Results 3,741-3,760 of 16,746 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Report on Energy Poverty 2024: Motion (10 Oct 2024)

Dara Calleary: I thank Deputies Ó Cathasaigh and O'Rourke for their contributions. It is important to reflect on Deputy O'Rourke's comments. The retrofit plan is ambitious. We have a serious ambition here. It is also realistic. I absolutely agree with Deputy Ó Cathasaigh. We are not signing up to 220 years but we have been building capacity. In my opening remarks, I referred to the extra...

Report on Energy Poverty 2024: Motion (10 Oct 2024)

Dara Calleary: Gabhaim buíochas don choiste as ucht an obair thábhachtach seo agus an deis é a phlé. I join Deputy Ó Cathasaigh and, I am sure, the House in expressing my deepest sympathy to the Cathaoirleach of the committee, Deputy Denis Naughten, on the untimely passing of his brother John. Our thoughts and our prayers are with Naughten family in these very dark days. I...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Hedge Cutting (10 Oct 2024)

Dara Calleary: I assure the Deputy that the Department is very much committed to the protection of our hedgerows. It strengthened the level of protection they receive within the basic payment scheme. They are identified as landscape features, as I said. Hedgerows are protected under good agricultural environmental conditions standards, through cross-compliance, and further strengthened with the current...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Social Welfare Payments (10 Oct 2024)

Dara Calleary: That is a given. If somebody is in a vulnerable or emergency situation, payment can be made on the day. In 19% of cases, payment is made on the day. I genuinely assert that in my experience, the CWOs my office and I deal with have always been attuned to the urgency of any particular circumstance. I will ensure the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is aware of Deputy Durkan's contribution.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Hedge Cutting (10 Oct 2024)

Dara Calleary: I am taking this on behalf of the Minister, Deputy McConalogue. The Minister believes that hedgerows are a significant component of the Irish landscape. We are fortunate in Ireland to have retained an extensive hedgerow network, with an estimated length of 689,000 km according to Teagasc research. As Deputy Ó Cathasaigh has said, hedgerows are multifunctional, acting not only as...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Employment Rights (10 Oct 2024)

Dara Calleary: Nobody is celebrating anything. I assure the Deputy that no official announcements have been made.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Employment Rights (10 Oct 2024)

Dara Calleary: The introduction of statutory sick leave marked a key policy development for this country. It was introduced by this Government. For the first time, employees have a statutory right to employer-paid sick leave. That was done without us having carried out any comprehensive analysis of the sick pay landscape in the country. The data being collected now will be valuable in bridging the gaps...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Social Welfare Payments (10 Oct 2024)

Dara Calleary: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta. I have a different topic. It is in the social protection area but it relates to obtaining payments. We can shoehorn it into what the Deputy has just said. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys. In my time I have not had any such experience. I have been fortunate in that we have had an excellent relationship with the...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Employment Rights (10 Oct 2024)

Dara Calleary: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as ucht an deis labhairt faoi seo. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, and the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke. I know the House will join with me in expressing our sympathies to the Minister on the passing of his mother. As the Deputy indicated, statutory sick leave is a valuable public health intervention. It reduces...

South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan for Offshore Renewable Energy: Motion (10 Oct 2024)

Dara Calleary: Go raibh maith ag an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach agus táim buíoch de gach Teachta as páirt a ghlacadh sa díospóireacht thábhachtach seo. I have remarks generally framed from my Department's point of view, which leads out on Powering Prosperity. I will try to refer to some of the more constructive comments. If I do not get to a Deputy's point, I will...

Trade Marks (Madrid Protocol) (Amendment) Regulations 2024: Motion (10 Oct 2024)

Dara Calleary: I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the following Regulations in draft: Trade Marks (Madrid Protocol) (Amendment) Regulations 2024, a copy of which has been laid in draft form before Dáil Éireann on 16th September, 2024.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Sport and Recreational Development (10 Oct 2024)

Dara Calleary: I thank the Cathaoirleach for his welcome this morning. I thank Senator Lombard for raising this issue, which I am taking on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. As the Senator has said, the second platform for growth scheme was launched by Fáilte Ireland in January 2020. The call was directed at local authorities. It was...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Sport and Recreational Development (10 Oct 2024)

Dara Calleary: I share the Senator's frustration. I am familiar with these projects. I have seen one just beside me, albeit in County Sligo, and one in Mayo. They have been complex to deliver. If the Senator wants to engage with the CEO of Cork County Council, as I said, the two reasons that I have been given here are in relation to a stand-alone wastewater treatment system and Irish Water's concerns...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects (10 Oct 2024)

Dara Calleary: I meant to state at the outset that I am taking this on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Foley, who has been very focused on school building. There has been record school capital investment during her tenure. There has been engagement by the Department in respect of county development plans and local area plans and, more specifically in the context of Gorey and Arklow, with plans below these...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects (10 Oct 2024)

Dara Calleary: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir as ucht an issue seo a chur os ár gcomhair. As the Senator knows, in order to plan for school provision and to analyse the relevant demographic data, the Department of Education divides the country into 314 school planning areas.It uses a geographic information system which facilitates the analysis of data from a range of sources, including...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Consumer Protection (10 Oct 2024)

Dara Calleary: In my capacity as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, I can speak to addictive interface designs, a deceptive practice used by online traders and a topic that has come to the fore in relation to consumer protection issues. The EU Commission carried out a Digital Fitness Check, details of which have been recently published. The Fitness Check was carried out in response to concerns...