Results 101-120 of 5,770 for speaker:Eugene Murphy

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eugene Murphy: I will be brief because I know people have been around for quite a long time and most of the questions I want to put have probably already been asked. I know Mr. Feeney and Mr. McNamara well. I hope his sheep are going well.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eugene Murphy: I also know Mr. Carr and Mr. Farrell and I know some of the rest of them less well. I might not go as far as Deputy Danny Healy-Rae, but I have said publicly for a long time that there is a lot of beating farmers with the stick over environmental issues. My late father used to talk about the original rural environment protection scheme, REPS. Approximately 98% of farmers took part in that....

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Early Childhood Care and Education (22 Feb 2024)

Eugene Murphy: Go raibh maith agat, a Sheanadóir. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Early Childhood Care and Education (22 Feb 2024)

Eugene Murphy: I hope Senator Currie has a cure for that cough or cold. I have one myself; it is going around.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: EU Directives (22 Feb 2024)

Eugene Murphy: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Richmond.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Cancer Services (22 Feb 2024)

Eugene Murphy: It looks like we have a good outcome to that problem. It is a good result from the Minister. I echo the Minister of State's compliment to Senator McGahon for raising the matter, which I know is an issue for many of us currently. It has now been clarified.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Hedge Cutting (22 Feb 2024)

Eugene Murphy: It is a huge issue. In my part of the country, the land is saturated. Gabhaim buíochas leis na Seanadóirí agus na hAirí Stáit, as well as the staff around the House and ushers. As always, it is nice to have the co-operation of everybody around us because it makes the smooth running of the House possible.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Feb 2024)

Eugene Murphy: I extend a céad míle fáilte to the people from Belmullet. Being a Rossie, we always give a great welcome to the west except when we meet them on the football team. That will be happening in a few weeks. We need to beat them this year though. We hope they enjoy their day.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Feb 2024)

Eugene Murphy: I join with others in expressing my sympathies with the wife, daughters and extended family of Michael O'Regan. I always followed him as a journalist and I enjoyed him as a journalist. When I came to Leinster House in 2016, I got to know him really well. We became good friends. There was always a good bit of slagging between Patsy McGarry, also a well-known journalist, Michael and I about...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2024)

Eugene Murphy: May I-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2024)

Eugene Murphy: Cuirim fáilte roimh gach duine. They are very welcome. Engagement and debate are very important. It is good to hear Ms Dubsky talk about the engagement she is having with people in Macra na Feirme about developments in respect of the environment that are obviously very exciting for her. If I may say so, there is a gulf. I was reared on a small farm in County Roscommon. There is a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2024)

Eugene Murphy: The other question I want to ask the panel and which is open to anybody is whether the witnesses will continue to fight the derogation staying at 220 kg N/ha? It is correct to say that we are one of the very few countries now at 220 kg N/ha, most are at 170 kg N/ha. Will the witnesses continue that campaign? If they are going to continue that campaign, will they make a greater effort to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2024)

Eugene Murphy: On that point, from my own experience of growing up on a family farm, which was then pretty small, my parents put in a huge effort to buy an extra bit of land to make it viable, as did many families. To go back to those days, I can recall the family farm was really efficient and environmentally aware. You would watch how the whitethorns and the blackthorns would develop and you would hear...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2024)

Eugene Murphy: I am not because Mr. Moore made an important point in terms of fruit. From a farming stability point of view, we import €20 million worth of blueberries into this country. They can be so easily grown in Ireland. I made the point to the Minister, Deputy Ryan, that one of the problems is that it does not pay farmers to do that. You need to incentivise them. It is the same with...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Compliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2024)

Eugene Murphy: If it is okay with the Chair, I have one final short question. We cannot overlook the fact that we exported €19.5 billion worth of agrifood last year and that more than 150,000 people are employed in the businesses. In all of this debate, we have to find a way in which we do not substantially lose those jobs or those farms. Do the witnesses have an opinion on that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Energy Poverty: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2024)

Eugene Murphy: The enthusiasm of the witnesses for what they do is extraordinary. It is a great story to tell. It was fantastic to listen to Ms McDonnell tell the stories about the residents. To a degree, the Chair has asked the question I was going to ask, which is what we can do going forward. What ask do the witnesses have of us? I think we have an idea of that in terms of what they have been...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Energy Poverty: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2024)

Eugene Murphy: That is good.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Energy Poverty: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2024)

Eugene Murphy: On the issue of solar panels, there are many low- to middle-income people who cannot afford to do this work. I am told that it costs €15,000 to get a real benefit from it. Some neighbours and others have shown me their bills and they have been wiped out. I wonder if there is a fear, and I think it was Deputy Ó Cuív who brought this up, on the part of the companies that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Energy Poverty: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2024)

Eugene Murphy: That is true.