Results 541-560 of 1,034,604 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Ciarán Cannon OR speaker:Mattie McGrath OR speaker:Matt Shanahan OR speaker:Christopher O'Sullivan)

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (11 Jul 2024)

Darren O'Rourke: There is a lot in the question and a lot in the answer. At the root of it, however, similar to my colleague, Deputy Quinlivan, is the concern about what we are hearing with regard to the readiness of the industry here, whether we look at ports, planning, the grid or supply chain. It is a statement of fact at this stage to say that none of our phase 1 offshore wind farms will be developed on...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (11 Jul 2024)

Dara Calleary: I assure the Deputy that we are making very detailed progress in our Department in terms of Powering Prosperity through skills and job and supply chain opportunities. That is acknowledged by the groups with which we are engaging. As the Deputy knows, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has responsibility for future auctions and grid development. The Minister,...

Committee on Drugs Use: Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Diversion and Legalisation: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2024)

Matt Shanahan: I thank Mr. Leitão da Silva. He highlighted how Portugal is on a journey ahead of us. Everybody at the moment seems to be talking about Portugal, or at least we certainly are, and what it has been doing over recent decades. On the philosophy of policing and treating drug use as an inevitable consequence of where society is, without criminalising people, has the police force in...

Committee on Drugs Use: Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Diversion and Legalisation: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2024)

Matt Shanahan: To go back to the idea of trying to interdict a greater uptake of drug taking where there is decriminalisation, we understand and have heard a lot about the logic behind that, but in terms of policing measures, I would say there is a societal desire to try, insofar as possible, to discourage recreational drug taking, especially because it may be a pathway to harder addiction. As we are...

Committee on Drugs Use: Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Diversion and Legalisation: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2024)

Matt Shanahan: I might rephrase it. If, on the one hand, society wants to have some control of the expanding use of drugs but, on the other, we decriminalise and take away a sanction we have in the system at the moment, whereby everybody who is illegally supplying drugs will know there is going to be more drug use in this country over time, and if we do not have measures to try to prevent that, are we not...

Committee on Drugs Use: Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Diversion and Legalisation: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2024)

Matt Shanahan: I thank our guests. It is really great to have people with such wide experience talking. Dr. Ó Concubhair also has lived experience. In his opening statement, he made some points highlighting what is becoming a common theme here, that is, that the present war on drugs is not winnable and that recreational drug use is essentially a fact of life. I drink alcohol. That is my vice. It...

Committee on Drugs Use: Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Diversion and Legalisation: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2024)

Matt Shanahan: What I am wondering about is whether we should decriminalise and give society the idea that widespread drug-taking of all types is permissible and quite okay. Just the same as you might have a drink, you might take an opioid and all of that. Does Dr. Ó Concubhair have concerns about what that might look like? Is it a realisable vision?

Committee on Drugs Use: Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Diversion and Legalisation: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2024)

Matt Shanahan: I thank Dr. Ó Concubhair for that. Mr. Glynn might like to come in here as well. My concern relates to drug dependence. I worked in a business in the healthcare space that involved regulated opioids and I have seen the addictive nature of those drugs. How are we to stop recreational drug users embarking on a pathway to a range of different drugs? Vaping might be an example. It...

Committee on Drugs Use: Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Diversion and Legalisation: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2024)

Matt Shanahan: No, I am not. I am asking whether Dr. Ó Concubhair is concerned. I believe Ireland is an outlier. With regard to alcohol, we were told for years that the Irish personality or psyche is such that, in a lot of ways, we tend to go all in. That is my opinion. We all know recreational drug users. That is fine. However, we have one system in this country, one of criminal sanctions. It...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (11 Jul 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: I thank the Minister of State. Regarding offshore energy, many companies and people are making great strides already in this field. I commend Shannon-Foynes Port for the work it has done to date and for its Vision 2041 strategy that laid out in detail many of the challenges and potential available from offshore energy, especially in the mid-west region. The port is in proximity to the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (11 Jul 2024)

Dara Calleary: I thank the Deputy. I acknowledge his work, the work of the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment and its report on this space in 2023. We are focused on this. Our Department is working through our regional enterprise committees right across the country to identify the opportunities, and especially looking at ports to identify the infrastructure we need. It is vital we are...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (11 Jul 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: I thank the Minister of State. As I have said before, the development of offshore wind energy can be our generation's Ardnacrusha moment. We either act now or fall behind our competitors, which are basically Scotland, Germany and other countries. We can harness this energy and export the excess Ireland does not need or we can import it from abroad. That is the choice we are facing. It is...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (11 Jul 2024)

Dara Calleary: We are very well progressed. We are putting the foundation stones in place. We will ensure that when the technology is available to us to maximise the offshore advantages, especially off our Atlantic coast, we will be in a position to maximise it. Our Department is investing considerably in the supply chains issue. We had an excellent event with the Scottish Government recently and our...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions (11 Jul 2024)

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Low Pay (11 Jul 2024)

Low Pay

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Low Pay (11 Jul 2024)

Bríd Smith: 6. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he is planning to abolish sub-minimum wage rates in light of recent recommendations by the Low Pay Commission and the ESRI report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30466/24]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Low Pay (11 Jul 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: As the Minister and Ministers of State know, People Before Profit tabled a Bill seeking to get rid of the sub-minimum wage which proceeded to Committee Stage. It is absolutely disgraceful discrimination against young workers to pay them less than the minimum wage, which is miserable in and of itself at €12.70. That is far below what a living wage should be. The ESRI, among others,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Low Pay (11 Jul 2024)

Emer Higgins: As the Deputy will be aware, the Low Pay Commission was asked in 2022 to examine the issues around retaining or removing the sub-minimum youth rates of the national minimum wage and to make recommendations on the matter. The Low Pay Commission asked the ESRI to conduct background research on the issue under the terms of the Low Pay Commission and ESRI partnership agreement. This ESRI report...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Low Pay (11 Jul 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It is complicated if the Government wants to make it complicated, but it is simple if one opposes discrimination against young people. It is simply wrong that young people should be exploited because they are young, and paid less for doing the same job as somebody else who happens to be older. It is a simple principle and that discrimination should be removed. The real issue, which the...