Results 1-20 of 319 for long speaker:Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Second Stage (30 May 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: ...not in favour of, and consequently we will be voting in favour of the legislation. I will deal with them separately. They are connected but I will deal with them one after the other. We have long called for social insurance-based payments such as jobseeker's benefit to be pay related. It is welcome that the Government has moved on this. The scheme announced by the Minister was not...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Transport (29 May 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I appreciate the Minister being here. I think this is an area where a bit of innovation could get us a long way. I saw the Minister was in Noonan's Road recently. I was glad to see that. I hope Government funding for that project will remain strong. The Minister is familiar with Cork and he may be familiar with the greater Douglas area. It is an area that has seen enormous growth in...

Local Authority Housing Maintenance and Repair: Motion [Private Members] (28 May 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: ...for Sinn Féin. What issues are important to you?" The person says, "Come in here 'til I show you." They bring me into the house, upstairs and into the kitchen and they show me black all along the walls. I can feel the cold. I touch the walls and I can feel the droplets from the damp into these 60- or 70-year-old houses that have scarcely had anything put into them by local...

Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Systems Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (22 May 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: ...of the State boards, once the nominee is fulfilling their functions as a member of that board, their responsibility is to that board and not to any other organisation they are a member of. That is long-settled company law in terms of fiduciary duties. There is no question of that anywhere else where relevant organisations have the power to nominate to a body. There is no question of...

Ceisteanna Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 May 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: ...they have been removed from the list and, effectively, have to start again. It is not dissimilar to the situation with housing. This can be very challenging for people who have been waiting a long time for treatment.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Teacher Training (15 May 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: ...that initial teacher education will be led by a small number of university-led centres of teacher education excellence". UCC is already recognised as a centre of excellence because of its very long record of work in this area. Some of the most well-known education academics in the country, for example, Áine Hyland, have worked at UCC's school of education, which is a well...

Challenges Facing the Childcare and Nursing Home Sectors: Motion [Private Members] (9 May 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: ...for nursing homes. There is a severe shortage there. While it is a somewhat different issue, it is not entirely unrelated to the pressure on our hospital system. Too often people are in hospital longer than they need to be because of a severe lack of step-down beds but in some instances also because of a lack of long-term and respite nursing-home beds. The respite piece is particularly...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: ...to Deputy Ó Cathasaigh's amendment. It is very rational and logical. While I disagree with a fundamental element of who is responsible for the investment, auto-enrolment is crucial in the long term. We need to consider the types of investment that are made, both for those beneficiaries in the industry but also the wider social context. It is right to make the words "having regard...

Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Bill 2024: Second Stage (Resumed) (1 May 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: ...schools, county homes and the mother and baby homes were all part of the same superstructure. There was a whole philosophy of putting people in residential institutions, often in ways that were a long way less than voluntary, and imposing significant hardship on them. Typically, these were people from the margins of society. In many instances, their experiences and what they endured...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Apr 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: ...resources for those who really are in need of protection. A reasonable point was made about the 12-week period and it is worthy of consideration. We have had the other extreme in Ireland for a long time, whereby people have spent years and years without a decision, living in limbo and uncertainty. That is not good for either the system or the individual to have that level of...

Civil Registration (Electronic Registration) Bill 2024: Second Stage (25 Apr 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: ...than sometimes we acknowledge in this House or in society generally. It is worthy of consideration. I think the debate centred on the recognition that there is a loss here. It is a particular type of loss and it can be a very challenging time. It is something we can consider as this legislation passes along. The legislation contains updating of references in the Act on a variety of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Citizens Information Services (25 Apr 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: ...in recent times. It is not attracting people and it is easy to understand that. Previously, there would have been more than 200 applications for positions. Now, there is only a handful. Four long-serving staff members have recently left the national phone service in the past nine months. My understanding is that the employers group and the trade unions agreed a pay claim, brought it...

Support for Carers: Motion [Private Members] (24 Apr 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: ...so. Aside from the fact that we need to respect, recognise and support carers, we need to recognise the challenges that other countries are facing. Increasingly, there is a challenge in terms of care. If someone is looking for care from the HSE, it is extremely difficult to access hours. The waiting lists are very long in many places, including in my own county of Cork, where they are...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Road Projects (16 Apr 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: ...this is very shovel-ready. If there are other projects under these travel funds throughout the State that are ready to go further, faster, that funding should be reallocated. This project has been waiting long enough. I note it is potentially holding up access to public transport as well. The bus travels up most of the Lehenaghbeg side of the hill. It is a kind of horseshoe-shaped...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Road Projects (16 Apr 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: ...I was given a timeline of quarter 1 of 2022 for publication of the CPO, quarter 2 of 2022 for the tender for construction contract and quarter 3 of 2022 for commencement of construction. We are a long way beyond that. The CPO was appealed to An Bord Pleanála. I understand that while it has not been heard by An Bord Pleanála, the council has progressed with dealing with the...

Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Second Stage (16 Apr 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: ...been that by the time people reached pension age, their accommodation had been settled, whether they were paying a local authority or differential rents or had paid off their mortgages. This is no longer a safe assumption. Unfortunately, more and more older people are finding themselves in precarious situations because of the mishandling of the housing crisis by this Government and...

General Practice and Local Health Services: Motion (20 Mar 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: .... Under this Government, the situation has deteriorated and people's confidence has been reduced. I will make a final point on healthcare staff. The point has already been raised today about long Covid, nurses and their concerns about that scheme ending. I echo the concerns that have been expressed in that regard. Those staff worked very hard during the pandemic and are very...

Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2023: Second Stage [Private Members] (27 Feb 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: .... We could work with this through Committee Stage, absolutely, and I am sure there are elements that can be worked upon, but there is no reason to delay the passage of this Bill, given how long it has been promised. The system is in crisis and getting worse. I was just looking at the numbers for my own community health organisation, CHO, area. We talk about statistics and while...

Recent Arson Attacks: Statements (27 Feb 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: ...misinformation. People have concerns, some of them are legitimate but unfortunately some are not, some of them are based on fiction. Some are based on things that are not even real. The fact it has taken so long for the Government to get to grips with that and to try to tackle that misinformation is a source of huge concern. The communication with communities has at times been poor....

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Building Projects (21 Feb 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: ...one stage was subsequently given to Carrigaline Community Special School. This was no fault of Carrigaline Community Special School, which is an excellent school. However, what happened made the long- and medium-term planning for the Owenabue Education Together National School challenging. A permanent site for the latter was identified last year, which was welcome. The site is in the...