Results 301-320 of 1,403 for speaker:Noel Harrington

Other Questions: National Broadband Plan Implementation (12 Mar 2015)

Noel Harrington: I thank the Minister of State for his response. My question is on those locations the market will never enter without State subvention. The State should intervene in these peripheral areas first. In a reply to an earlier question, the Minister of State mentioned the islands and other areas where there is no hope the market will intervene, and these should be the first priority. As...

Other Questions: National Broadband Plan Implementation (12 Mar 2015)

Noel Harrington: The islands are a good illustration, but there are areas on the mainland which are equally isolated. If we are going to intervene where the market will not, I suggest we do so where the market will never be in a position to provide broadband. If we are going to do so, we may as well do it sooner rather than later. With improving technology and better systems, the market will approach more...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: National Broadband Plan Implementation (12 Mar 2015)

Noel Harrington: 14. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans to provide priority to those areas which have had little or no broadband service to date in seeking tenders to implement the national broadband plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10232/15]

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Offshore Islands (11 Mar 2015)

Noel Harrington: 25. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht how her Department will support community groups on our offshore inhabited islands; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10122/15]

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Offshore Islands (11 Mar 2015)

Noel Harrington: 31. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the role her Department will undertake in supporting the work of community groups, on our off-shore inhabited islands; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10121/15]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Common Fisheries Policy (10 Mar 2015)

Noel Harrington: 275. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to adopt the operational plan to give effect to the Common Fisheries Policy 2014-2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10343/15]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Common Fisheries Policy (10 Mar 2015)

Noel Harrington: 276. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans and the process involved in preparing and completing the strategic environmental assessment for the Common Fisheries Policy 2014 to 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10344/15]

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Humanitarian Assistance Scheme (5 Mar 2015)

Noel Harrington: 49. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the total amount paid out for the years 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 from the humanitarian assistance fund; if she will provide a breakdown for each of these years of the types of incidences that resulted in assistance being paid; the amount that was paid following flooding, and with reference to flooding a breakdown of what was paid to local...

Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Second Stage (Resumed) (4 Mar 2015)

Noel Harrington: I propose to share time with Deputy Pat Breen. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. We must acknowledge the latest figures from the CSO, to the effect that 4,300 fewer people are on the live register compared to this time last month. There is a decrease from 10.3% to 10.1% of the population. It remains far too high but the rate of decline is increasing and that must be...

Leaders' Questions (4 Mar 2015)

Noel Harrington: Look at the Royal Victoria Hospital.

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Funding (3 Mar 2015)

Noel Harrington: 242. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the funding initiatives available from his Department for distilleries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8813/15]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Person or Number?2: Crosscare (25 Feb 2015)

Noel Harrington: Staff should be identified within an office but they need not be identified within a community. If I telephone an office I should be able to identify an official by his or her Christian name. There is no need to give full names such that members of the people could use that information to do a Facebook search, for example, on an official.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Person or Number?2: Crosscare (25 Feb 2015)

Noel Harrington: If a person calls asking to speak to George in a particular office, it should be clear to the person answering the telephone to whom the caller is referring without any need for a surname.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Person or Number?2: Crosscare (25 Feb 2015)

Noel Harrington: I welcome the witnesses and thank them for their presentations. It is dangerous to make assumptions, but I will make one in asking Mr. O'Brien to confirm whether it is mainly at social protection offices in larger urban centres that these incidences are happening.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Person or Number?2: Crosscare (25 Feb 2015)

Noel Harrington: There are different types of social protection offices that operate at the front line, including branch offices, local area offices and Intreo offices. While they operate under the same departmental rules in terms of processing applications it can be argued that they do things differently. In some rural areas, for example, branch offices do things differently to local area offices or Intreo...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Person or Number?2: Crosscare (25 Feb 2015)

Noel Harrington: As Deputy Boyd Barrett has already said, this probably only happens in a minority of cases. The vast majority of officials with whom I have dealt do their very best in difficult circumstances. That said, I understand the constraints under which Crosscare is operating. If a client says that he or she was treated appallingly or had to deal with a racist, sexist or rude official, it is very...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Person or Number?2: Crosscare (25 Feb 2015)

Noel Harrington: I ask the witnesses to clarify that when they referred to migrants accessing services they were not referring to asylum seekers or refugees but to migrants who were legally entitled to come to this country. They were speaking about people from the European Economic Area who were entitled to access our social protection services. As I understand it, habitual residence is an issue because...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Person or Number?2: Crosscare (25 Feb 2015)

Noel Harrington: I wish to reiterate the point about the name badge. People who go to social protection offices are, by and large, dealt with satisfactorily and have a positive outcome. Others do not have a positive outcome, perhaps because they are not entitled to social protection. Enormous frustration builds up in social protection offices at times. I am sure that if we interviewed officers from social...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Energy Prices: Discussion (25 Feb 2015)

Noel Harrington: I have been waiting patiently since the start of the meeting and would appreciate some latitude.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Energy Prices: Discussion (25 Feb 2015)

Noel Harrington: I welcome the presentations. The price reductions during the past four or five months have been welcomed by consumers. In the past year the consumer has been looking at plunging oil prices and expecting to see a correlation in their energy bills. They are demanding it, rightly so. In the course of the meeting the delegates have clarified how wholesale gas prices affect the companies....