)

Pat Gallagher: Section 27 provides for the transfer of functions conferred under this Bill. The legislation does not provide for any power to raise water charges. Such powers are provided separately under existing local government financial provisions legislation which I referred to earlier. In the circumstances, the insertion of the proposed words would be superfluous given that the function referred to is...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (16 Jun 2004)

Pat Gallagher: This amendment to section 30(1)(b) provides that the Minister shall have overall responsibility inter alia for the planning and supervision of investment programmes for the provision of water services. The amendment is necessary because as currently drafted, the wording of paragraph (b) could be interpreted so as to involve the Minister in day to day supervision of works projects including...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (16 Jun 2004)

Pat Gallagher: This amendment is tabled to avoid doubt and to prevent paragraph i (viii) being interpreted as enabling the Minister to direct a water services authority to provide water services to specific individuals. Section 30(4) sets out in detail the functions of the Minister under the Bill, which include under paragraph i (viii) power to direct a water services authority on the general performance of...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (16 Jun 2004)

Pat Gallagher: Section 30 places overall responsibility with the Minister to facilitate the provision of safe and efficient water services and associated water services infrastructure, and provides for the necessary associated powers. Subsection (4) sets out a broad menu of powers which may be exercised by the Minister in the course of exercising his or her functions under this Bill. These include inter...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (16 Jun 2004)

Pat Gallagher: As the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act 1851 is mentioned only once in section 9 of the Bill, I am pleased to accept amendments Nos. 1 and 32.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (16 Jun 2004)

Pat Gallagher: This is a technical amendment to correct a clerical error. There is no reference to the Local Government (Financial Provisions) Act 1997 in the Bill.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (16 Jun 2004)

Pat Gallagher: While there are many amendments here, a thread runs through them. They form a package of technical measures designed to make the legislation operate more efficiently. After the publication of the Bill, departmental officials consulted widely on it, as the Minister indicated on Second Stage, particularly with local authority engineers. We are, therefore, making changes of an engineering...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (16 Jun 2004)

Pat Gallagher: This is a technical amendment to remove unnecessary duplication arising from the inclusion of "horticulture" in the earlier definition of "agriculture" in section 2.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (16 Jun 2004)

Pat Gallagher: I thank Senator Bannon for tabling the amendments and Senator Brady for supporting them. Having revisited sections 3 and 8, I accept that the revised wording is an improvement on the existing text. I will, therefore, take on board the amendments and thank the Senator for bringing the matter to our attention.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (16 Jun 2004)

Pat Gallagher: I will deal with the amendments and then confirm the position regarding domestic water charges. The common thread running through these amendments is that they propose to introduce provisions relating to water charges in the Bill. This is not appropriate or necessary. The Water Services Bill is designed primarily to regulate the delivery and supervision of water services and to enable...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (16 Jun 2004)

Pat Gallagher: I have reviewed this section with my officials and I agree the proposed amendment adds clarity to the intention of the section. Therefore, I am happy to accept it. On the further question raised by Senator Bannon, I state unambiguously that the Government's position on water charges has not been changed by this Bill. The Bill makes no provision whatsoever for water charges. The Local...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (16 Jun 2004)

Pat Gallagher: I confirm that and state emphatically and unambiguously that this is not part of the Government's or the Minister's agenda. A review of all aspects of local government funding is currently under way and I do not intend to tie the hands of those who are carrying it out. It would not be appropriate for me to engage in speculation on the outcome of the review. There is no point in ordering a...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (16 Jun 2004)

Pat Gallagher: This amendment deals with section 6 of the Bill, which enables the Minister, the Water Services Authority or other person prescribed for the purpose of his functions under this Bill to serve notice on specified persons requiring them to provide information. The amendment to section 6(1) is necessary to ensure the obligations to provide information apply equally to all, not just water service...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (16 Jun 2004)

Pat Gallagher: The purpose of this amendment is to enable regulations to be made dealing with the provision of information under the Bill by electronic means. For example, in the matter of licensing applications or appeals, data on monitoring or strategic water services plans, it will enable procedures under the Act to be kept abreast of ongoing developments in technology. The detailed provisions are based...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (16 Jun 2004)

Pat Gallagher: I will deal with the substantive amendment to section 49 under amendment No. 87 first. Amendment No. 87 replaces the existing section 49 and expands the scope of its application to include service connections in addition to waterworks and waste waterworks as before. In addition, for the avoidance of doubt, the obligation on third parties to provide relevant information to the water services...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (16 Jun 2004)

Pat Gallagher: I cannot agree with Senator Bannon. We have all dealt with group water schemes in our time. However, I am referring to large schemes. If the final plans are submitted within six months of the completion of the works we will have made tremendous progress. The problems to which Senator Bannon referred do not necessarily emerge for a considerable time, generally some years. I want to ensure that...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (16 Jun 2004)

Pat Gallagher: There will be a nominal charge and that is reasonable. If one currently seeks copies of a planning application or details from an application, there will be a charge. It will certainly not be a question of trying to meet substantial costs, but rather to recover the actual cost.

Seanad: Report on Seanad Reform: Statements. (2 Jun 2004)

Pat Gallagher: I will be brief because I came here today to listen. I take this opportunity to compliment Senator O'Rourke, Leader of the Seanad and chairperson of the sub-committee, Senator Brian Hayes, Leader of the Fine Gael group, Senator Dardis, Deputy Leader of the Seanad, and Senator O'Toole, co-ordinator of the Independent group. I thank them for giving of their time and producing a comprehensive...

Seanad: Report on Seanad Reform: Statements (Resumed). (2 Jun 2004)

Pat Gallagher: During my introductory remarks and comments, I paid tribute to the members of the sub-committee dealing with Seanad reform. I inadvertently omitted to mention the contribution of Senator Ryan. Although he resigned from the sub-committee, he made a valuable contribution. I would like to be associated with his colleagues' remarks in paying tribute to him. The contributions of the Senators who...