Results 261-280 of 9,994 for speaker:John Gormley
- Unfinished Housing Developments (25 Nov 2010)
John Gormley: That is normally the case.
- Unfinished Housing Developments (25 Nov 2010)
John Gormley: One cannot know the figures by simply looking off into the distance and saying how many ghost estates there are; one has to count them and that is what we did.
- Unfinished Housing Developments (25 Nov 2010)
John Gormley: In excess of 2,800 housing developments were identified where construction had commenced but had not yet been completed. It was wrong for some of the media commentators to characterise every one of the developments inspected by my Department as a so-called "ghost estate", a phrase which was constantly used. Such reporting is not just incorrect, it is sometimes irresponsible. As the detail...
- Unfinished Housing Developments (25 Nov 2010)
John Gormley: As the Deputy knows, a guidance manual is being developed and I expect it to set out the roles and responsibilities of the key stakeholders in addressing unfinished housing development, identify the type of developments and issues that need to be prioritised for action in the short term, summarise the wide range of statutory powers currently at the disposal of local authorities to resolve...
- Foreshore Licences (25 Nov 2010)
John Gormley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 34 together. Short-term administrative and regulatory measures are being introduced to improve the throughput of foreshore applications by my Department, which has been working with the Department of Finance on a business process improvement exercise in the foreshore area. This process has been completed and the recommended actions are now being...
- Foreshore Licences (25 Nov 2010)
John Gormley: The legislation is being developed and is at an early stage. It is extremely comprehensive. The original legislation dates from 1933. The Department is dealing with quite a number of outstanding issues. That is not in the main body of our current work but I hope we can give it priority in the new year. A foreshore licence can only be issued if it is in the public interest. The current...
- Foreshore Licences (25 Nov 2010)
John Gormley: It has been brought to my attention but I do not know of any instance where a Minister has exercised that power. I have tried to determine that. An inconsistency of this sort will be part of a review of the legislation. There are priority one, priority two and priority three procedures in place. The Deputy is talking about priority three, so it is down the list. These refer to outfall...
- Local Government Efficiency (25 Nov 2010)
John Gormley: I propose to take Question Nos. 7 and 49 together. The findings and recommendations of the report of the independent local government efficiency review group are for consideration by the Government in the appropriate policy and financial contexts. I propose shortly to establish an implementation group with an independent chairperson to oversee implementation of relevant recommendations in...
- Local Government Efficiency (25 Nov 2010)
John Gormley: Each time we make decisions, Fine Gael objects to them. That is the problem.
- Local Government Efficiency (25 Nov 2010)
John Gormley: There is the recommendation to implement the manager for two county-city councils.
- Local Government Efficiency (25 Nov 2010)
John Gormley: It is in the Fine Gael policy document, Reinventing Government. It endorses this specific proposal. When I met Fine Gael councillors recently, they objected out of hand-----
- Local Government Efficiency (25 Nov 2010)
John Gormley: Fine Gael has lots of them and they all object-----
- Local Government Efficiency (25 Nov 2010)
John Gormley: As far as I can see, the Deputy's party is one of blockers.
- Local Government Efficiency (25 Nov 2010)
John Gormley: The Deputy's party was in government for years. Did it never dawn on the party that we needed water charges?
- Local Government Efficiency (25 Nov 2010)
John Gormley: We have introduced water charges fairly.
- Local Government Efficiency (25 Nov 2010)
John Gormley: It is in the four year plan. It is all there. We have also introduced a charge on second homes, which should have been done years ago.
- Local Government Efficiency (25 Nov 2010)
John Gormley: Those have all been put in place.
- Local Government Efficiency (25 Nov 2010)
John Gormley: I recall the Deputy sending out scaremongering press releases at the time when I tried to discuss the issue with Fine Gael Senators.
- Local Government Efficiency (25 Nov 2010)
John Gormley: That is the way he acts. All the recommendations are under consideration.
- Local Government Efficiency (25 Nov 2010)
John Gormley: I have already outlined those which have been implemented. We will continue to implement them and take the brave decisions we have taken before.