Results 901-920 of 1,087,221 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Ruairi Ó Murchú OR speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn OR speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh OR speaker:Fergus O'Dowd OR speaker:Ivana Bacik OR speaker:Jennifer Murnane O'Connor OR speaker:Seán Fleming OR speaker:Michael Healy-Rae OR speaker:Gary Gannon OR speaker:Jim O'Callaghan OR speaker:Ossian Smyth OR speaker:Martin Kenny OR speaker:Joan Collins OR speaker:Alan Dillon OR speaker:Mark Ward) in 'Committee meetings'

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: On the question that Deputy Cairns raised, which again it is a really important issue regarding how we support our disability services, she made reference to the existing level of service but, of course, any change there can still lead to further spaces and further supports being made available to more people who need them. In terms of the new measures that were brought forward, the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Noel Grealish: Under the Constitution, the total number of Members of this House has to be at least one per 30,000 of the population. The Economic and Social Research Institute is forecasting that by the year 2040, Ireland's population will have grown by more than 900,000 based on current numbers. The CSO predicts a highest growth scenario over the next 30 years of double that number, which would put...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: I am sure that regardless of the size of any future Dáil, the Deputy still anticipates and wants to play a very lively role within it and the question he poses this morning reminds me why it is very likely that he will do so. As he may be aware, this is something that An Coimisiún Toghcháin has indicated a willingness to consider. In a report published in August 2023, the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Noel Grealish: Over the past number of years, the Government has put several referendums to the people, mostly recently and notably the 39th and 40th amendments that were defeated earlier this year. The latest referendums were badly thought out and impossible to clearly explain. The resounding "No" vote made it clear that the people are not prepared to alter the Constitution without good reason. A...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: In the various referenda that the Deputy referred to, the people have shown care in making big changes to our Constitution. They have, at other times, shown a commitment to and support for how the Oireachtas currently represents them. In the Deputy's constituency, and in all of our constituencies, we frequently have to explain the work that we do, make the case for the work that we do and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: In many parts of our country, infrastructure is greatly lacking, leaving many towns and villages dying a death and nowhere is this more evident than in west Cork. A complete lack of investment by successive Governments has left two bypasses promised to the people of Bandon unfinished, one bypass in Inishannon, not only unfinished but not even started, and a promised bypass for Bantry not...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: I can absolutely assure the Deputy of our desire, which I am sure is the desire of everyone in this House, to continue to support the school beyond quarter 1, well into what I am sure will be an important future for it in meeting the needs and educational needs of the pupils it is looking after. To reiterate what I said a moment ago, we recognise in general the demands that schools are...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: It was not.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: -----but I know it will only be heightened by the exchange that we are having here today. Given the funding we are making available for special education, particularly for these schools, to meet the needs of the pupils and support the teachers, I hope this can be brought to a place where the school can get the support it needs so its valuable work can continue in the future.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Holly Cairns: Services for disabled people are either threadbare or non-existent. These are services in areas like education, healthcare, social care and transport that are not optional extras. They are services that disabled people are entitled to as a right. If, eventually, they are provided, it is only ever after a fight. Funding shortfalls, staffing shortfalls and lack of resources are the only...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy appears to be approaching this issue through the lens of claims that may or may not be made at election time. That is not the approach of this Government. We have a senior Minister with responsibility for disability. That Minister is Deputy Donnelly. The Government made a decision to move disability services out of the Department of Health and move them. Excuse me; the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Holly Cairns: The Minister is very confused about it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: The issues the Deputy is raising are ones the Government takes seriously. I go back to the point that I made in reply to Deputy McDonald. Amid the different figures that we will trade and the general political claims that will be made here, I am keenly aware of that young girl or young boy with a disability or additional needs and the support she or he needs early in life. I am keenly...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Holly Cairns: The Minister says he is keenly aware of that boy and that girl. When looking at the budget figures, it does not feel like it. He does not have to take my word for it. The ESRI said it thinks the budget will push more disabled people into poverty. Instead, the Government decided to try to splash the cash around indiscriminately in a brazen attempt to try to buy votes rather than invest in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: Scoil Mochua in Clondalkin provides education and disability supports to approximately 76 children from Dublin and the wider Leinster region. The children who attend the school have profound physical and intellectual disabilities. For 30 years, the school, its staff and its parents have worked together to transform the lives of hundreds of children. The school's patron is the Central...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy very much for raising what is a very important issue for the school and for education policy in general. I know she agrees that all the girls and boys who go to that school and their teachers deserve support and recognition in the learning received and the teaching provided. It is therefore very important that this issue be raised here today. I will comment on the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: For all that, schools are generally underfunded. This specific school is underfunded to the tune of €125,000, which is needed for heating, cleaning and insurance costs. The CRC has provided a backstop for the shortfall in money coming from the Department of Education. The Minister can tell the House if this has changed but the information I have been given is that Department is...

VAT Rate for Hospitality Sector: Motion [Private Members] (16 Oct 2024)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I thank Deputy Harkin. I thank the Minister of State and everyone else who spoke on the motion. I thank the Minister of State for his engagement on this. Everybody is entitled to their opinion and I acknowledge that Deputy Nash of the Labour Party has an amendment in. For people who go into business in their local areas, there seems to be a disconnect from what I would call the people in...

VAT Rate for Hospitality Sector: Motion [Private Members] (16 Oct 2024)

Amendment to amendment put.