Joanne Collins
Agricultural Panel · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“I am going to speak to amendments Nos. 2, 4 and 8. Amendment No. 2 makes it absolutely clear that the strategic emergency gas reserve is exactly that: an emergency reserve. It cannot become another source of gas for day-to-day commercial supply or market management.”
“(3) The Minister must mandate that the CRU carries out an assessment on the impact of the expenses incurred on household bills under this Act and all future Acts relating to construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning of a Strategic Emergency Gas Reserve.”. I will keep this very brief.”
“I move amendment No. 6: In page 10, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: " State-led 5 . (1) The Strategic Emergency Gas Reserve constructed, operated and maintained under this Act and all future Acts relating to its construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning will be a State-led asset.”
“Yes, I am not going to give out. Regardless of what is said to me I am going to be nice today on our last day. I echo what is being said about everybody enjoying their break and the thanks to all the staff in here. It can be very daunting when you first come in but everybody makes you feel like you can do it. It is great to work here.”
“I move amendment No. 7: In page 10, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: " Gas demand 5 . (1) The Minister shall ensure that a Strategic Emergency Gas Reserve established under this Act and all future Acts relating to its construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning does not lead to an increase in gas demand.”
“I move amendment No. 10: In page 10, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: “Decommissioning 5. The Minister shall, within 12 months of the commencement of this Act, outline a plan for decommissioning any Strategic Emergency Gas Reserve constructed, operated, maintained or decommissioned under this Act and all future Acts relat…”
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“It keeps us all on our feet, and it is not every year; we have given the Government a bit of leeway there. Every three years is fairly reasonable to ensure it is doing what it needs to and is not going the wrong way.”
“I move amendment No. 11: In page 10, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: “ Review 5. Any approval granted under this Act shall be subject to review every 3 years.”. Amendment No. 11 concerns review, in particular, a three-year review. Given Ireland's energy landscape changes throughout time, it proposes there would be a mandatory review every three years to ensure the reserve remains necessary and appropriate in light of developments of renewable energy storage and interconnection. It is really just to keep a review on it, which I do not think is a bad thing. I like a good review.”
“Looking into the future, if this is five, ten, 15 or 20 years down the line, we could have an anti-green Government and having a decommissioning plan in place beforehand would alleviate the fear that this could go completely sideways. I know that the Minister of State hopes that it is so but Fianna Fáil may not always be in government. Just in case.”
“I move amendment No. 10: In page 10, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: “Decommissioning 5. The Minister shall, within 12 months of the commencement of this Act, outline a plan for decommissioning any Strategic Emergency Gas Reserve constructed, operated, maintained or decommissioned under this Act and all future Acts relating to its construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning.”. Amendment No. 10 is around decommissioning. If this is a temporary reserve, which is in the name of the Bill, we reckon there also should be a strategy put in place for its decommissioning, whenever that may be, and that it is not left to the next government to come up with a strategy.”
“As the Minister of State knows from living in County Clare with wind farms and whatnot, consultation is important because it can be dragged out as if the consultation side for the public is bypassed, they can think there is something going on that may not be going on. It is to ensure that the public are on board and consulted with hearings or public meetings. If this goes ahead, which it will, this proposed amendment would ensure that there is not uproar, litigations and judicial reviews whereby everything gets dragged out. It is just to keep the public informed and consulted throughout.”
“I move amendment No .9: In page 10, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: “Meaningful public consultation 5. The Minister shall ensure meaningful public participation, including— (a) accessible publication of all technical material, (b) community impact assessments, and (c) public hearings where significant local effects are identified.”. This amendment is around consultation. Communities deserve to be properly informed and consulted about infrastructure of this scale. This amendment provides for accessible information, community impact assessments and public hearings where significant local impacts are identified.”
“I move amendment No.8: In page 10, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: “Temporary and emergency use 5. (1) The Minister shall ensure that a Strategic Emergency Gas Reserve established under this Act and all future Acts relating to its construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning is temporary and for emergency use only. (2) The Minister shall lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas annually which demonstrates that the Strategic Emergency Gas Reserve is temporary and for emergency use only.”.”
“This amendment relates to the reserve and security of supply so that it is not going to be for outside vested interests when it comes to gas consumption. This amendment requires the Minister to demonstrate annually that the reserve is not driving greater dependence on fossil fuels. The Minister knows that we have an okay, if not good, track record in this country so far in trying to come off fossil fuels. We have used an awful lot of initiatives. It would be nice to know that this does not push us backwards from where we are at the moment.”
“I move amendment No. 7: In page 10, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: " Gas demand 5 . (1) The Minister shall ensure that a Strategic Emergency Gas Reserve established under this Act and all future Acts relating to its construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning does not lead to an increase in gas demand. (2) The Minister, within 12 months of the commencement of this Act, shall lay an annual report before both Houses of the Oireachtas which demonstrates that the Strategic Emergency Gas Reserve established under this Act and all future Acts relating to its construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning is not leading to an increase in gas demand.". This amendment relates to the increase of gas demand.”
“Essential infrastructure should serve the public interest rather than private commercial interests. We submitted amendments both here and in the Dáil and Seanad because we believe that energy security, as with food security or any kind of security for this country, should be State-owned. We should not give our gas or electricity to outside State companies.”
“I move amendment No. 6: In page 10, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: " State-led 5 . (1) The Strategic Emergency Gas Reserve constructed, operated and maintained under this Act and all future Acts relating to its construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning will be a State-led asset. (2) Any permission granted under this Act and all future Acts relating to construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning of a Strategic Emergency Gas Reserve must be explicitly limited to a public body only.”. This amendment relates to the facility being State-led, which we have been calling for since the beginning. Energy security is a matter of national interest. This amendment ensures that any strategic gas reserve remains in public ownership and under State control.”
“(3) The Minister must mandate that the CRU carries out an assessment on the impact of the expenses incurred on household bills under this Act and all future Acts relating to construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning of a Strategic Emergency Gas Reserve.”. I will keep this very brief. This amendment is around the cost of this facility not being passed on to households. At a time when bills are so high for energy in this country it is something about which we seek an amendment. The amendment protects consumers from footing the bill for this facility. Families and small businesses are already under enough pressure from high energy costs. Before any costs are imposed, the CRU should assess the impact and ensure that these expenses are not simply added to electricity and gas bills for the public.”
“I move amendment No. 5: In page 10, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following: “ Expenses 4 . (1) The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure,Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas. (2) The expenses to establish a Strategic Emergency Gas Reserve under this Act and all future Acts relating to its construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning will not be socialised across household and SME energy bills.”
“I move amendment No. 4: In page 9, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: “ “temporary” has the meaning that a Strategic Emergency Gas Reserve under this Act and all future Acts relating to its construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning shall be in operation for a limited time frame of 10 years only;“the Regulator” means the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities;”.”
“I move amendment No. 2: In page 7, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: " "Emergency use only" has the meaning as defined by the N-1 infrastructure standard defined by EU Regulation 2017/1938 only. A Strategic Emergency Gas Reserve under this Act and all future Acts relating to its construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning cannot be used for management of day-to-day energy demand;".”
“The amendment strengthens accountability by requiring the Minister to report annually that the reserve is being maintained solely for emergency purposes and remains a temporary measure.”
“I am going to speak to amendments Nos. 2, 4 and 8. Amendment No. 2 makes it absolutely clear that the strategic emergency gas reserve is exactly that: an emergency reserve. It cannot become another source of gas for day-to-day commercial supply or market management. As my colleagues have said, we need to know what "emergency" actually means when it comes to this reserve. If we are establishing this facility on energy security grounds, it must only ever be used in a genuine emergency, as defined under EU rules. Amendment No. 4 places a clear sunset clause on the reserve. It ensures that the facility would remain a temporary response to a specific energy security challenge and not become a permanent piece of fossil fuel infrastructure that would undermine our climate commitments. On amendment No. 8, I will keep my remarks short and sweet.”
“I know it was done for the Kerry games but Kerry seems to take precedence when it comes to transport for some reason. They think they are better than Limerick. I wish the two teams the best of luck, but we are going to enjoy our celebrations on Sunday.”
“Yes, I am not going to give out. Regardless of what is said to me I am going to be nice today on our last day. I echo what is being said about everybody enjoying their break and the thanks to all the staff in here. It can be very daunting when you first come in but everybody makes you feel like you can do it. It is great to work here. I am going to end by wishing the Limerick hurlers the best of luck on Sunday. I am proposing that everybody in Limerick gets a day off on Monday because there will be mighty celebrations. It is probably too late to bring this up - I should have brought this up about a month ago when I knew we were going to be in the final - but it would be nice to see, maybe for the next one, extra buses and train times being put on.”
“I could have just wrote "The Government is crap" and put it down as a motion, but I did not. I was being constructive. I was trying to include some nice things for a change because I do not always want to stand up here and give out. I want to say nice things. I had planned on coming in today and wishing the Limerick hurlers the best of luck but then I thought I would wait until tomorrow so as to end on a good note because I am usually the one standing here giving out about something. I had to do it tonight because the Government Senators just ripped this whole motion apart and called on the Government to do nothing. They then contradicted their amendment when they all stood up to give out about different things in rural Ireland, saying that this thing or that thing could be done. It just does not make sense to me.”
“I would like to see what it has been for the last four years and whether it has increased again. There was reference to our roads in rural Ireland, including the Macroom bypass and the N20-M20 being a little bit slow. A little bit slow would be five or ten years; we are over 20 years calling for it. That is not a little bit slow. That road has one of the most dangerous junctions, at O'Rourke's Cross where there have been the most accidents. It is probably classed as the most dangerous junction in the Twenty-six Counties. We are not calling for the moon and the stars. We are just calling for acknowledgement. For once, I did not criticise the Government or say it did not do something. I have acknowledged stuff. We have noted stuff and called on the Government to do stuff.”
“It comes back to us with an amendment to delete everything after "Seanad Éireann" and put in something else. It just does not make sense to me that we did not work together on it. We have all called for stuff for rural Ireland, yet the Government side wiped the entire motion and called on the Government to do nothing. That was left blank. I cannot figure it out. GAA clubs are being pushed together. There was a time when you had to get a letter from your GAA club to play for another club because it was in a different parish. Now we could have four or five parishes all playing in one club because they do not have the numbers. I know the statistics show that between 2016 and 2022, we had higher numbers. That could be in certain pockets around rural Ireland; it is not a percentage across rural Ireland.”
“I am more confused as to why the amendment takes everything out of our motion and makes no calls on the Government when all the Government Senators called on their Government to do something tonight. I just do not understand that. I would have loved if the Government Senators had removed the parts of the motion they did not like, left the parts that they did like in and added their own bits or reworded it. Senator Boyhan said he did not understand why everything was wiped and the Government Senators put their own wording in. I have a feeling it is because "Sinn Féin" was printed at the end. That is how it feels since the day we started writing motions and Private Members' business in this House. If Sinn Féin is on it, the entire thing is wiped.”
“I thank the Minister for his comprehensive response and all the Senators who contributed. However, I am more confused after this debate. I think every Senator in this House touched off an issue in rural Ireland, including Garda numbers making our communities feel safer. We never once said we wanted a garda in every house but, yes, we do want greater Garda numbers. We referred to GAA clubs not having enough players, which is another part of it. Senator O'Loughlin welcomed the wind energy guidelines being released, which was in our motion. Supporting pubs was definitely mentioned, and small businesses in rural communities were included in our motion. Reference was made to the National Ambulance Service, but healthcare was in our motion.”
“I do not understand why everything had to be taken out and the Government Senators do not call on the Government to do anything. It fathoms me.”
“Wind farms are again taking over good agricultural land. We have lots of land in this country that cannot be used for agriculture. Put them there or put them offshore like we have been saying we want for years. On the whole issue of one-off housing, if those young people cannot build on their own land or near where they grew up, they will move away. Eventually, the village will end up losing its pub because there is not anybody to go and have a pint. It will lose its shop because there is not somebody picking up groceries or getting diesel and petrol there. We will eventually erode our communities. I think our motion was quite balanced. We had a couple of asks, including increased gardaí and ensuring that our schools stay running.”
“One-off housing is so important for people to be able to build on their own land, especially if farming their land, and to be able to live there and not have to commute to and from work when it is their farm. The second one is about protecting agricultural land. I have said a few times that we need energy security, but we also need food security. The two should not be attacking each other. They need to work in tandem. Good agricultural land is being taken up for solar panels. Farmers are asking if they can put solar panels on their sheds. They are applying to a scheme and one in ten is getting approved, yet they all have to pay the fee to apply for it and they say they are not getting refunded the fee. We should not take up the agricultural land when we can put the panels off the ground.”
“People illegally hunt or shoot on their land and they fear they will be overwhelmed. They cannot approach them because they fear that person will turn on them for objecting to them being on their land. There are so many different aspects to this motion. On healthcare, we are always saying we need more home support. I do not see why that could not stay in it. On childcare, we are looking for extra availability and sustainable fees for our rural communities to ensure that parents can go back to work if and when they want to go back to work. The declining population in certain areas means we have the possibility of losing teachers and SNAs from schools in our rural communities. I went to the IFA conference briefing today and asked what issues were high on their agenda for rural Ireland. There were two specific asks.”
“I do not see why it is a big deal to ask for the guidelines that were due in 2009 to be released so that we can see if the new ones being proposed are up to standard and are the correct standard. We are looking for that to be released. We want more gardaí for our rural communities. We often speak in here about how there might be two local gardaí in a Garda station and if an accident happens on the main road, the gardaí have to attend the accident and if something else happens, there is no garda there. The station is shut down. We have seen it across Ireland in our rural areas where a lot of Garda stations were closed or put on reduced hours. I have spoken to a lot of farming families who have the fear of theft on their farms and there are no gardaí around to come over when they ring.”
“I cannot understand why the entire motion would be wiped and amended to suggest that nothing needs to be done by the Government. I will go through one or two things we would like to be implemented. We have been calling for a long time for the wind energy guidelines to be updated. I do not know about everybody in this House, but in County Limerick six wind farm developments have been proposed. Two have been going through planning with An Coimisiún Pleanála. There are huge issues with the fear of noise, the flicker, the health implications and what it is doing to rural villages across Limerick. A couple of houses will have 12 turbines within sight. They will be looking out each window to see turbines not that far away.”
“It claims that the Government has done everything possible for rural Ireland, and it does not call on the Government to do anything, which I find kind of shocking. It means that no more needs to be done for rural Ireland. Motions always call on the Government to at least put something into it. I find it shocking. I stand here most weeks and bring up issues about rural Ireland, as do my colleagues on this side and Senators on the opposite side of this House. They bring up rural issues because a lot of them are from rural areas. It was only two weeks ago that Senator Boyle brought up issues with wastewater treatment in his rural area. Senator Kennelly brought up the loss of jobs going back to early last year between west Limerick and north Kerry and how it is affecting his rural community.”
“I welcome the Minister. It is great to have him here. I know he too is passionate about rural Ireland, and it shows in the work he does. This motion is important to each of us because it touches on every walk of life, including healthcare and justice. It is about rural communities and farming. It is environmental. Being from a rural community in County Limerick, I thought it fitting to lay out what we see as lacking within our communities, or what has been brought to our attention if we have not seen it ourselves. I start by saying that I will be rejecting and voting against the amendment that was put forward. The simple reason is that it suggests that the Government is brilliant in everything it does.”
“I move: “That Seanad Éireann: acknowledges that: - - rural communities are central to the social, economic, cultural and environmental wellbeing of the State; - family farms, fishing communities, small businesses, schools, childcare services, community organisations and voluntary groups are the foundation of rural life; - many rural areas continue to experience population decline, reduced public services, inadequate transport links, limited access to healthcare, childcare and housing, and declining frontline Garda visibility; - productive agricultural land is a strategic national asset that must be protected to safeguard food security, support family farms and sustain rural communities; - the transition to renewable energy and the development of critical infrastructure must be carried out in a manner that respects local democracy, protects the environment and ensures meaningful community participation; - rural Ireland requires fair access to affordable energy, reliable broadband, quality education, healthcare, childcare, policing and other essential public services in order to thrive; notes with concern: - the continuing pressure on productive farmland from competing land uses; - ongoing uncertainty regarding updated national wind energy guidelines and the impact this has on communities affected by onshore wind development; - the reduction in Garda station accessibility and frontline visibility in many rural areas; - staffing shortages across childcare, healthcare and other essential services serving rural communities; - rising costs facing households, farmers and small businesses, including energy, insurance and production costs; calls on the Government to: - publish and implement a comprehensive Rural Ireland Protection and Renewal Plan with clear targets, timelines and annual reporting to the Oireachtas; - better protect productive agricultural land through strengthened planning policy and ensure that food security is recognised as a strategic national priority; - guarantee that any designation of projects as critical infrastructure preserves planning independence and meaningful public consultation; - immediately publish updated Wind Energy Development Guidelines, including clear provisions relating to setback distances, noise, shadow flicker, cumulative impacts and community protections; - increase frontline Garda resources in rural areas, ensure adequate staffing of rural Garda stations and expand dedicated roads policing units across rural counties; - accelerate investment in rural healthcare, home support services, childcare, schools, public transport, broadband and affordable housing; - provide targeted supports for family farms, fishing communities and rural small businesses, including measures to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy and improve economic viability; - ensure that the transition to a low-carbon economy delivers tangible benefits for rural communities through local employment, community participation and fair distribution of investment; and - report to Seanad Éireann within six months on the actions taken to implement the measures outlined in this Motion.””
“To flip it the other way, imagine if the wind energy guidelines were released tomorrow and they showed that the wind turbines that had been put up over the last two or three years were actually too high compared with what we are now saying they should be. I cannot imagine that any developer would say, "We'll look for an alteration and we'll make the turbines smaller." If a developer has planning permission, we do not believe they should be able to go back in time and get an alteration to use the new plans.”
“To save time I will speak to sections 61 and 62 together because it is the same point. We feel that both sections will allow developers who have planning permission to request an alteration to their permission based on inferior design standards, which we do not agree with. It is not necessarily going to make units of apartments smaller but it will change rules around communal spaces and the amount of natural light that they have to let in. We feel it will make the apartments inferior compared with what the developers were originally granted planning permission for, without any submissions being allowed because it is an alteration.”
“We are concerned that this section will either lead to further delays or, on the other side, the delivery of substandard homes with poorer design standards and reduction in appropriate size, all while we will continue to see rent rises. Again, the amendment is looking for monitoring and reports. I know the Minister of State is not going to accept it, but I would like to think that the Government would be monitoring it. If it is not going to report back, at least it should monitor it and take the responsible moves when it sees the numbers coming in. I will leave it there. There is no point in arguing.”
“I move amendment No. 3: In page 10, between lines 11 and 12, to insert the following: “Report on impact of amendments related to alteration of existing planning permissions 4. The Minister shall lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas every 6 months from the commencement of this Act detailing the impact of the amendments to Part 4 of the Principal Act related to alterations of existing planning permissions and detailing the location, nature and volume of such alterations by project and local authority area and the resulting commencement of developments that have secured the alterations.”. I will be quick. I can pre-empt the answer already because this has the word "report" in it. It is along the same lines.”
“We put forward this amendment because we are concerned that the proposed changes to judicial review for planning cases may lead to increased litigation and thereby result in greater delays in the delivery of critical infrastructure, including housing, renewable energy and public transport. The amendment basically requires the Minister to monitor and report on any issues that may arise from those changes. Our purpose is to ensure that what is being proposed works and does not do the opposite of what is intended. We all want housing delivery to happen more quickly. We are asking the Minister to monitor for any kink in the chain that actually reverses the progress we are trying to make and to report any such issue.”
“I move amendment No. 2: In page 10, between lines 11 and 12, to insert the following: "Report on impact of amendments related to Judicial Reviews 4. The Minister shall lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas within 12 months of the commencement of this Act detailing the impact of the amendments to Part 4 of the Principal Act related to Judicial Reviews and detailing whether the procedural changes have resulted in a speeding up of planning related Judicial Reviews or increased the volume of planning litigation resulting in increased delays for residential and infrastructural development.". I thank the Minister of State for being here. I will be brief because there is no point in dragging out the discussion on all these amendments.”
“Could that be amended such that the closest school may be defined as the school to which they feel closest or are most linked to, rather than just the closest school geographically?”
“I thank the Minister of State. My apologies; I probably should have given the specifics but I have been back and forth to the Minister of State's office a bit on this. My one ask is that he might look at the criterion about the closest school geographically. The closest school for these children is the school they are most connected to, which would be Rathkeale. That is where their sports and social clubs are and where all their friends go. A lot of these children would have been eligible for and would have used transport to primary school. However, because they are going a little further away to secondary school, they seem to be ineligible for transport. I would appreciate if the Minister of State could indicate whether there is any leeway on the eligibility requirement that pupils attend their closest school.”
“The primary school is the feeder school and it is a natural progression from their primary education into secondary education. Could the Minister of State make a statement on it? I have been on to his office back and forth over the past couple of months but I am very conscious that this is our last week here in the Dáil and the Seanad. By the time we are all back from recess, the school term will have started. I am conscious that these parents are very eager to find out if there is a possibility of a school bus.”
“I feel sometimes the criteria are very black and white and it do not really take into account the realistic living conditions within rural Ireland and why children would go to different secondary schools. I am also conscious, with costs of petrol and diesel, that these parents are hoping their children could use a school bus rather than having - it would not be 19 families because there are one or two in some of the houses - potentially 15 more cars on the road dropping to and from school. I have spoken to the families and told them that geographically they may not be eligible because of the secondary school not being as close as the one down the road. They have said their children will be going to the Rathkeale secondary school regardless, because it is where all their friends are going.”
“When you go to the school in Cappagh, you end up getting involved in sports clubs and community games, which is Cappagh and Rathkeale together, as in the face of reduced numbers, they link up everything. Living rurally a lot of the teams will link up across the area. Even though their closest secondary school is the secondary school in Askeaton, the only link they have to it is the geographical reason to go there. Every other link falls to Rathkeale. Their friend groups, their social groups and their sporting activities are all linked into Rathkeale. I have 19 children looking to see if there is a possibility of a school bus. When we look at the criteria they do not meet them all and it comes down to that one geographical limit.”
“I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for being here today. I want to discuss school transport, in particular rural schools more than city schools, and the different reasons certain children would go to different schools and not to the one that is geographically closest to them. There is a school in County Limerick called St. James’ National School, Cappagh. Its closest secondary school is Coláiste na Trócaire, Rathkeale and St. James' National School is the main feeder school. A lot of children who go to this school are not necessarily from Cappagh. Their closest secondary school would be in Askeaton town, which would be their address. Cappagh is also in Askeaton but Cappagh school for one reason or another is the primary school that all these children would have gone to.”
“By no means am I saying that we do not trust the Minister for Transport, but next year, the year after or the year after that, it may not be the current Minister, Deputy O'Brien, making decisions, and it may, instead, be someone who may intend to look at these powers and expand them beyond the passenger cap. The amendment is really just to future-proof the legislation to make sure the powers in it are limited to just the passenger cap and ensure it stays that way.”
“I move amendment No. 13: In page 26, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following: “(14) The Minister’s power under this Act shall be limited solely to the amendment or revocation of a planning condition relating to the maximum number of passengers permitted to use Dublin Airport annually, and shall not extend to any other planning condition. (15) The Minister shall, not later than 12 months following commencement, lay before the houses of the Oireachtas a report reviewing the exercise of this power. This amendment is all about the power given to the Minister under this Bill and bringing legal clarity to that power,. The Bill is presented as only dealing with the passenger cap issue. This amendment would ensure that the Minister's powers cannot be expanded to any other planning conditions attached to Dublin Airport.”
“This amendment requires an independent review of insulation and voluntary buyout schemes to ensure that the valuations reflect current market values, disturbance costs are recognised and eligible criteria are transparent. It is to ensure that we are not looking at historical prices for people's houses, that it is going to be market value and everything is going to be taken into account, including the cost of the disturbance to their livelihoods. People should not be financially disadvantaged because they happen to live beside the national airport. It is important infrastructure, but people should not be disadvantaged if they are looking for a buyout scheme. We must ensure it keeps within market value.”
“I move amendment No. 8: In page 23, after line 34, to insert the following: " Review of compensation buyout scheme 24 . The Minister shall, within 9 months following commencement of this Act, conduct an independent assessment of the daa’s noise mitigation schemes, including insulation and voluntary buyout schemes. The assessment shall evaluate whether: (a) valuation reflects current market prices; (b) compensation includes disturbance and reinstatement costs; (c) there is transparency and fairness in eligibility criteria.". This amendment relates to the compensation and buyout schemes. Residents affected by airport noise must have the confidence that compensation schemes are going to be fair.”
“I find that if we keep people on board and engage and make sure they are listened to and that their points are taken on board, it can save an awful lot of heartache in the end.”