Results 1-20 of 37 for going forward speaker:James O'Connor

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Large-scale Capital Projects: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

James O'Connor: ..., despite the engineering challenges involved. Senator Craughwell referenced overspend. This has never been an issue for TII to my knowledge. I recognise that and say that when a project gets going TII seems to have a track record of delivering success in it. All of us have an obligation to recognise this. I want to ask about the Midleton to Youghal scheme. An allocation will be...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (29 Nov 2023)

James O'Connor: ...Tuesday, the supports were updated from what was previously a fraction of what is now available, which is €100,000. I am not, by any means, ignoring the fact there are businesses, and I will go into this, that are experiencing damages far in excess of €100,000. This morning, Deputy Stanton and I were in the Dáil Chamber raising the issue of a crèche in the area...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Flood Risk Management (26 Oct 2023)

James O'Connor: ...familiar with. We must wait a period of time before the flood defences can be built. I welcome the funding being made available to progress this as a matter of urgency, but obviously we have to go through the statutory and regulatory barriers first. I am sure the Minister of State will give us his full support in that regard. There is a real urgency around mitigation in the interim in...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Water Services (6 Jul 2023)

James O'Connor: ...been thinking of them in the past few days. I wish to raise a critically-important issue in the constituency I represent. It is a huge problem around the Cork Harbour area, where there are ongoing problems in relation to water supply. It is particularly acute in the Whitegate community. At the moment, approximately 9,000 consumers of water in that area have been continuously...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Jul 2023)

James O'Connor: Okay. My time has expired but I want to wrap up with this point. We have heard much this week about “going forward”, “a new direction of travel for RTÉ”, “a new culture”, and so on and so forth, and we have had very extensive debate. Above all else, RTÉ is about to bring in a new director general, and when I say “new”, I...

Matters Arising in RTÉ: Statements (4 Jul 2023)

James O'Connor: ...centre or the right, there should be a mechanism for those views to be broadcast in a democratic way. I want to avoid at all costs, and this point was made by Deputy Boyd Barrett, having conglomerates going in to purchase every media outlet. That has happened in the private sector, which is why it is important to protect RTÉ as an entity. It is to everybody's benefit who is in some...

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ: Discussion (29 Jun 2023)

James O'Connor: What is RTÉ going to do going forward from here?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Toll Increases and Ongoing Projects: Discussion with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (28 Jun 2023)

James O'Connor: Regarding the projects that are ready to go to sod turn and commencement of construction, on how many of those have section 24 conditions arisen in the last 12 months? I say they are on the méar fhada. How many projects have been impacted by new conditions that might have been put forward by the Minister's team and his Department?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Quarterly Update on Matters relating to Minister of State's Remit: Discussion (22 Mar 2023)

James O'Connor: ...growing to just shy of 400,000 vehicles per annum. While I accept the Minister of State's comments about the average waiting times being in excess of 28 days, if he came to Youghal – we look forward to him coming down to Cork tomorrow – the earliest appointment he would get on the system would be some time in October or November. That is not good enough and I am concerned...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Briefing on Current and Future Plans for the School Building Unit: Department of Education (31 Jan 2023)

James O'Connor: I thank Ms Cusack. I apologise to Mr. Loftus, but I have limited time. Ms Cusack painted an excellent picture there. I have to agree with her in respect of forward planning. She referred to rail. A sum of €1.4 billion will be spent in east Cork and north Cork on tripling the rail capacity. As regards roads infrastructure, there is just shy of €1 billion in projects that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Aviation Policy: Dublin Airport Authority (18 Jan 2023)

James O'Connor: ...there were difficulties around the situation in the summer, but he is a good man and I wish him well. He had a vision for the airport, from a capital development point of view, and he was quite a forward-thinking individual. Obviously, Covid caused enormous difficulties for aviation, which we have teased out in the committee. However, I have a few concerns. I have been on record in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Action Plan (15 Dec 2022)

James O'Connor: ...here with a wrecking ball, but the State has put everything into the national development plan that we intend to build in all facets of infrastructure. It must, though, consider other plans put forward by the Government. My great concern is that, if we look at the calculations for the capital development of new projects around the emissions of those projects, I understand the Department...

Forestry: Statements (24 Nov 2022)

James O'Connor: ...For example, a substantial proportion of timber from Ireland is imported and products are exported in Cobh, which is something that may be seen as negative and positive. My desire and hope for our Government is that we would be in a position to deal with a long-standing mess. The Minister of State, Deputy Hackett, gets a lot of criticism. My perspective on this is that the Government...

Water Policy: Statements (9 Nov 2022)

James O'Connor: ...Comhairle back. It is great to see him and I wish him well. I will make a few points concerning my interpretation of the situation with our water supply. My report in this regard is not very good. Moving away from the parochial and putting a more national focus on the subject for one moment, this situation stems from continuously devolving responsibility away from democratically...

Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: ...important that we acknowledge the serious urgency around this particular work. I have significant concerns around prosecution that will come as a consequence of new legislation that we will bring forward. Section 12 of this deals with that. It is important that there is very strong back up when it comes to being able to prosecute people for illegal behaviour online. One thing that...

Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (20 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: ...the seriousness of this legislation. Although it is quite prescriptive, it is very finite. There is a lot in it but it will make a significant difference collectively across other work the Government is doing in the area of health. It will address a lot of issues around trying to get foreign medical professionals involved in our health service. I do not need to tell the Minister of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: International Protection (7 Jul 2022)

James O'Connor: ...the update. Another point which needs to be made is that there was a great deal of unfortunate commentary in recent times about the arrival of Ukrainian refugees in Ireland. It is dangerous to go into that type of territory. It is important also that the Government works with communities which are hosting refugees. I am from the town of Youghal and the Minister will be very familiar...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Housing Provision (30 Jun 2022)

James O'Connor: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, for being present in the Chamber. I ask for a progress update on the ongoing house building targets for 2022. We have seen some reports in the media during the week and there seems to be a discrepancy between details provided by the Department and what will realistically be produced. I would appreciate the Minister providing an update in that...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

James O'Connor: ...of its budget. I have a concern about the fact there are 54 members on that local authority and that the time commitments different individuals can give differ. It would be healthier for local governments in Ireland if we had a full-time set position and policy was laid down by the Department or some analysis was done in that regard. The Moorhead report clearly showed the enormous work...

Passport Services: Statements (26 May 2022)

James O'Connor: ...of people who want to renew their passports. In addition, there have been some international circumstances that have driven demand for Irish passports. It is important that solutions are brought forward in this debate. It would be an idea for the Department of Foreign Affairs to give priority to existing passport applications by those people who currently hold Irish passports. It is...