Results 61-80 of 226 for going forward speaker:Brian Stanley

Ban on Rent Increases Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members] (6 Jul 2021)

Brian Stanley: ...12 months. Increasing rents also drive up house prices, as they make it more attractive to landlords to buy and rent them, which pushes out couples and single people who want to buy a home, get going in life and secure a roof over their head. Sinn Féin proposes a range of measures to tackle the housing crisis. This rent freeze is one part of our plan. We would also introduce tax...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Jul 2021)

Brian Stanley: There are two proposals. One is that a letter go to the Department, as outlined by Deputy Murphy. Is that agreed? Agreed. The other proposal is we write back to both councils, asking whether there are any tangible assets or physical assets of Galway 2020, and whether they are happy with how the project has proceeded so far. Is that agreed? Agreed. The next item of correspondence is...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Jul 2021)

Brian Stanley: My concern is we are facing a pensions time bomb, and with the housing situation we are facing a pensioner-renter time bomb. Pensioners are not going to be able to afford the rents that are demanded in the private sector. The rents for these cost rental schemes would be too high even for a couple where there are two pensions. Where one pensioner might end up living alone, it would be...

Residential Tenancies (No. 2) Bill 2021: Second Stage (23 Jun 2021)

Brian Stanley: ...welcomes the decision by the Government today to extend the emergency eviction ban until 2022, but this ban should be extended to all renters, not just those who fall within the limited definition put forward by the Minister. Just 475 renters have been able to avail of the Government's Covid-19 rent protections, despite 3,800 being in rent arrears. The current legislation is simply not...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Jun 2021)

Brian Stanley: ...are being built on sites very close to dwellings. They are being built using outdated 2006 guidelines that were designed to cover small turbines of less than 50 m in height. The way things are going, the Laois and Offaly area will soon become the wind turbine capital of the country. That is not an argument against wind turbines or wind energy. I have been chasing the issue for ten...

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (27 May 2021)

Brian Stanley: ...for it. The local population needs it. There are road safety issues with the R400 in the area where the old Derrygreenagh works were. There is a serious situation in north Offaly, because it is going over peat. The other thing I wanted to briefly mention was the 1951 CIÉ pension scheme. I do not want to go into it in detail. There are people there for 40 years who have paid...

Health and Criminal Justice (Covid-19) (Amendment) Bill 2021 [Seanad]: Second Stage (26 May 2021)

Brian Stanley: ...on this Bill. When these measures were last before the House in October 2020, Sinn Féin tabled an amendment to limit the scope of the emergency legislation. We sought for the Government to bring forward less discretionary legislation which did not avoid Dáil scrutiny. The existing legislation is giving far too much discretion and emergency powers to the Minister for Health. I...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements and Accounts (11 May 2021)

Brian Stanley: On the legislation, the committee raised the matter with the Department last autumn. The indications are that it is not likely to go to pre-legislative scrutiny until this autumn, which is some time away yet. It is proposed that we allow the Department to complete its work and that we will consider the matter again when we have received an update on it. This is as much as we can do for...

Residential Tenancies (Student Rents and Other Protections) (Covid-19) Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members] (28 Apr 2021)

Brian Stanley: The legislation brought forward by Sinn Féin this morning is very important and will deal with a significant problem that has caused hardship and stress for families in my constituency of Laois-Offaly and other rural counties from where people must travel. Recent reports estimate that 3,019 students from County Laois and 2,984 from Offaly attend third level college. Many of these...

Public Accounts Committee: Bogus Self-Employment: Discussion (30 Mar 2021)

Brian Stanley: ...he was an employee. He was classified by his employer as self-employed. He then appealed that judgment to the scope section of the Department which upheld the decision. The case was then to go to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. In the interim, the individual in question emigrated because his employment status was precarious at that stage. At that point, the company, which I will...

Public Accounts Committee: Bogus Self-Employment: Discussion (30 Mar 2021)

Brian Stanley: ...has done on this. It is a very important piece of work and he referred to the pension pot which is one issue of concern. That is made up of PRSI contributions and if correct contributions are not going in, there will not be enough in the pot. Another important point is the conditions for workers. I know one of the Deputies mentioned earlier that anyone who thinks there is no bogus...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (29 Jan 2021)

Brian Stanley: ...in? Okay, on the basis of that discussion, we will ask the clerk to write to Tusla to seek further information on those issues. Specifically, we will seek the explanation for such a large figure going to CPL, as well as asking how many contracts and engagements that company has had and how many pieces of work it has done for Tusla and the full value of those. That would be useful. The...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (29 Jan 2021)

Brian Stanley: ...it can. We have to be careful in respect of GSOC. Obviously, we cannot get involved if it is involved in an inquiry into the matter, but we can ask it for a timeline if agreed. That is as far as we can go. If it is agreed, we will correspond with the chief superintendent and An Garda Síochána and seek a timeline from GSOC. Is that agreed? Agreed. The final item of...

Public Accounts Committee (2 Dec 2020)

Brian Stanley: ..., we will have further engagement over two days with the Department of Justice and the Prison Service. This doubles the time that we have to examine the accounts, and we have already agreed going forward that we will try and use that approach rather than trying to cram all the work into the one day. We then have one public engagement left before the end of the year, which takes place on...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (25 Nov 2020)

Brian Stanley: ...I note my appreciation of everybody’s efforts in attending the meeting here because the Dáil is meeting today in the convention centre at the far side of town and people are moving backwards and forwards. We are joined by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr. Seamus McCarthy, as the permanent witness. We have received an apology from Deputy Hourigan. I propose that we go...

Financial Resolutions 2020 - Financial Resolution No. 7: General (Resumed) (15 Oct 2020)

Brian Stanley: ...was needed. The big spend on it is welcome but health services and hospitals are under capacity, not just to deal with the pandemic but also to improve non-Covid services. We in Sinn Féin put forward the case for a minimum of 100 extra ICU beds and €38 million for extra home care hours. Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise has two permanent ICU beds. Midland Regional...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the Nursing Homes Support Scheme: Discussion (1 Oct 2020)

Brian Stanley: This morning we have our first public engagement with witnesses from the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive. I would like to warmly welcome our witnesses. I look forward to working productively with both bodies in the months ahead. The focus of today's meeting is the Comptroller and Auditor General's special report No. 110 on the nursing homes support scheme, also known...

Gnó Comhaltaí Príobháideacha - Private Members' Business - Cancer Screening: Motion [Private Members] (8 Sep 2020)

Brian Stanley: I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion brought forward by my colleague, Deputy Cullinane. For people who may have symptoms of cancer, it has been a stressful time waiting to be screened. The Minister acknowledged that it is a traumatic time for people who are receiving treatment as well. We all acknowledge that. I welcome the fact that we will soon have BreastCheck,...

Health (General Practitioner Service and Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2020: Second Stage (23 Jul 2020)

Brian Stanley: ..., as well as free GP care to all citizens over a five-year term. In line with Sinn Féin proposals to move towards a one-tier system in healthcare, we welcome the steps taken in the legislation the Government has brought forward to provide GP care to all children under the age of 12 and to increase the income limits for those over the age of 70. Like the previous speaker, the only...

Covid-19 (Agriculture, Food and the Marine): Statements (30 Apr 2020)

Brian Stanley: ...Deputies in the Chamber. I thank the Minister. I have four questions for him. The first issue I want to raise is one to which I am returning, having raised it with the Minister some weeks ago. It relates to health and safety in food processing plants. I particularly want to raise the issue at Rosderra Meats. The company has plants in Edenderry and Roscrea and I have heard...