Ryan, BrendanWednesday, 8 May 1991 |
Seanad Éireann Debate
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Environmental Protection Agency Bill, 1990: Committee Stage (Resumed).
May I speak on amendment No. 105?
I am not going to keep this House indefinitely on the question of whether the Minister may make regulations, but I have a funny feeling that inside Government Departments, obviously with the support o...
I have an amendment which is separate. It is about the power of the Minister to remove from office a member of the advisory committee. We are not talking about the environmental protection agency no...
In accepting the Minister's assurance that she will look at it again, I want to reiterate her own point which is that we are talking her about volunteers and that in respect of people who volunteer to...
I will not say anything about what Sentor Murphy said. I want to talk about the section, not about Senator O'Toole, or feminism or anything else. I have this problem perpetually with central Governm...
I would probably be expelled if I joined up. (Interruptions.)
I do not think anybody is under any illusion where my political affiliations or political loyalties lie, on the left. (Interruptions.)
If I was not in good humour I would be appealing to you for protection.
That is an unnecesasry assault from the right. There is a very serious question here, that is the presumption that the Minister somehow has some sort of special expertise and can pick from organisati...
I fully accept in this case the goodwill of the Minister and we have ample evidence of it. If I argue with her it is not because I want an argument because I think she misunderstood me. There are fiv...
I had better explain what I meant because I think the Minister's first reply suggested a misunderstanding of what I was looking for in the section. Can she explain to me in simple English why she shou...
Under section 27 (5) (a) will four nominations be made by each organisation representating professions and occupations, or four nominations by the group of those organisations?
If they can nominate four why can they not nominate one as their representative? The Minister states that they might pick an inappropriate person. The Irish people pick inappropriate people as their ...
I say without the slightest malice that the Minister's arguments are unconvincing. I will leave it at that. They are a product of a centralist ideology which has ruined this country. There is nothi...
The classic centralised Irish view about confidential information is that for fear we might release something that might be secret we will not release anything. It is simply the words the Minister us...
It is perfectly reasonable that certain matters should be confidential but there should be a reason for confidentiality. We have a freedom of information directive which may be implemented by this Ac...
This is more appropriate to section 38 but the words used by the Minister provoked me because it was the classic defence of non-disclosure, that we might let out something that would be troublesome so...
The Minister gave game, set and match to Senator O'Toole a minute ago and we should give game, set and match to the Minister on this one. A number of us misread section 31 and we should not spend our...
My own amendment is to do with section 35. However, the two amendments are quite clearly related so I will speak to my own first. This is about an employee of the agency. An employee of the agency ...
I am not talking at this stage about the directors; I am talking about the employees. The provision in section 35, to which my amendment relates, is that somebody would have to stand seconded for thr...
Mostly one party.
First, the Minister is under a misapprehension about where power lies in this State. If the director general of the environmental protection agency really wants to know where power resides he or she ...
I move amendment No. 134: In page 30, subsection (2), lines 3 and 4, to delete paragraph (b). Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
May I ask the Minister a question? Given what we have said on a couple of earlier sections, particularly on the conditions of service of the staff of the agency and particularly those who could be tr...
I move amendment No. 137: In page 31, subsection (1) (d), line 10, to delete “take no part in” and substitute “absent himself from”. These amendments are quite simple and hardly need much argument. T...
I am very grateful to the Minister, as she has been throughout this legislation, for being most patient and forthcoming. Her patience is even more deserving of praise than her forthcoming attitude at...
Where disclosure of interests arise — I intended to put in an amendment to this effect but forgot — where a conflict of interest is declared, it ought to be a matter of public record; it should not be...
I move amendment No. 139: In page 31, before section 38, to insert the following new section: “38.—(1) All information other than confidential information obtained by the Agency shall be made availab...
For a Minister who has been able to defend difficult situations that is among the poorest defence I have heard. I am really disappointed. I do not know what the problem is with Irish Governments. W...
It may well be that I am putting more weight on “shall” then “may” but I know the Minister's goodwill on the issue is bona fides so I will not get involved in a long argument with her. There are two o...
Can the Minister tell me what constraints she thinks exist on the agency subject to section 107? What other constraints exist on the agency not to classify all their business as confidential? Subject...
Will a person who discloses information within the agency, because he feels it is covered by section 107, have protection? They have, for instance, in the United States legislation to protect what th...
I am extremely unhappy about the position of members of the advisory committee. Given the constraints that already exist, and what can be told to the advisory committee, to suggest in addition to tha...
Confidence in the Minister for the Environment: Motion (Resumed).
Cuirim failte roimh an Aire anseo. Tá mé cinnte go dtaitníonn sé go mór leis a bheith ag féachaint amach ar an dtráthnóna breá seo.
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