Results 17,741-17,760 of 20,454 for speaker:Brian Stanley

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2014)

Brian Stanley: The Northern Ireland Minister for the Environment is from the SDLP, not Sinn Féin.

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2014)

Brian Stanley: England.

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2014)

Brian Stanley: The taxpayer.

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2014)

Brian Stanley: I did not.

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2014)

Brian Stanley: I have serious concerns about this section. We tried to address the issue of the assets and liabilities of local authorities with the previous Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan, including their extent, their complex nature and the method for transferring them. This is my first term in the Dáil, but I have never seen a local authority by-law, even...

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2014)

Brian Stanley: I wish to ask the Minister about pensions and section 9. I listened very carefully to what he said. My concern relates to the powers he has. I mean no disrespect but I am not so sure that he has that much power. I know it is a public company. The Minister knows how concerned we are about that - that it stays a public company. I am chairperson of the board of a small not-for-profit...

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2014)

Brian Stanley: Could the Minister address the point concerning his powers relating curtailing excessive pensions for senior executives and pay structures?

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2014)

Brian Stanley: I am concerned to ensure the pension rights of workers transferring to Irish Water are protected, especially for workers who do not have large salaries. I note that section 9(1)(b) proposes to insert the following paragraph, "members of the staff of a local authority (unless their contracts of employment provide for a defined contribution scheme)." Will the staff who transfer to Irish Water...

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2014)

Brian Stanley: That is Vodafone. It is a different matter.

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2014)

Brian Stanley: I move amendment No. 30:In page 9, to delete line 35.On studying the Bill, I see no mechanism for resolving disputes with Irish Water. In my constituency, a contractor working on behalf of Irish Water came to an estate to fit meters. A retired nurse living there was away for a week with her family when the meters were fitted. The valve on the meters is not like the old valve, which one had...

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2014)

Brian Stanley: We had 31 forums for water services, namely, the local authorities. That is where water services plans were devised and people were made accountable by their peers in the electorate. The Minister met councillors in County Laois yesterday, and he saw local government in action there.

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2014)

Brian Stanley: That is good. The Sinn Féin presence on the council makes all the difference.

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2014)

Brian Stanley: There is a small Labour Party presence. It is Sinn Féin's firm belief that local authorities and the Dáil are the best way of providing accountability. Unfortunately, Irish Water is at one remove from such accountability. There may be an occasional clinic or a hotline but that is as good as it gets. It is the difference between democratic accountability and corporatism....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: General Scheme of the Planning and Development (No. 1) Bill 2014 (16 Dec 2014)

Brian Stanley: I propose that we suspend until they come back. I know it is awkward.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Leader Programmes Administration (16 Dec 2014)

Brian Stanley: 596. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will confirm that the local community development committees are legally obliged, under the Local Government Reform Act 2014, to submit an expression of interest to prepare a local development strategy and to become a local action group for Leader 2014-2020. [47700/14]

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Leader Programmes Administration (16 Dec 2014)

Brian Stanley: 597. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if it is Government policy to direct local community development committees, through local authorities, to submit an expression of interest to prepare a local development strategy and to become the local action group for Leader 2014-2020. [47701/14]

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Dec 2014)

Brian Stanley: Without our amendments, the section is flawed and we will oppose it. Consider the past 18 months. Much has been said about the Dáil being the representative forum of the people of the Twenty-six Counties, but its Members have not been able to get answers. I stood opposite Phil Hogan when he sat where the Minister is and asked direct questions, but he waved his hand and brushed away my...

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Dec 2014)

Brian Stanley: This relates directly to section 7. If the Minister is not going to answer questions on Irish Water in the Chamber or via written reply and if the key stakeholders are not on the forum, which is being established merely to be a talking shop and to create a mirage, from where will we get answers? The Minister will move further down that track. I know where this is going - I saw it with...

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Dec 2014)

Brian Stanley: The Minister has said he will not contact the Association of Irish Local Government until after the regulations have been made. He also said he does not have a problem with this. That is the problem. The composition of the forum will depend on what the Minister of the day thinks about who he or she wants to be there. In this amendment, my party is attempting to set out specific categories...

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Dec 2014)

Brian Stanley: The issue with the Association of Irish Local Government is that substantial powers have been taken from it. I suggest in the specific context of this amendment that it comprised a democratic forum. The county and city councils used to make the water plans. They had to prioritise. Their members made a significant input into the annual water plans. That has now been removed. It is not...