Results 16,981-17,000 of 18,851 for speaker:Fergus O'Dowd

Waste Management: Motion (Resumed). (4 Jul 2007)

Fergus O'Dowd: I will give Deputy Kennedy his answer in a minute.

Waste Management: Motion (Resumed). (4 Jul 2007)

Fergus O'Dowd: This has been an important debate and I welcome the contributions from all sides. To use the words of the Minister, Deputy Gormley, the proposed incinerator in Poolbeg is a massive development which will be the length of Croke Park, the height of Liberty Hall and the stacks of which will beas high as the Spire in the centre of Dublincity.

Waste Management: Motion (Resumed). (4 Jul 2007)

Fergus O'Dowd: As one can see from his website, the Minister has numerous impressive and telling photographs of this. One photograph, which I have before me, shows the Minister, the Minister of State, Deputy Sargent, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Ryan, and Senator to be Dan Boyle outside the steps of Leinster House.

Waste Management: Motion (Resumed). (4 Jul 2007)

Fergus O'Dowd: This photograph obviously no longer exists.

Waste Management: Motion (Resumed). (4 Jul 2007)

Fergus O'Dowd: Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, it is gone. The photograph no longer appears here anyway, but the fact is we all know where the Minister, in his heart and in his mind, stands on this matter and I supported him and his party, nationally and locally, in his opposition to incineration. In fact, the Minister stated on 19 October last in a press statement on Poolbeg that if he was sitting at the...

Waste Management: Motion (Resumed). (4 Jul 2007)

Fergus O'Dowd: Where do we stand on this issue? The fundamental principle is that before entering Government the Green Party had the opportunity to identify this as a core issue and honour the pledge on its website. The Green Party policy is to put a ten year moratorium on the development of incinerators and other thermal treatment facilities nationally. We found this on the Green Party website today....

Waste Management: Motion (Resumed). (4 Jul 2007)

Fergus O'Dowd: The Minister can change the website but he cannot stop Google from giving me the facts. I compliment Deputy Gormley on his website——

Waste Management: Motion (Resumed). (4 Jul 2007)

Fergus O'Dowd: ——and its links. I spent a lot of time following them here, there and everywhere. The people who marched behind the Minister up the hill to Leinster House are at the core of this issue. He did not do a deal before going into Government and should now listen to the Opposition and insist on changes. One of the key concerns about incineration is its impact on health. That is the...

Waste Management: Motion (Resumed). (4 Jul 2007)

Fergus O'Dowd: The report on the health impact of incineration, some of which was written by a fine person and prominent consultant, Dr. Anthony Staines, whose expertise Fine Gael and the Green Party have used, is not clear on the issue. It is certain that living in proximity to landfill or incinerators leads to a higher incidence of neural tube defects and heart defects in children. Even in the weak...

Waste Management: Motion (Resumed). (4 Jul 2007)

Fergus O'Dowd: I could not read the script the Minister read last night. My stomach churned when I heard those weak arguments. The Minister stated: "I live with my family in Ringsend and my position as a public representative for Dublin South-East and a local resident in regard to the Poolbeg incinerator project is well known, entirely consistent and second to none." Let the Minister prove it tonight by...

Waste Management: Motion (Resumed). (4 Jul 2007)

Fergus O'Dowd: None of the Green Party Deputies is present.

Waste Management: Motion (Resumed). (4 Jul 2007)

Fergus O'Dowd: None of the party's Deputies is present.

Waste Management: Motion (Resumed). (4 Jul 2007)

Fergus O'Dowd: Thank the Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern.

Waste Management: Motion (Resumed). (4 Jul 2007)

Fergus O'Dowd: So are we all honourable men.

Waste Management: Motion (Resumed). (4 Jul 2007)

Fergus O'Dowd: Is the Deputy for or against the incinerator?

Waste Management: Motion (Resumed). (4 Jul 2007)

Fergus O'Dowd: We see the smoke.

Waste Management: Motion (Resumed). (4 Jul 2007)

Fergus O'Dowd: The Deputy did not see Mairéad McGuinness there. I saw her.

Waste Management: Motion (Resumed). (4 Jul 2007)

Fergus O'Dowd: Deputy Cuffe contradicted himself. He did not have his facts right.

Written Answers — Independent Hospital Review: Independent Hospital Review (3 Jul 2007)

Fergus O'Dowd: Question 249: To ask the Minister for Health and Children when she will publish the report and findings into the allegations of mistreatment of patients in St. Mary's Geriatric Hospital, Phoenix Park; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19055/07]

Written Answers — Prison Committals: Prison Committals (3 Jul 2007)

Fergus O'Dowd: Question 528: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of people who were committed to prison in the past five years for non payment of fines following court proceedings initiated by An Post for not having a television licence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18963/07]