Results 181-200 of 566 for speaker:Niall Ó Brolcháin

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: It is said there are lies, damn lies and statistics, and people can quote all sorts of different figures. However, the reality is that when we came into Government the price of electricity was considerably higher than it is post-PSO levy. That is a reality and if Fine Gael wants to refute that point I would like to see its figures because the figures are quite clear that electricity prices...

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: That is the way to do it, with the bogs to be restored and it is possible to do that with revenues from wind energy and perhaps other types of biofuel energy in the midlands region. A lot of damage has been done to the ecosystems in the Bog of Allen and that is what the PSO levy is partly used for. There are serious environmental issues around this. The point Fine Gael is making is that in...

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: Absolutely.

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: This is a political debate.

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: This has been framed as a political debate.

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I would like to see domestic rates being reduced on a council by council basis. I am sure Senator Coffey would also like to see them being reduced. Using renewable energy resources is definitely the way to do. Fine Gael speaks about swapping in regard to the €6 billion spent on imported fossil fuels every year, for which I commend it. The NewERA document is a good one. We do need to...

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: It is a big issue for individuals, but we can deal with that matter.

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: We will have to deal with that matter in imaginative ways.

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: The motion is a good one and raises an important point. The point made by Senator Coffey is valid. However, we need to come up with imaginative ways to deal with the issues involved.

Seanad: End of Life Care: Motion (29 Sep 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: With the permission of the House, I wish to share time with Senator Jim Walsh.

Seanad: End of Life Care: Motion (29 Sep 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I wish to put on the record of the House that unfortunately this debate has been curtailed and divided as a result of these pairing arrangements and is quite regrettable. This is a clear example of what happens as a result of long-time arrangements being curtailed.

Seanad: End of Life Care: Motion (29 Sep 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: The business of the House, at a very difficult time for the country, is being disrupted and this is an example of it. I welcome the Minister of State for this important debate. This is a very good debate and I commend the Independent Senators for tabling this subject for debate in Private Members' time. Their points are very well made. The Government amendment shows that many of the points...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (14 Jul 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I do not believe people, either in urban or rural areas, have a right to pump cryptosporidium into the water source. I do not believe they have a right to pollute other people's drinking water. I do not believe they have a right to expect services at a cost up to €1 million to be put in place for a house they decide they want to build in a place where a house has never been built...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (14 Jul 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I am providing a counterpoint to some of the points made about people having a right to do what they like.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (14 Jul 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: Laissez-faire planning is not something in which I believe. That is the point I am articulating. A Senator made an interesting remark to me today about these amendments. In recent years in County Monaghan supposedly democratic groups of councillors zoned sufficient land to have a city the size of Dublin built in parts of the county. I find that outrageous. The Minister also considered it...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (14 Jul 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: -----and a few weeks later, by simple majority, change it. Implementation is the key in planning. If it is an À la carte plan, it will not work.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (14 Jul 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: It is lovely to be interrupted, as it proves one has something of value to say, but-----

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (14 Jul 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: Planning is one of the most difficult issues one has to deal with as a politician. I was a local councillor for a number of years and mayor of a city. There is huge responsibility attached to these positions, but the level of training-----

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (14 Jul 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I dispute what Senator Healy Eames said..

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (14 Jul 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: In four months we solved the problem. We now have the highest rate of success in the world in tackling the problem of cryptosporidium in Galway. If that is not a good job, I do not know what is, but-----