Results 1,481-1,500 of 3,336 for speaker:Kate O'Connell

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

Kate O'Connell: But there would still have been significant costs up to the High Court. I think back to the secure bonds and the parent company. If the parent company is an unlimited company, how would the EPA know if the parent company is good for the money? What if there are external issues that would not grant the EPA a glimpse of a company's accounts? How does the EPA deal with companies like that?

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Why would the EPA not just get a sum of money and hold it? I cannot understand why the EPA would have to go through the process described. Local authorities used to keep a bond or surety. Why does the EPA not do the same? Many of these companies are huge companies that generally generate big enough profits. Why does the EPA not just hold the money as a guarantee the agency would hold, on...

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

Kate O'Connell: People have become more aware of radon, the barriers and monitors put in and maps showing high levels of radon. Has the EPA carried out an audit of the impacts? Are there any positive impacts? Mention has been made of 300 cases of lung cancer cases, which is an arbitrary figure. Is a figure available for the period before the EPA did anything about radon? Do we know whether the barriers...

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

Kate O'Connell: That can just be factored in with a sum.

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

Kate O'Connell: What I am getting back is that people might not be as enthusiastic about taking measures such as the way they can fix their radon levels if they are not seeing the raw data. It does not really matter if the population is ten or 15 people and it is one or two. That is just a proportion. What I am trying to get to are the science-led initiatives to reduce radon and in turn, reduce incidences...

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I know that but are they having any real impact on the population's health? I know how these measures work and that they are scientifically proven to stop radiation getting through them but in terms of the overall impact on population health, do we have any figure to show anything that has been done? If we are trying to get people to make changes to their homes to improve their health, we...

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Yes, but surely the best way of getting a message across is to say that 200 or so lives have been saved.

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

Kate O'Connell: That is my point. Perhaps there would be a better uptake if the EPA gave people very clear data as to why they need to do something.

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

Kate O'Connell: How long has the radon campaign been ongoing? Has it been ongoing for 20 years?

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I know that but if we are spending money on measuring and mapping and are recommending that people do certain things to prevent exposure, surely we need to show them that there is a net gain from the spend, for example, that so many lives have been saved or so many outcomes have been better as a result of these initiatives. If we put in State money, we expect to get something out at the...

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

Kate O'Connell: In terms of air quality, the documents state that the ambition is to significantly increase the availability of local real-time air quality. What sort of monitoring do we have throughout the country at the moment? If a radiological incident happens in Portlaoise, how would the EPA monitor this and how quickly could it say that the wind is blowing in a certain direction? Where is the EPA...

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Let us deal with the particulates first. If, for example, Rhode power station went on fire, particulate would be thrown out into the air. How many monitors are there around the country? How close are they together? What is the plan?

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

Kate O'Connell: With regard to GMO foods, Brexit etc., part of the EPA's remit is monitoring. Has the EPA had any role in getting Brexit-ready in terms of protecting our food chain and its integrity? Is that part of its job? I refer to the risk of hormone beef entering our system, resulting in the subsequent excretion of hormones into the water table, as with antibiotics. What sort of role has the EPA...

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

Kate O'Connell: In the EPA's work with the Department, has it an action plan ready? If a very hard Brexit emerges eventually and there is a risk of certain products entering the market, will the EPA have done work on what is to happen if a container with a certain product somehow ends up entering the Republic of Ireland? Is there an action plan to deal with tracing the product and removing it from the system?

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Somehow I ended up sitting on the water charges committee. Rainwater in Ireland, especially in the cities, is running into the sewerage system. We are dealing with a greater amount of wastewater that is not technically waste. Are there any plans for dealing with this in the longer term? Run-off water would not need as much treatment as sewage. I am referring to separation.

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Dual drainage.

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Let me follow up on radon. In the response the EPA sends to us, I would like to see a reference to how long the radon guidelines are in place. Other members might have something to say on this. How much has been spent on this by the EPA and across Departments, including through external consultants, in terms of administration to deliver the message to people on the ground? What has been...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Commercial Rates (17 Apr 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I am fully aware of what the Minister of State said in his response. I know the process and how rates valuations work. Anyone who pays rates knows all of what the Minister of State said in his response. A briefing session for the man in Cahir is not much good. It will not give him the €80,000 he needs to pay his rates bill. The Valuation Office says the valuation is "reflective"....

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Commercial Rates (17 Apr 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Like the set aside.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Commercial Rates (17 Apr 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I am fully aware as a ratepayer and business owner that revaluation has been happening over a number of years. In many cases, it has added fairness to existing rates but it has come to my attention recently, and the case is not based on my constituency, that the new way of evaluating rates for petrol stations and service stations, which is based on their turnover rather than the previous...