Results 13,061-13,080 of 13,270 for speaker:Pat Gallagher

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...

Seanad: Shooting Regulations. (26 May 2004)

Pat Gallagher: There has been a long-standing policy of not allowing hunting on State lands acquired and managed for nature conservation purposes. The reasons for this approach are twofold: to protect the safety of people visiting and using national parks and to avoid compromising the nature conservation status of these lands. In 1999, the then Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands...

Seanad: Shooting Regulations. (26 May 2004)

Pat Gallagher: Following the advice issued by the Heritage Council and at the request of the National Association of Regional Game Councils, NARGC, the previous Minister agreed in early 2002, without prejudice, to a joint examination by a scientific group, comprising officials of the Department and nominees of NARGC, of the question of permitting hunting on State lands, from a scientific perspective only....

Seanad: Shooting Regulations. (26 May 2004)

Pat Gallagher: It is also the case that the lands in question amount to only approximately 1% of the land area of the State, while extensive facilities for hunting are available on Coillte lands, as the Senator pointed out, privately owned land and foreshore. The Minister also had to take account of considerations of public safety and confidence and of the potential exposure of the State to claims for...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (12 May 2004)

Pat Gallagher: The first part of amendment No. 1 reflects what will happen when the Bill is enacted and, consequently, I hope Senator Quinn will accept my undertaking that the commencement order will reflect this point. With regard to the second part of the amendment, the commission's terms of reference in Schedule 5, together with sections 21 and 22, state the commission's reports will comprise...