Results 61-80 of 101 for going forward speaker:Duncan Smith

Financial Resolutions 2020 - Financial Resolution No. 7: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2020)

Duncan Smith: As the Minister for Justice and Equality is in the Chamber, I would like to start by welcoming the €3 billion increase in funding for the justice portfolio. The Minister has said she looks forward to dedicating some of those resources to tackling domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. I look forward to getting more information in the coming days and weeks on how the Minister...

Mobility and Transport Supports for People with Disabilities: Motion [Private Members] (16 Feb 2022)

Duncan Smith: ...the National Council for the Blind recently appeared before the committee to give first-hand accounts of the barriers, difficulties and everyday obstacles their members and service users face in going about their daily lives. Last week on Second Stage of the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022, which is a technical Bill on changing of the reporting duties of the Minister of State,...

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2023: Second Stage (21 Nov 2023)

Duncan Smith: The Labour Party will be supporting this legislation. Every year we have this same debate, in which we amend the Health Insurance Act to modify the regulations governing the private health insurance sector. This is in the context of the goal of our health policy being the drive towards the delivery of Sláintecare, a universal, single-tier healthcare system that has the support, at...

Health Service Recruitment Freeze: Motion [Private Members] (21 Nov 2023)

Duncan Smith: This is a very good, simple, to-the-point motion that we wholeheartedly support because it goes to the heart of what is going on in the health service at the moment. The Minister's response was to begin talking about the aim to eliminate cervical cancer in Ireland. This is a very laudable aim, which we all support 100%. By God, what a legacy that would be for Vicky Phelan, just over a year...

National Standards Authority of Ireland (Carbon Footprint Labelling) Bill 2021: First Stage (25 Mar 2021)

Duncan Smith: ...to help reduce their impact on the environment. People have a strong desire to do that but to incorporate that into their regular shopping habits, people need help. We all have our routines when going to do a shop, whether it is a weekly big shop or multiple shops. We know where the products are and we try to get through it as quickly as possible, but we also want to make more informed...

Air Navigation and Transport Bill 2020: Second Stage (4 Feb 2021)

Duncan Smith: ...happening in the Dáil and Seanad in recent weeks, and they will also be doing so in the upcoming weeks. While the Labour Party will be supporting this Bill and while, like Sinn Féin, it looks forward to engaging constructively on amendments it will be submitting, we are surprised that, important as it is, the Bill is still about process and still technical. It comes at a time...

Regulations for the Sale and Distribution of Turf: Motion [Private Members] (5 May 2022)

Duncan Smith: ...would have been better discussed last week. That is the case no matter what side one is on in this debate. Anyone who listened to Deputy Fitzmaurice debate this issue on "Morning Ireland" a few days ago from the perspective of his experience of being a man of the bog, as he said on that programme, would have realised this is something we should have been discussing last week. The debate...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Mar 2022)

Duncan Smith: ...the mood of the nation last Friday night on "The Late Late Show". However, capturing the mood of the nation and actually delivering in this House and for the refugees coming from Ukraine are going to be two different things. Estimates of 100,000 refugees coming to Ireland have been put forward. It will be a task for the country, the Government and all of us in this House to ensure we...

Drugs Policy: Motion [Private Members] (30 Nov 2022)

Duncan Smith: ...in that 70% of all drugs cases before our courts are for the personal use of drugs. How many times have we as politicians, particularly in recent years, discussed the logjams in our Courts Service as all of these things need to go through our courts, when 70% of drugs cases are for personal use? Beyond that, this is about dignity. It is about providing dignity to the individual, to...

Education and the School Building Programme: Motion [Private Members] (29 Mar 2023)

Duncan Smith: It is refreshing to stand up and respond to a debate. With some of our Private Members' business, we not only have to respond to slings and arrows thrown by Government but sometimes to slings and arrows thrown by others in opposition, but we did not have to do that today. What we have seen over the past two hours is an expression of the depth of experience and challenge we as public...

Acquisition of Development Land (Assessment of Compensation) Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members] (16 Jun 2021)

Duncan Smith: ...have a philosophical view which is contrary to us, in terms of planning. They are entitled to it and are consistent with it, but they are in a very small minority. We have been bringing this forward for a number of years. The question of why we did not do it in government has been thrown back at us by a number of contributors today. However, we have always tried. Governing during a...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response Final Report: Motion (19 Nov 2020)

Duncan Smith: ...the committee's lifetime. It was very fair. We operated under tight time and speaking constraints. Not only did members respect that but if people were deep into questioning, the Chair was good at allowing time when needed and pulling it back. None of us, however experienced Deputies may be, have experienced a committee that operated under such tight time constraints. I will pick...

Raise the Roof: Motion [Private Members] (12 Jul 2022)

Duncan Smith: ...this afternoon, that there is no combination of groups in that Parliament that will be able to resolve this housing crisis. This motion is timely in that it comes so quickly after that. It is a good motion. It is coming from a cross-party, cross-political NGO group that is speaking to the heart and the complexity of this housing crisis, which, too often, we do not get to the root of in...

Private Rental Sector: Motion [Private Members] (5 May 2021)

Duncan Smith: ...the Labour Party will be supporting. In its amendment to the motion, the Government states it will tackle issues facing renters while "ensuring equity and fairness for landlords and tenants", before going on to state that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage will, at some unidentified point in the future, "bring forward comprehensive new protections for tenants" but...

Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Casualties) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (24 Nov 2021)

Duncan Smith: ...technical Bill, but all Bills and everything we do in this House have an impact in the real world and to hear the stories shared by him brings home that fact. On the surface, this is a straightforward task as the legislation before us is a technical Bill that it is legislating and resourcing the State to continue maritime regulations and provide for an investigative body to examine...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Driver Recruitment: Discussion (5 Jul 2023)

Duncan Smith: ..., which relates to one of their recommendations, about over-70s being unable to do school transport. Do they have any idea of how many drivers they are losing in that regard? Has there been ongoing political campaigning or discussion or is it a dead issue, as it were, that has fallen flat? I will run through all of my questions and the witnesses can come back in afterwards. What impact...

Social Welfare Bill 2021: Second Stage (3 Dec 2021)

Duncan Smith: In the context of the announcements made this evening, I welcome the Minister's statement that the PUP will be restored. I look forward to receiving further details in that regard. In the short time since those announcements were made and the Minister's statement, I was contacted by campaigners in the arts community and by people in the taxi industry. They are very worried about their...

Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Statements (10 Mar 2021)

Duncan Smith: ...these workers. They work in every county in the State. They need and deserve recognition. As citizens, we need them as much as we need any other workers in this country, and we do not need to go into detail as to why that is the case, but it certainly is the case. I look forward to the Minister's response on those two issues.

Regional Airports: Motion [Private Members] (11 Nov 2020)

Duncan Smith: I thank the Independent Group for tabling this motion, in particular, Deputy McNamara who is the lead on it. From working with the Deputy when we were members of the same party some years ago and again this year on the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response, I am aware of his commitment to Shannon Airport and his desire for it to return to a sustainable and healthy state. This has been...

Disability Services: Motion [Private Members] (11 Oct 2022)

Duncan Smith: I thank Deputy Tully and Sinn Féin for bringing this motion forward this evening. I will probably jump around a bit based on the Minister of State's statement. One thing that leaped out for me, which I did not see early enough but I am glad to see now, is her ongoing negotiations with the Minister, Deputy Harris, about the training and long-term supply of staff for whatever grades are...