Results 121-140 of 1,152,418 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Niall Collins OR speaker:Réada Cronin OR speaker:Eoin Ó Broin OR speaker:Fergus O'Dowd OR speaker:Heather Humphreys OR speaker:Aindrias Moynihan OR speaker:Leo Varadkar OR speaker:Brendan Smith OR speaker:Joe O'Brien OR speaker:Seán Haughey OR speaker:Steven Matthews OR speaker:Marc MacSharry OR speaker:Pat Buckley OR speaker:Seán Crowe OR speaker:Peadar Tóibín OR speaker:Thomas Gould OR speaker:Cian O'Callaghan OR speaker:Michael Ring OR speaker:Noel Grealish OR speaker:Niamh Smyth OR speaker:David Stanton OR speaker:Verona Murphy OR speaker:Patrick O'Donovan OR speaker:Michael Healy-Rae OR speaker:Emer Higgins OR speaker:Mairead Farrell OR speaker:John Brady OR speaker:Thomas Byrne OR speaker:Charlie McConalogue OR speaker:Joan Collins OR speaker:David Cullinane OR speaker:Brian Leddin OR speaker:Jack Chambers OR speaker:Pearse Doherty OR speaker:Christopher O'Sullivan)

Maternity Protection Bill 2024 [Seanad]: Second Stage (17 Oct 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate. I commend the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, on bringing forward this legislation into these sittings of the Oireachtas. It may be recalled that on 20 March this year, I introduced the Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2024. It sought, in effect, to do exactly the same as the Minister is seeking to do in this legislation. Obviously, I am...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Brian Leddin: Today's meeting has been convened to consider the Supplementary Estimate for Vote 29 as it relates to programmes A and B. I welcome the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and his officials. I will read the note on privilege. I remind members of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Brian Leddin: I thank the Minister for his opening statement. We will first consider subhead A11. Do any members wish to come in on this very much technical one? It relates to the just transition fund of €440,000 and an overpayment by the European Commission. I will move on to subhead B5, which is the energy-efficiency programmes. This relates to the SEAI and HSE pathfinder programme. It was...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Brian Leddin: I thank the Minister for that. There are no other questions on subhead B5. We will move on to subhead B11, which is the electricity credit. Do colleagues wish to come in on this one? Deputy O'Rourke is muted on our end. We will try to resolve this if the Deputy gives us a moment. He is back and we can hear him now.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Brian Leddin: I will add to Deputy Bruton's point if I may. It is a really important one about how often our projections are conservative and we do not decide to make these investments. We spoke about this in respect of the Minister's transport portfolio in the Dáil earlier. If we were conservative in doing our business case, analysis and feasibility, we might not make the investments. We might...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Brian Leddin: It is the first time I have heard the quadruple helix mentioned in the committee but hopefully not the last. It sounds very important. We have reached the end of our consideration of the Supplementary Estimates. I thank members for their questions, the Minister for his answers and the officials for attending. The last day the Minister was here I said my goodbyes so I will not repeat them....

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Message to the Dáil (17 Oct 2024)

Brian Leddin: In accordance with Standing Order 101, the following message will be sent to the Dáil: The Select Committee on Environment and Climate Action has completed its consideration of the following Supplementary Estimates for public services for the year ending 31 December 2024: Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications. Under Standing Order 100(2), the message is deemed to be the...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Voting for Irish-born Citizens Abroad: Discussion (17 Oct 2024)

Pat Buckley: I welcome our witnesses. I have been considering this issue for a long time. There is a massive Irish diaspora living across the world. I can only speak for myself, but the minute your foot steps outside this country, you become more patriotic. It does not matter where you are on holidays. You become more patriotic and it is as simple as that. In its response, the Department mentioned...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Voting for Irish-born Citizens Abroad: Discussion (17 Oct 2024)

Pat Buckley: Is that people who are still Irish passport holders living abroad?

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Voting for Irish-born Citizens Abroad: Discussion (17 Oct 2024)

Pat Buckley: As I said, people feel more patriotic the minute they step outside the country than they do when they come in.

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Voting for Irish-born Citizens Abroad: Discussion (17 Oct 2024)

Pat Buckley: That is a valid point. One would imagine, Chair, this would be a commonsense approach. If people still have their Irish passport with a reference number on it, that is a true identity document. Surely these people still have their PPS number as well. They should be able to vote online or go to the nearest embassy in whatever country they are in.

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Voting for Irish-born Citizens Abroad: Discussion (17 Oct 2024)

Pat Buckley: It is because they will not-----

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Voting for Irish-born Citizens Abroad: Discussion (17 Oct 2024)

Pat Buckley: There is a lack of political will. It would involve amending the Electoral Act 1963. I have just marked it in my notes to flag the matter. We can see whether that can be changed. As out guests have said, the digital age is so advanced now that I cannot see major costs being incurred.

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Voting for Irish-born Citizens Abroad: Discussion (17 Oct 2024)

Pat Buckley: People would log on to a Government website.

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Voting for Irish-born Citizens Abroad: Discussion (17 Oct 2024)

Pat Buckley: People in Spain, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand or wherever could log on to MyGovID, type in their PPS number and passport number, show their ID and cast their vote.

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Voting for Irish-born Citizens Abroad: Discussion (17 Oct 2024)

Pat Buckley: There is no politics at this committee. It is very good. On the response from the Department, reference was made to using MyGovID. It is a matter of putting another line in with a box, with, say, five names-----

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Voting for Irish-born Citizens Abroad: Discussion (17 Oct 2024)

Pat Buckley: In March 2017, the then Department of local government and housing and the Department of Foreign Affairs produced an options paper setting out what they called the broad range of options. Options are ideas and solutions but what got me were the references to voting rights, international comparisons, estimated costs and related resource issues, as well as legal, policy, administrative and...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Voting for Irish-born Citizens Abroad: Discussion (17 Oct 2024)

Pat Buckley: They listed all the problems and said they did not really want what was proposed.

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Voting for Irish-born Citizens Abroad: Discussion (17 Oct 2024)

Pat Buckley: It is a good step.

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Voting for Irish-born Citizens Abroad: Discussion (17 Oct 2024)

Pat Buckley: Pandora's box has been opened.