Results 241-260 of 5,815 for speaker:Mairéad Farrell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (2 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: That is fair enough. It is a very specific question. This is an issue of concern I have and I have raised it with the Minister of State previously. I have been raising as an issue in recent years that I feel the property management function in the OPW is not working in the way it should. I hope the Minister of State will take a look at this and see how it can be managed better.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (2 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: That is good and I wish the Minister of State every success with it because we have had many examples of it not working up to now. At the end of the day, it is taxpayers' money and there are buildings that could be used for all sorts of purposes. Has the programme of building Ukrainian modular homes been completed at this point?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (2 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: When does the Minister of State expect it to be completed?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (2 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: Does he know what the final cost is estimated to be at this point?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (2 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: What is the difference between the estimated cost and the final cost?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (2 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: The Minister of State can provide the committee with the information. A number of issues have arisen with the OPW and I have raised them with the Minister of State. I wish him every success and I hope we do not see the likes of what has happened occur again because it creates lot of anger. I am sure the Minister of State and his officials know this better than most from working in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (2 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: I know the Minister of State will furnish a note to the committee on the leasing of properties to former and current civil servants. When did that practice begin? Does the Minister of State know when it began? Perhaps he is not sure.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (2 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: It is people who work the land.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (2 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: We see them in graveyards sometimes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (2 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: I thank the Minister of State. It was not clear for everybody from the start but I presumed it was people working on the sites. It is the same as what we had in the past, whereby people lived in graveyards if they were working in them.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (2 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: That is what this is about.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (2 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: I am conscious a number of other speakers want to come in and when you are one of the final speakers most of the questions tend to have already been asked. I will now open up the discussion to others. I call an Teachta Cronin.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (2 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: If that is the case with the other issues, then we will go into private session.

GPO and Moore Street Regeneration as a 1916 Cultural Quarter: Motion [Private Members] (1 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: Where else in the world would a building from which a rebellion was led and from which the independence of a country in its entirety was proclaimed be the subject of an attempt by the government of the day to get rid of that historic tradition by having the commercialisation of the building as its mainstay? Would the French commercialise the Bastille? This is one of the proudest buildings...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: We have a domestic violence epidemic in this country, North and South. Every single week now in my weekly clinics, women disclose domestic violence to me. Reporting of domestic violence has increased everywhere, including in Domestic Violence Response Galway. It is clear that something needs to change. I understand and recognise that is an enormous task to undertake, as domestic violence...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Engagement with the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (1 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: I thank the witnesses for coming. It has been very interesting so far. One of the very interesting things that was mentioned a few times is the responsibility the committee has to look at how the budget overspends, etc. One of the things I found particularly frustrating at this committee in the previous term is Ministers would come in the week before the budget talking about figures that...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Engagement with the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (1 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: Apologies, but I am conscious of time. The G7 and the announcement a few days ago regarding the US and pillar 2 were mentioned. Does IFAC have any concept of what the impact of that could be? Is that too-----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Engagement with the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (1 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: Okay. It is interesting times ahead. Table 1 of the fiscal assessment report identifies sectors such as pharma, ICT and others being impacted by tariffs. Drinks and food are identified as being the worst hit, which we can understand. We have heard from different sources, such as the Parliamentary Budget Office, PBO, that pharma is unlikely to be impacted based on the fact that it has not...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Engagement with the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (1 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: How exactly was pharma identified? Where was the risk coming from there?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Engagement with the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (1 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: It is just that IFAC stated some sectors are likely more exposed to tariffs than others. Pharmaceuticals was one of them. Those companies are saying that it will not be included in tariffs. IFAC just means that as regards the global trend and the economy broadly tariffs could have an impact on pharma.