Results 1-20 of 1,981 for speaker:Richard O'Donoghue

Taoiseach a Ainmniú - Nomination of Taoiseach (20 Feb 2020)

Richard O'Donoghue: Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, and congratulations on your appointment. I have been listening around the floor since I came in. I have listened to many educated people. Yet, how many Deputies present have education of life? How many Deputies here have common sense? From what I have seen of Governments in recent years, they lack all of it. I believe an ounce of cop on is better than a...

European Council Meeting: Statements (5 Mar 2020)

Richard O'Donoghue: A European trading agreement must cover all. Farming needs investment, not cuts, especially where I live in Limerick. Farmers are out in all weather and conditions 365 days of the year. They must maintain their stock. Dairy farmers must get a minimum of 26 cent per litre of milk to be viable. Harsh weather conditions and flooding mean that cattle have been brought indoors earlier than...

An Bille um Bearta Éigeandála ar mhaithe le Leas an Phobail (Covid-19), 2020: An Dara Céim - Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Bill 2020: Second Stage (26 Mar 2020)

Richard O'Donoghue: I offer my sympathies to the families of people who have lost their lives due to Covid-19 and other illnesses, and to the families and friends who could not attend funerals to show their respects due to the health restrictions in place. I have questions for the Minister about payments, which have been increased from €203 to €350, which I welcome. I get questions every day from...

An Bille um Bearta Éigeandála ar mhaithe le Leas an Phobail (Covid-19), 2020: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Bill 2020: Second Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2020)

Richard O'Donoghue: I am sharing time with Deputy Mattie McGrath. We have heard here that people have been looking for the building sector to close down but we have to take a holistic view. Workers in the building sector get paid through the banking system and the banking system is holding building contractors and others to ransom because one gets paid in accordance with the work one is doing. That work has...

An Bille um Bearta Éigeandála ar mhaithe le Leas an Phobail (Covid-19), 2020: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Bill 2020: Second Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2020)

Richard O'Donoghue: I commend the last speaker on speaking out about people who would spit or cough into anybody's face. I am in full agreement that the full rigours of the law should be brought to bear on those people. Where people are under age, the responsibility should be on their parents. I have seen at first hand people walking down streets thinking it is funny to cough and spit when they see people...

An Bille um Bearta Éigeandála ar mhaithe le Leas an Phobail (Covid-19), 2020: Céim an Choiste agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha - Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Mar 2020)

Richard O'Donoghue: Not every employer is a company. Many employers are sole traders. Many of those sole traders have already fallen. Most small café shops are not companies; they are sole traders. Their employees are gone and so are they. They have closed their doors. If one looks at what we propose for companies, for a banking sector such as the credit unions the regulation states that they must...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (23 Apr 2020)

Richard O'Donoghue: On testing, we are all aware of the situation as mentioned by all of the Deputies who have spoken. I offer my deepest sympathies to all of the people who have died as a result of Covid-19. I apologise to the families of friends whose funerals I could not attend owing to the restrictions in place. Not being able to say their final goodbyes to partners, relatives and friends at that time has...

Irish Economy: Statements (23 Apr 2020)

Richard O'Donoghue: We have heard from other speakers that broadband is a major issue in rural areas. I recently opened an office in Kilmallock, County Limerick. When I had broadband installed, four different people came to my office before they got it up and running. People who live within half a kilometre of me, who are on a main route between Charleville and Kilmallock, have been forced to go to work in 19...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (Resumed) (23 Apr 2020)

Richard O'Donoghue: I commend the Minister on his work on this. My question, which I asked of the Minister for Finance, concerns farming. What is considered essential work depends on the contact in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Many farmers are under severe pressure with harvesting due to the growth rate. They are looking to get construction work done on their farms, and if they do not...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (Resumed) (23 Apr 2020)

Richard O'Donoghue: I concur with all of the sentiments we have heard from across the House. It is all about the leaving certificate, and rightly so. The point has been raised that not everyone has connectivity through good broadband and Wi-Fi, particularly in rural areas where people are lucky to have phone reception. The children there cannot even participate Skype or Zoom. It has been rightly said that...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (7 May 2020)

Richard O'Donoghue: I extend my sympathies to the families of all the people who have lost their lives and a huge "well done" to the front-line services. The Taoiseach mentioned earlier moneys being made available for businesses to start up again. Cash flow is the biggest problem for any business. When a small to medium-sized business comes out on 18 May, it will start back into work. Companies are paying...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (7 May 2020)

Richard O'Donoghue: When hospitals and other HSE facilities closed on 16 March, dentists were told to continue working. No PPE was offered to them, yet they had to provide emergency cover. All GPs are getting €30 per Covid telephone consultation and a capitation fee for medical card holders. The Minister said he is meeting with dentist representatives tomorrow and I will take it as read that these...

Covid-19 (Housing, Planning and Local Government): Statements (7 May 2020)

Richard O'Donoghue: With regard to one-off houses I know of, especially in Limerick, planning permission was granted by the authority for applications that were up for decision in the first quarter of this year, subject to minor objections or observations, but they were refused by An Bord Pleanála. This is because it is implementing the 2040 plan, which has not yet been enforced. If the 2040 plan is...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (21 May 2020)

Richard O'Donoghue: I have praised the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, for the way in which they have dealt with the pandemic, mainly because of the former's medical background. We are lucky we have a person from a medical background in that position. For the past nine years, however, the Government has forgotten about rural Ireland. When the pandemic hit, rural Ireland did not forget...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (21 May 2020)

Richard O'Donoghue: When will the Minister employ a pain consultant for children with chronic pain? We have a family in Limerick where one of the parents and two of the children were diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Patches for pain alone cost €130 for one child and this is not covered under the medical card scheme. These children are in chronic pain. The pain gets so bad that the child falls...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (21 May 2020)

Richard O'Donoghue: A company in west Limerick has made great inroads into producing a complete process for temperature monitoring of staff. This company operates to ISO and ICE standards and Food and Drug Administration, FDA, guidelines. It has tested the process in many situations and it is now at the highest standard. The issue for the company is that it is competing with other companies that have brought...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (21 May 2020)

Richard O'Donoghue: Some taxis are open for business with health guidelines and for multiple passengers. Driving instructors and testers would have a maximum of eight people in their vehicle daily. There needs to be some easing of restrictions in this regard. One solution could be for instructors to use only their own cars, which are Road Safety Authority, RSA, compliant, and for regulations to be put in...

Covid-19 (Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht): Statements (21 May 2020)

Richard O'Donoghue: The Minister has dealt with the issue of the wood pigeon derogation. From a farming point of view, the farming community has already taken a major hit. I am delighted to see that common sense has prevailed on this issue. After speaking to the Minister earlier, I think it must come from her big Limerick connections, which are great to know about. It will make it a lot easier for me to be...

Covid-19 (Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht): Statements (21 May 2020)

Richard O'Donoghue: I will redirect my question. I will also contact the Minister with the names of the sites that have come to my attention. They are heritage sites. The Minister can then determine whether they fall under her remit. If it is the case that these CEOs have taken their salaries and the sites fall under the remit of the Minister, I want full disclosure with regard to any CEOs and senior...

Outbreaks of Covid-19 in Meat Processing Plants: Statements (21 May 2020)

Richard O'Donoghue: In the time I have been in this Dáil, I have never seen a Minister go around in circles answering questions as much as the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed. I have never been so disappointed in the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Humphreys, for not getting back to Deputies. I asked the Ministers, particularly the Minister for...