Results 401-420 of 1,054,905 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Declan Breathnach OR speaker:James O'Connor OR speaker:Réada Cronin OR speaker:Richard Bruton OR speaker:Patrick Costello OR speaker:Mick Barry OR speaker:Norma Foley OR speaker:Thomas Byrne OR speaker:Patrick O'Donovan OR speaker:Seán Crowe OR speaker:Ossian Smyth OR speaker:Niall Collins OR speaker:Paul Donnelly OR speaker:James Browne)

Sale of Nitrous Oxide and Related Products Bill 2024: First Stage (9 Oct 2024)

Sale of Nitrous Oxide and Related Products Bill 2024: First Stage (9 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to regulate and licence the sale of nitrous oxide to exempted purchasers, to prohibit the sale of nitrous oxide and nitrous oxide products to a person who has not attained the age of 18 years, and to provide for related matters. I thank the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers for its assistance in preparing the Sale of...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Detailed Scrutiny of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2023: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Patrick Costello: I thank the Chair and committee for the warm welcome. Hopefully, as the questions begin that welcome will stay warm. I thank the committee for the invitation to appear before them today in relation to my Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2023. My Bill is a simple one; its goal is to open RTÉ’s video and audio archive to the Irish people to whom it really belongs. RTÉ was,...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Detailed Scrutiny of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2023: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Patrick Costello: On the issue of the cost to RTÉ and those things, RTÉ obviously is best positioned to answer. My Bill provides for making it available free of charge for personal use and academics. This is the model you see in other European countries. As for who pays, the citizens pay but they pay for RTÉ through their tax and their licence fee. They have already paid for this. If there...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Detailed Scrutiny of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2023: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Patrick Costello: Starting at the end, the contribution from Digital Rights Ireland may be the better place to explore those questions. On the question of access, the Senator is right that much of the archive is already available. That has to be acknowledged. While very good work is made of it, I would look to other European countries that have much wider public access and argue that this is what we should...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Detailed Scrutiny of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2023: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Patrick Costello: I go back to the fact that if it is not written down in legislation, there is no tool to make it happen. There is a lot of really good work happening right now but a vision needs to be put down in legislation to ensure it actually happens. There are a couple of things here. I do not accept the idea that this legislation would lead to damage of the archives. It is not necessarily going...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Detailed Scrutiny of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2023: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Patrick Costello: No, because I do not accept the framing of freedom of information in that way. Freedom of information is an important part of democracy, transparency and accountability. I reject the framing of freedom of information as spurious or a waste of resources.

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Detailed Scrutiny of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2023: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Patrick Costello: The FOI Act ensures that organisations can charge fees. Perhaps Digital Rights Ireland will have some practical experience of this. If someone submits a huge request, the body from whom the request is sought can say, "Sorry, that is a crazy request and we are going to charge you." It is important to put forward in legislation that this is our aim and if issues arise, we will address them...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Detailed Scrutiny of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2023: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Patrick Costello: There are issues with making an archive available. There are issues with building an archive, as Deputy Ó Snodaigh is finding, and there is an issue with maintaining an archive, as we heard from RTÉ and ARA Ireland. There are practical issues. However, they are being dealt with every day. This Bill is not creating new problems. We need to remember that and to focus on what this...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (9 Oct 2024)

Jackie Cahill: I met representatives of the retired employees of An Post last week. I want to bring to the attention of the House the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act 1983, which wound up the old Department of Posts and Telegraphs. I will read from section 46 of that Act. Subsection (4) states: Every scheme under this section shall provide for not less favourable conditions in respect of...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (9 Oct 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy. He makes a valid point. When you are getting your pension and the price of everything is going up but your pension is not, it is not nice. I agree with the Deputy. I will ask the relevant Minister to speak directly to the Deputy on that point. It is a matter for An Post, given the issue concerns its pension scheme. I will raise the issue with the Minister, Deputy Ryan.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (9 Oct 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I raise the issue of section 39 health and community workers. As the Minister knows, an agreement was reached in October last year between the Department of Health, the Department of children, and the INMO, SIPTU and Fórsa trade unions on behalf of these workers. The agreement included an 8% increase while negotiations were to continue regarding future pay movement. I understand that...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (9 Oct 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: The deal was most certainly done.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (9 Oct 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Where is it?

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (9 Oct 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: The KOSI process was put in place last year. Would you believe it, we are still working our way through the KOSI process. Only yesterday, I visited St. Christopher's Services in Longford. Its back payment of €1.2 million has been allocated and released by the HSE to the provider and will be passed on. A number of other section 39 organisations still need to complete the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (9 Oct 2024)

Carol Nolan: The Irish Road Haulage Association has called on the Government to review urgently the operational role and effectiveness of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, following the latest examples of traffic gridlock at Dublin Port tunnel. Following a series of night-time closures at the tunnel, unacceptable delays and congestion were experienced at peak times due to the mismanagement of...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (9 Oct 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy. The Irish Road Haulage Association is a great organisation with which the Deputy and I are both familiar. Hauliers are hard workers who just want to get on with their jobs, and I acknowledge that. I will bring the Deputy's point to the attention of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan. I will ask him to engage directly with the Deputy.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (9 Oct 2024)

Alan Kelly: There has been a lot of talk and concern about the waste of taxpayers' money in recent weeks. All those issues are well-known. A number of months ago, Racket Hall Country House Hotel in Roscrea was taken over. It was the last social venue in Roscrea and there were many issues in respect of why it was taken over. It was accepted that it was a mistake. To make a bad situation worse, the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (9 Oct 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. My Department of Rural and Community Development is committed to investing in rural Ireland. We are committed to repurposing old buildings and changing them for 21st century use. There has been engagement between my Department and the local authority in Tipperary and we will continue to engage and progress the proposals it brings to us.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (9 Oct 2024)

Jennifer Whitmore: Children have been back in school for seven weeks and, in my county of Wicklow, there are still seven routes that are not operating under the school transport scheme. Two of those routes are for children with additional and complex needs and another is for children in direct provision. The areas impacted are Ashford, Laragh, Roundwood, Arklow and Delgany. This is unacceptable. Every year,...