Minister Misleads Dáil

Cork South Central TD, Simon Coveney, has accused Minister of State Máire Hoctor of misleading the Dáil by claiming that during the past five years, only a surface investigation has been conducted of the former ISPAT site in Cork Harbour.

Coveney made the accusation during a debate on a Private Notice Question put down by himself and Cork TDs David Stanton, Deirdre Clune, Sean Sherlock and Ciaran Lynch on the issue in the Dáil this afternoon.

"If what Minister of State Hoctor is saying is true, then the Government has deliberately ignored what everyone suspected to be subsurface contamination at the site.

"If on the other hand, as is common knowledge, a subsurface investigation has taken place, then the Minister has deliberately misled the Dáil, and is complicit in a cover-up of the Government's knowledge as to the extent of the hazardous material. If this is the case, and Government Ministers have been sitting on information and have not exposed the true extent of hazardous material on the site, their actions can only be described as grossly negligent.

"This is an issue of huge concern for residents of Ringaskiddy, people working in the naval base in Haulbowline and in the maritime college. It is also of concern to residents in Cobh and the thousands of people who use the harbour for recreational purposes.

"The Government needs to be upfront and honest, expose the full extent of hazardous material on the site, and put in place a short-term plan to clean the site up and guarantee public safety. Because of the level of suspicion and anger, nothing else will restore public confidence on this issue."

He is right on the honesty, something that is lacking in the current government!

Coveney Crticies Planning for Offshore Wind Farms

Cork South Central TD and Fine Gael Energy Spokesperson Simon Coveney accused the Government at being "all at sea" on the crucial issue of planning legislation for offshore wind projects.

"The planning process as it currently exists is entirely inadequate, for what are major projects to construct enormous turbines within clear sight of the Irish coastline, and the Government appears to have no plan to reform it. For example, the project which has been approved for construction at the Codling Bank off Bray Head consists of over 220 turbines, each of a height of 160m, 12km from the coastline. Each of these turbines will be 160m, almost three times the height of Liberty Hall.

"This project, like all others in Ireland, was approved under the Foreshore Act 1933, an outdated piece of legislation which allows the Minister to grant leases for construction in Irish coastal waters with no involvement by local communities or local authorities, and no right of appeal.

"The Government is all at sea on bringing amending legislation which would provide an urgently-needed proper planning process for these projects. When I asked the Tánaiste on 22nd May for an update on the Foreshore (Amendment) Bill she did not have a date for it coming before the House, and did not even know what Department had responsibility for it. When I asked her the same question in the Dáil today, she said that there has been absolutely no progress and the same confusion reigns.

"Offshore wind is an area in which Ireland has an incredible natural advantage, and the speedy development of these projects is crucial if we are going to be able to meet our emissions targets. However, the Minister granting licences willy-nilly - as he can do under the current legislation - is a recipe for building poor projects and creating deep bitterness and opposition in coastal communities all along the east coast. It is time for the Government to get its act together before this becomes a major issue among communities, and projects begin to experience serious delays.

"Unless there is an absolute guarantee from the Government before the summer break as to when the amending legislation will be brought, Fine Gael will be bringing its own proposals in the autumn."

Wind Energy is a recognized way of reducing our CO2 emissions yet our Government won't update the legislation needed for Ireland to reach its energy commitments!

Well done Simon for raising this issue!

Coveney criticises Ryan

Cork South Central TD and FG Communications Spokesperson, Simon Coveney, critcised Eamon Ryan, Minister for Communications failure to make any progress on next generation broadband after a year in the job.

Mr. Coveney pointed out that no work as been done since the Minister toke office on the issue of Broadband.

- "A Policy Paper is being prepared on Broadband and Next Generation Networks" - introductory brief for incoming Minister Eamon Ryan, 15th June 2007.
- "I propose to issue a draft policy paper shortly on Next Generation Broadband" - Minister Eamon Ryan, 29th May 2008.

Mr. Coveney continued crticisim of the Minsters actions

The only concrete action the Minister has taken in this area since taking office has been to convene a forum of international experts in February to debate the Department's policy paper. Since then he has repeatedly promised that the paper would be published 'shortly' but it has not appeared. In the meantime he has pointed to the growth in Ireland's broadband numbers and made excuses such as 'it is a matter for the private sector'.

Damien Mulley has caught the Department out on lying to Prime Time about our national broadband scheme. Damien also has a post about business response and what they want.

FG is calling on the Government to do the follwing in relation to this area:

1. Mandate the Department of Communications to undertake a comprehensive audit of all ducting under both public and private ownership throughout the country. Based on this audit, a detailed plan of where ducting, especially between the exchange and the cabinet but also at backhaul level, is most needed.

2. Enter negotiations with all private owners of ducting for the purposes of securing open access to infrastructure, in an effort to try to create a web of open-access ducting throughout the country.

3. Tender for private sector interest in managing all State-owned ducting and coordinate with the regulator on the opening of access to privately-owned ducting. The contract will also provide for the management of roll-out of new ducting where appropriate. Funding for this will be provided from the ICT budget within the NDP.

4. The State should support high-speed wireless connectivity to areas too remote to justify ducting and fibre connections.

5. Revise the terms of the contracts for provision of broadband to extremely remote areas under the National Broadband Scheme, to require that this connectivity be of a high-bandwidth.

6. Pass legislation to require ducting to be installed to the home in all new housing and apartment developments under new building standards regulations.

7. Pass legislation to require ducting to be laid as part of all new road developments and maintenance.

8. Ensure that all infrastructure relating to roll-out of next generation access – at all parts of the network – be subject to fast-track planning rules.

9. Invite tenders for provision of wholesale high-bandwidth access to state bodies throughout the country, such as schools, third-level institutions, hospitals and departmental buildings.

10. The connection of Next Generation Access to all schools and educational institutions needs immediate priority in government planning.

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Links:
12 months in job and Minister has nothing done on next generation broadband – Coveney
Creating a Fibre Nation (PDF) - FG Policy