Results 681-700 of 2,064 for speaker:Pat Casey

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (18 Sep 2020)

Pat Casey: The issue I wish to raise relates to a number of Departments. I refer to the local property tax. We are in a year when all family and household incomes have suffered a negative impact due to Covid-19, yet we are asking local authority members to increase the property tax, thereby increasing the burden on those same households.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (18 Sep 2020)

Pat Casey: That could have been avoided if previous Governments had addressed the two fundamental issues of the revaluation process and the fact that the property tax was not paid on new homes that were built, thus increasing the burden on the owners of existing properties.I accept that dealing with this issue is now in the programme for Government, but regretfully, legislation is required to deal with...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jul 2020)

Pat Casey: I ask the Leader to request that the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government come before us in September. That request has been made by a number of other Senators in order to discuss social and affordable housing and the homeless crisis. The issue I wish to raise comprises two interconnected aspects.One of these relates to the county development plan process, which every county...

Seanad: Financial Provisions (Covid-19) (No. 2) Bill 2020: Second Stage (30 Jul 2020)

Pat Casey: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I was wondering how I would address this Bill so I will speak from my personal experience as somebody who is in business and currently going through this process. The tourism sector has faced many challenges over a number of decades. The big one we all remember was in 1969 when the Troubles in the North started. They had a seismic impact on...

Seanad: Financial Provisions (Covid-19) (No. 2) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (30 Jul 2020)

Pat Casey: As an employer in one of the sectors that has been referred to, I can understand the sentiment being expressed. However, we are in a crisis and we need to respond to that crisis very quickly. Trying to enter into collective bargaining before one would qualify for the wage subsidy scheme could put businesses at risk. It is not by our choice that people in my industry offer part-time and...

Seanad: Financial Provisions (Covid-19) (No. 2) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (30 Jul 2020)

Pat Casey: Workers' rights are protected in primary legislation and every employer must comply with that legislation. It is not true, therefore, that workers have no rights in the workplace. In all my time as an employer, I have tried to do the best by my employees. I used the joint labour committee, JLC, arrangements for numerous years, until the collapse of those arrangements. I actually found it...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (29 Jul 2020)

Pat Casey: I thank the Cathaoirleach. My issue is directed towards the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment and relates to the Protecting Uplands and Rural Environments, PURE, project in County Wicklow. It is nice to see the Acting Leader here today because he would be aware of this project in Wicklow. The PURE project, which seeks to protect the uplands and the rural...

Seanad: Tourism: Statements (28 Jul 2020)

Pat Casey: I too congratulate the Minister on her appointment. The sector has never faced a crisis of such magnitude, and we have been through a number of them. In the Minister's words, the devastation being experienced in the sector is unprecedented. I welcome the July stimulus package, which addresses some of the short-term measures required to keep our doors open in the coming off-season, but the...

Seanad: Tourism: Statements (28 Jul 2020)

Pat Casey: Wicklow is open for business. If anyone would like to come to Wicklow, given that everyone else mentioned their counties, they are all welcome to the garden county.

Seanad: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (23 Jul 2020)

Pat Casey: I thank Senator Crowe for sharing his time and wish him the best of luck. He opened his doors last night for the fist time in four months, and I opened mine about a month ago. We are living examples. We are both living through this so we have a full understanding of the huge benefit this credit guarantee scheme can bring. I welcome it. It is the largest guarantee scheme in the history of...

Seanad: Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jul 2020)

Pat Casey: On the area of the guarantee, the big game-changer is that the State is now backing these loans to 80%. A lot of the SMEs have been through a horrendous time with the banking industry. There is very little trust between the SME sector and the banking sector. The banks were offering the SME sector millions of euro in 2008 and 2009 but would not even give them a €50,000 overdraft in...

Seanad: Financial Provisions (Covid-19) Bill 2020: Second Stage (16 Jul 2020)

Pat Casey: I congratulate my colleague, Deputy Fleming, on his appointment as Minister of State with responsibility for financial services, credit unions and insurance. His background in accountancy, chairmanship of the Committee of Public Accounts and experience as spokesman on public expenditure and reform before that mean he is ideally placed to deal with the issues ahead of us. One of the key...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Jul 2020)

Pat Casey: The reality of the survival of the tourism industry has become more apparent and more clear to me since we reopened our doors a week ago. When we think of the tourism industry, sometimes we just think of hotels, pubs and restaurants but the industry has a much wider impact than that on society. I refer to the transport sector. We have airports, ferry ports and taxis while limousine hire...

Seanad: Microenterprise Loan Fund (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (9 Jul 2020)

Pat Casey: I congratulate the Minister of State on his new appointment. I welcome the Bill. The SME sector was probably the sector hardest hit by the last crash. As we know, most of them are small family-owned businesses with a few employees. They suffered the most. There was no back-up support or social welfare for them when their businesses closed. They had nothing to hang onto. When they went...

Seanad: Election of Cathaoirleach (29 Jun 2020)

Pat Casey: Can I give you my congratulations, a Chathaoirligh, on your success of being elected Cathaoirleach today. It is a huge honour for you and for your family. As previous speakers have said, I too know you going back as far as 2006 to that famous strategy of yours to win a Seanad seat in 2007. Some of us have tried to replicate parts of the campaign that you ran then. I had my final meeting...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Retention (17 Dec 2019)

Pat Casey: 300. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the actions she has taken to protect jobs at a company (details supplied); if she has spoken with management of the company regarding protecting the jobs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52686/19]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Support Services (17 Dec 2019)

Pat Casey: 672. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the supports that will be put in place by her Department and agencies under her aegis for employees that lost their jobs in a company (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52686/19]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Support Services (17 Dec 2019)

Pat Casey: 679. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the supports and advice her Department will make available to workers laid off at a company (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52685/19]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland: Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (12 Dec 2019)

Pat Casey: In preparation for this meeting, my intention was to try to focus on the number of people exiting and entering homelessness and trying to get an average. I then tried to look at what the impact of not having it off-balance sheet would have on the delivery of housing over the next five years. I also wish to focus on how we have failed to convert vacant private housing into use. In addition,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland: Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (12 Dec 2019)

Pat Casey: I mentioned the off-balance sheet model, but I did not expand on it. The concern is looking ahead four or five years and the fact that any debt is part of the fiscal space. This morning we heard an announcement from Circle Voluntary Housing Association about a new public private partnership process in relation to the delivery of social housing and investment. I do not know the details of...