Results 1,921-1,940 of 8,196 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 38: In page 8, to delete lines 25 to 27.

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 39: In page 8, line 27, to delete “expedient” and substitute “necessary”.

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 41: In page 9, to delete line 5. This amendment seeks to delete subsection 9(b), which proposes to delete subsections (1A) to (1D), inclusive, of section 108 of the 2000 Act. I give notice that I may withdraw this amendment in favour of my amendments Nos. 47 and 48, which are more tightly framed and address the same fundamental concern around local government...

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will withdraw amendment No. 41. I may withdraw amendment No. 42 depending on the reply.

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: To clarify, I am withdrawing amendment No. 41. I will press amendment No. 42, however, which does, in fact, agree with the removal of the possibility of a quorum of two. Amendment No. 42 removes subsections (1A), (1B), and (1D) but does not remove section (1C), which requires a higher quorum in respect of changes or proposals that materially contravene it. To be very clear, I am pressing...

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I asked the Minister of State for a response in respect of an issue.

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I raised a number of other categories as well. I thank the Minister of State for that response, however. I will look at that and the other legislation.

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will withdraw amendment No. 41.

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 42: In page 9, line 5, to delete “subsections (1A) to (1D)” and substitute “subsections (1A), (1B) and (1D)”.

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 43: In page 9, to delete lines 6 to 17. This seeks the deletion of the proposed new subsection (4) of section 108, which currently provides that where, owing to the illness of the chairperson or of an ordinary member, or for any other reason, a sufficient number of members of the board is not available to enable the board effectively to perform its functions, the...

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 46: In page 9, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following: "(d) in subsection (4) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (a): "(aa) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), an individual who is or within the preceding 1 year was employed by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage shall not be eligible for appointment under...

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 47: In page 9, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following: "(d) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (4): "(4A) Notwithstanding any provision of this section, a quorum shall be 5 where the decision before the Board concerns any of the following: (a) large-scale residential developments; (b) development that would materially...

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 48: In page 9, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following: "(d) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (4): "(4A) Notwithstanding any provision of this section, a quorum shall be 5 where the decision before the Board concerns a development that would materially contravene the relevant development plan.".".

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I want to indicate my very strong support for these amendments. In a Bill that gives such an incredible amount of discretion to the Minister, it is regrettable that it also gives absolute discretion to the chair in regard to addressing issues of concern. Again, this comes in the context where we have to acknowledge there is a crisis of public confidence in An Bord Pleanála, a crisis...

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: While it is a one-stage process and that is appreciated, it is a one-stage process that may or may not apply, and may or may not be acted upon. I do not think there is a contradiction between the Minister of State's intent in terms of it being a one-stage process and the intent of these amendments, which would ensure it is a one-stage process which shall be applied.

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes. It will make matters worse. Things have been pretty bad. Let us be clear on that.

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is very interesting. We have had this again and again and we have raised concerns about An Bord Pleanála. One would not think there had been any problem with An Bord Pleanála for the past few years because everybody in the Government has talked constantly about how wonderful it is, how nobody should ever challenge a decision it makes and how terrible it is that people would...

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 52: In page 10, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 150 of Act of 2000 11.The Act of 2000 is amended in section 150 by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (2): “(2A) Such codes of conduct described in subsection (2) shall require any member of an authority or the Board to disclose— ...

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I would ask the Minister of State to return to and examine the issue because at the moment there is a requirement that there is a code of conduct, and there is a list of issues that the code may address, but this does not necessarily include these requirements. We saw how the internal regulation and self-monitoring systems of the board failed to address the issues that arise and got into the...

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 53: "In page 10, line 16, after “subsoil” to insert “to a depth of 30 feet”." This amendment relates to another part of the Bill on the foreshore. It seeks to amend the definition of "foreshore" in section 13 of the Bill to clarify that, as was the case in the 1933 Act, the foreshore is considered to include subsoil but to a depth of 30 f....