Results 981-1,000 of 2,189 for speaker:Richard O'Donoghue

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tourism Industry (29 Sep 2022)

Richard O'Donoghue: I ask the Minister of State to answer the question.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tourism Industry (29 Sep 2022)

Richard O'Donoghue: 4. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the steps she will take to protect the tourism industry, which employs 10% of all employees in the country (details supplied) and if there are plans to protect this industry against energy price rises. [47830/22]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tourism Industry (29 Sep 2022)

Richard O'Donoghue: What is the Government proposing to do to protect the tourism industry, which employs 10% of all workers? The 9% VAT rate was a godsend for many hotels. How will the Government protect them against gouging by electricity and gas suppliers, who are making it impossible for hotels to continue operating?

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tourism Industry (29 Sep 2022)

Richard O'Donoghue: The labour-intensive tourism and hospitality sector provides employment to more than 270,000 people, whose livelihoods depend on tourism. Some 70,000 of those people are directly employed in hotels. That figure had grown to 90,000 in 2018 and 2019 and the hotel industry was hopeful that it would return to pre-pandemic levels, when it generated €12 billion in revenue for the economy....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tourism Industry (29 Sep 2022)

Richard O'Donoghue: The hotel industry was accused of gouging. However, the Smith Travel Research, STR, report, which provides benchmarking and marketplace insight in a global hospitality industry monitor, stated that the average price of a Dublin hotel room during the high season was €187 and much lower throughout the country. It was definitely much lower in Limerick. For a Fianna Fáil Minister...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (29 Sep 2022)

Richard O'Donoghue: I have been a building contractor all my working life. I have been involved in historical buildings dating as far back as the 14th century. The Government should provide insurance for every thatched house and listed building in the country. If we legislate to protect buildings and make them protected structures, the onus should be on the Government to provide insurance for them. The buck...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (29 Sep 2022)

Richard O'Donoghue: Reference was made to fire alarms. A person was trying to insure their detached house recently and they would only be allowed to insure it if they were connected directly to the local fire station from the house. The system they were looking to connect to their house would have cost over €3,000 in order to have that direct connection. However, another part of the policy said that...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (29 Sep 2022)

Richard O'Donoghue: I am delighted that the witnesses are here today and are being so vocal about the issues but the responsibility lies with us to ensure that we get a return for our heritage and for these people.

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (29 Sep 2022)

Richard O'Donoghue: I just want to add one final point. This year, last year and the year before, this House spent hundreds of thousands of euro on the commemorations of people who are historical icons for this country. For example, a significant amount of money was spent at the Béal na Bláth commemoration for Michael Collins, and rightly so, because of the heritage that is there, in terms of winning...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (29 Sep 2022)

Richard O'Donoghue: I will not delay but wish to make a final point. Ms McNelis has said that she has been trying to do this for the past 20 or more years. Now there is this petition to the committee where the Chairman is from Tipperary, Deputy Buckley is from Cork and I am from Limerick. Maybe the difference now is that we actually know what we are talking about and we live in the areas where these thatched...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Yield (29 Sep 2022)

Richard O'Donoghue: 107. To ask the Minister for Finance the amount paid by companies and employees in PAYE and PRSI contributions in each of the years 2020 and 2021 and from January to August 2022, in tabular form. [47736/22]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Yield (29 Sep 2022)

Richard O'Donoghue: 108. To ask the Minister for Finance the amount of revenue paid by businesses at the different VAT rates for each of the years 2020 and 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form. [47737/22]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Vehicle Registration Tax (29 Sep 2022)

Richard O'Donoghue: 109. To ask the Minister for Finance if discussions are expected to amend the current vehicle registration and custom duties applicable to the importation of used vehicles from Great Britain, including those with European Union or third-country origin, due to the record low number of vehicles in the car fleet industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47740/22]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (29 Sep 2022)

Richard O'Donoghue: 225. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí employed; the number of gardaí on sick leave; and the number who are not fit for duty, in tabular form. [47738/22]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (29 Sep 2022)

Richard O'Donoghue: 226. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of new gardaí recruited in each of the years 2020 and 2021 and from January to August 2022, in tabular form. [47739/22]

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (29 Sep 2022)

Richard O'Donoghue: I want to make one final point. I will leave at this. Laws have been put in place by the Government to penalise people who cannot protect these buildings, when it should be the other way round. The Government should be encouraging people and providing funding to help to protect them.

Financial Resolutions 2022 - Financial Resolution No. 6: General: Financial Resolution (Resumed) (28 Sep 2022)

Richard O'Donoghue: Issues regarding tax relief for agriculture are subject to EU approval. Why was this not dealt with before the budget? There is no recognition for the amount of technology that agriculture has embraced. Farmers have changed everything about the way they farm so they have played their part in addressing climate change. If this Government fails to recognise what agriculture is doing, it...

Financial Resolution No. 3: Tobacco Products Tax (27 Sep 2022)

Richard O'Donoghue: I am a reformed smoker. I gave up cigarettes because I wanted to give them up and because of my health at the time I gave them up. Taxing people for whom this is their only comfort is not the right thing to do. I will not be in favour of this tax for that reason. This is the only comfort that many people have. They might suffer from a nervous disposition or, as some people said to me, it...

Financial Resolutions 2022 - Financial Resolution No. 1: Mineral Oil Tax (27 Sep 2022)

Richard O'Donoghue: I would not have an issue with carbon tax if there was an alternative. I really would not. There could be an alternative carbon tax if we had the infrastructure. However, at the present, we do not have the infrastructure. Carbon tax is an unjust tax at a time when we do not have alternatives. It is an unjust tax on people who have no choice but to drive a diesel or petrol car. It is an...

Financial Resolutions 2022 - Budget Statement 2023 (27 Sep 2022)

Richard O'Donoghue: I welcome some parts of the budget but I do not welcome a lot of it because it will not help the area I represent. In the Budget Statement today, the Minister for Finance said, "On the taxation side [that is, VAT and excise extensions] I am extending the current excise reduction of 21 cent per litre in respect of petrol, 16 cent per litre in respect of diesel". The Minister is trying to...