Results 2,241-2,260 of 3,899 for speaker:Michael Collins

Appropriation Bill 2020: Second and Subsequent Stages (17 Dec 2020)

Michael Collins: I apologise for being late. I sprinted to get here but the Minister had just got to his feet when I arrived. I appreciate the Minister giving us a full and detailed rundown of the capital funding and the ten-year national development plan ahead. I plead with him to give serious consideration to a constituency that I feel has been starved of good, serious funding for a long time to allow it...

Planning and Development Bill 2020 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2020)

Michael Collins: We are discussing Zoom meetings for county development plans. I would not be greatly in favour of them. Down through the years I have involved myself in my community in county development plans and national development plans. It is hard enough to get them to engage through public meetings not to mention Zoom-type meetings. I acknowledge it is a difficult time and we need to come up with...

Post-European Council: Statements (16 Dec 2020)

Michael Collins: It is a good time to be debating the European Council meeting, given that so much is dependent on a resolution to the Brexit negotiations. The Minister is well aware, given his own constituency, of the negative effects of Brexit on Irish agriculture. A recent report from the Central Bank indicates that beef and sheep farmers will be the most economically vulnerable and that up to one third...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (16 Dec 2020)

Michael Collins: I have previously raised the question of energy security with respect to gas and other power supplies. We currently have no gas storage in Ireland and we are 100% dependent on Britain for gas imports. Kinsale gas field is finished and there is a major decline in production at Corrib. There are now reports that EirGrid is experiencing difficulties dealing with peak electricity demand...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (16 Dec 2020)

Michael Collins: The Taoiseach is not answering my question.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (16 Dec 2020)

Michael Collins: I have a point of order.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (16 Dec 2020)

Michael Collins: I stand on my own two feet.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Dec 2020)

Michael Collins: I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. I thank the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly - I always believe in calling a spade a spade - for sorting out the medicinal cannabis access for Vera Twomey's daughter Ava and for so many sufferers who desperately need access to this medicine. However, people are suffering from the worry of losing their eyesight. They are contacting me...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Dec 2020)

Michael Collins: Brexit is a huge worry on the minds of many people in the Republic as the deadline is looming ever so near, with no agreement in place as we speak. There is no doubt that Brexit will impact on many businesses. While much preparation has been made for that impact, not knowing is the hardest pill to swallow right now. Agriculture will be hard hit. A recent Central Bank report stated that...

Impact of Covid-19 Restrictions: Motion [Private Members] (16 Dec 2020)

Michael Collins: I thank Mairead McGrath and Brian Ó Domhnaill for putting together this Private Members’ motion. It is an important motion referring to the many difficulties people have experienced during this Covid crisis. In many cases, people have been overlooked during this pandemic. We need to be cautious about and respect the dangers of Covid-19 which is what rural communities have tried...

Homeless Prevention Bill 2020: Second Stage [Private Members] (15 Dec 2020)

Michael Collins: Homelessness is a blight on our society. I know the difficulties that people are experiencing. I know people in Clonakilty who are sleeping in cars and vans. I am not singling out Clonakilty, because the same is happening in other places. My constituency office is always working with people who are on the verge of homelessness. It is difficult for people to access the property market...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Brexit on the Agrifood Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Dec 2020)

Michael Collins: I have a few questions. Most things have been touched on already so I do not want to go back over them again. A fund has been set aside to deal with whatever kind of Brexit, deal or no deal, is put in place. I welcome the ICSA and the ICMSA here today and thank them for being with us. Have they any idea as to how this fund will be distributed? The witnesses mentioned that it would be...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Dec 2020)

Michael Collins: Last night, the 'Belfast or Blind' bus no. 63 arrived back in Cork and Kerry. It was the second of two buses in three days which were full of people relieved to have had eyesight-saving surgery in Belfast under the cross-Border directive, where those people in the Republic on a waiting list for operations, such as for a cataract, can have the procedure done in the North and then be...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Cross-Border Health Initiatives (10 Dec 2020)

Michael Collins: 145. To ask the Minister for Health if, due to Brexit much doubt is cast over the European Union cross-border directive, if the Government will put a bilateral agreement in place for the EU Cross Border Directive on Health with the UK or at the very least Northern Ireland; and if not, if Irish citizens will be directly disadvantaged as a result of the UK decision to leave the EU and be forced...

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (Resumed) and Subsequent Stages (9 Dec 2020)

Michael Collins: The health insurance issue is scandalous to say the least. I speak to people who want to use health insurance and the greatest issue is that the cost prevents them from doing so. Recently, people have been contacting my office to say there have been several increases that are putting health insurance out of the reach of the ordinary person. This is an issue that needs to be addressed...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 Dec 2020)

Michael Collins: The fishing industry is hanging on the edge at this time due to the Brexit negotiations and British insistence that all EU trawlers vacate UK waters on 31 December. On top of this, we heard at the Select Committee on Agriculture and the Marine last week that there will be a 5% reduction in whitefish fleet fishing next year. This will mainly hit fishermen from Castletownbere and the south...

Mental Health Policy: Motion [Private Members] (9 Dec 2020)

Michael Collins: Mental health is a huge issue in my constituency and throughout the country. I often say that we concentrated so much on Covid-19 that we took our eye off the ball for people with cancer or mental health stress. Some say there has been a huge increase in suicide. A proper register of people with mental health and death by suicide might show that those deaths might be at about the same...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Dec 2020)

Michael Collins: The visiting restrictions on nursing homes and community hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant negative effect on the psychological well-being of many residents. I fully understand the need for visiting restrictions to keep this elderly sector of our community safe during Covid but many residents have suffered psychologically. I welcome the new position where nursing...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Electricity Generation (8 Dec 2020)

Michael Collins: 106. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to pay for the excess electricity generated in the future by photovoltaic cells installed on the roof of a private house (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41459/20]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Help to Buy Scheme (8 Dec 2020)

Michael Collins: 170. To ask the Minister for Finance the reason persons (details supplied) do not qualify for the first-time buyers help to buy scheme; if other grants are available to them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41870/20]