Results 3,441-3,460 of 5,949 for speaker:Paul McAuliffe

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: We are due to take Irish Water at 4.30 p.m., but Senator Boyhan-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: Speaking of cumulative effects, we have run over time. I thank our witnesses from the EPA and the HSE for their answers. We will now suspend the meeting for a moment, which will allow our witnesses from Irish Water to take their seats.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: I thank the witnesses from Irish Water who are joining us on the issue of water quality and supply. We are joined by Mr. Niall Gleeson, Ms Angela Ryan, Mr. Tom Cuddy and Mr. Seán Laffey. Their statement has been circulated to members, so I ask them to stay within five minutes for their opening remarks. As the witnesses were not here for the previous session, I will repeat my remarks...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: I must ask you to conclude, if you can please.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: Thank you Mr. Gleeson. We will now move on to questions. Each member has seven minutes for both questions and answers. I will take the first slot myself. Mr. Gleeson has outlined some of the improvements that Irish Water has made, but having heard previous speakers from the EPA and the HSE, there is no doubt that there is a significant challenge remaining, with more than 500,000 people...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: You have alluded to the fact that there are environmental elements associated with bogs and so on. Is it that there are factors that are unique to Ireland or is this related to the unsatisfactory systems in place in our water treatment network?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: The first time a member of the public becomes aware that there might be an issue is if there is discoloration, a smell or a taste in the water. The EPA and the HSE outlined their role in the overall process in terms of issuing boil water notices and so on. How does Irish Water escalate reports that come into its call centre? In recent weeks, for example, across Clontarf, some parts of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: Were those measures taken in this case?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: Do you know how many households were impacted by it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: You might have heard the question I put to the EPA and the HSE regarding the security risk at water treatment facilities and whether we had sufficient cybersecurity and physical security in place to prevent a malicious attack on somewhere like Ballymore Eustace which provides 40% of our water supplies. Is that something Irish Water can comment on? What measures are in place?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: That is good to know. I had better be as strict with myself as I will be with others. Deputy Gould is next.

Financial Resolutions 2022 - Financial Resolution No. 6: General (Resumed) (29 Sep 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: I happy to take the time if the Deputy does not arrive. This weekend, Fianna Fáil will hold its Ard-Fheis. There will be thousands of members from across the country who will be coming to the Ard-Fheis for the first time since we entered Government. Many of them can be proud of the budget that we have presented to this House. There are many shared goals with our coalition...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 38 - Health
Health Service Executive - Financial Statements 2021 (29 Sep 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: I apologise to Mr. Reid if I repeat questions but I was attending a meeting of the Joint Committee on Gender Equality, which had the Tánaiste in attendance. Before I left this meeting, Mr. Reid acknowledged that mental health and disability services are two of the major pressure points regarding service delivery for the HSE. I think all of us, as elected members, agree they are two...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 38 - Health
Health Service Executive - Financial Statements 2021 (29 Sep 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: I have been told the number might exceed 5,000 next year.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 38 - Health
Health Service Executive - Financial Statements 2021 (29 Sep 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: If I could be given the times taken to see patients on the general waiting lists, it would be beneficial. To tackle the problem and prevent what has happened in one CHO area from happening in others, bearing in mind that there is a bit of a postcode lottery in that some lists are much longer than others, an audit was to be carried out across the whole country. I do not know whether that...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 38 - Health
Health Service Executive - Financial Statements 2021 (29 Sep 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: Does Mr. Reid expect that audit to be with the Minister before Christmas?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 38 - Health
Health Service Executive - Financial Statements 2021 (29 Sep 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: I acknowledge that more work is being done, but clearly there is increased demand. We have to match that. On Mr. Reid’s point about communications, I want to move on to the disability side because it is one of the areas I find so frustrating. Let me outline my experience. Young mothers and fathers regularly tell me they have had a chat with their child’s school or...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 38 - Health
Health Service Executive - Financial Statements 2021 (29 Sep 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: I have one comment. We have done a lot of work in getting new ASD classes in mainstream schools. The Taoiseach has indicated that we are going to go further and put an obligation on all education providers to include people with disabilities. Many of those teachers are realising the problems parents have. We can open these classes but if we do not have treatments and therapies, we are not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (29 Sep 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: Did the Minister say he is walking back from the commitment in the programme for Government to conduct a pilot scheme?

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Sports Funding (29 Sep 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: 57. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if additional supports will be made available to support sporting organisations recovering from the impact of Covid-19. [47579/22]