Results 2,121-2,140 of 3,777 for speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: United Nations (28 Sep 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: 23. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to report on his recent visit to the UN as it relates to the SDG Declaration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41608/23]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: United Nations (28 Sep 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: 30. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to report on his recent UN visit with respect to Climate Finance and in anticipation of COP 28; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41609/23]

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Air Quality (28 Sep 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: 97. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to improve the monitoring of polluted air at school gates, beyond the GLOBE citizen-science project which is limited by its voluntary participation, monitoring period, methodology and indicative results; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41650/23]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Licences (28 Sep 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: 237. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if any licence has been issued for the management of the goat herd at Passage East, County Waterford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42037/23]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: General Scheme of the Social Welfare (Amendment) Bill 2023: Discussion (27 Sep 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: I thank the Department for their work. The three main provisions that have been provided for, which are the result of the work done by the Pensions Commission, are welcome and they are a move in the right direction, notwithstanding Deputy Ó Cuív's comments who has experience in this area over a long number of years. I echo the point made by the Cathaoirleach about the late...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: General Scheme of the Social Welfare (Amendment) Bill 2023: Discussion (27 Sep 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: I will dwell on that for a moment. Caring responsibilities wax and wane over a person's lifetime. We are talking about a 20-year period here. It could be that the person being cared for has a period of good health or a period of worsening health. How are we keeping track of that over such a long period? How can it be meaningfully translated into this pension provision at the end of that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Current and Future Plans of the School Building Unit: Department of Education (3 Oct 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: I thank the witnesses for their comprehensive opening statement. I will concentrate on the points focusing on climate and transport. I might preface my questions by noting the fact that the siting of a new school is a considerable public investment. When we are making a public investment, we should try to make sure there is a dividend in terms of the public good that exists, obviously...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Current and Future Plans of the School Building Unit: Department of Education (3 Oct 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: Those are predominantly NTA programmes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Current and Future Plans of the School Building Unit: Department of Education (3 Oct 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: Is there any formalised approach whereby the Department sits down with a local authority, the NTA and public transport providers like CIÉ? I ask because things seem piecemeal. As I have said, I could cite the example of that secondary school. It is comfortable to drive there if one is not sat in traffic, but it is not terribly comfortable to go there on a bike - I say that as a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Safety (5 Oct 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: 7. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on running a national communications campaign to address driving to, and engine idling at, school gates, to help improve education and awareness of the need for safe roads and clean air for children and to support the roll-out of the Green Schools Safe Routes to School programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Safety (5 Oct 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: The Department is running a very successful campaign in Your Journey Counts. Has the Minister considered a similar campaign, one that focuses in particular on the dangers of engine idling outside schools and public buildings, and the dangers that are associated with being reliant on cars to get children to and from school, to complement the roll-out of the Green Schools and the Safe Routes...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Safety (5 Oct 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: I also addressed this issue in a Topical Issue debate just last week, when I talked about the EPA report on air pollution and the impact that is having on public health, including excess mortality in our communities. Up to 1,400 people a year die as a result of air pollution. Although it is a very stark figure, it does not take account of the number of people who suffer adverse health...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Safety (5 Oct 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: Investment in this type of awareness campaign but also the physical infrastructure the Minister of State talks about is mission critical. It is not just an environmental or climate action policy; it is also a public health policy and a social justice policy. If we invest in infrastructure in this way, it is good for the kids. They get to walk or scoot to school. They arrive more awake and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Active Travel (5 Oct 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: 8. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to enhance the impact of the work of smarter travel workplaces and campus programmes in relation to workplaces located in business parks on the outskirts of towns and cities where the planning and design of the parks have resulted in over-reliance on the private car; whether he has considered the provision of electric shuttles...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Active Travel (5 Oct 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: This question relates to the smarter travel programme for workplaces and campuses. It is focused on how we get people around business parks, for example. They are very often out of town and are very expansive. Many of the companies based in these business parks want to lean in to facilitating public transport or active travel options, but I am not sure the infrastructure or the planning...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Active Travel (5 Oct 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: I am sure Deputy Leddin will adequately speak about Limerick. I will focus on a Waterford example, specifically the IDA Business Park there. There are a number of bus routes that drop people off at the Cork Road and the quality of the service is pretty good. However, if a person is headed to the premises of Sun Life, which is a massive employer, or Teva or Bausch + Lomb, or to Waterford...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Active Travel (5 Oct 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: The Minister might be interested in looking back on the discussion I had at the education committee this week. We had the forward planning unit of the Department of Education in and I raised the example of Ardscoil na Mara. It is a pretty hostile environment for pedestrians and cyclists. It is set up for vehicular traffic. There is a role for the Minister's Department and the NTA to sit...

Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive: Financial Statements 2023 (5 Oct 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: I thank the witnesses for appearing before the committee and for their opening statements and briefing documents attached. I will begin on a very generalised issue. It is a gargantuan budget and it always seems to be spiralling. We know we are heading to a €1.2 billion overrun again this year. From the point of view of the body within the Oireachtas that is supposed to have...

Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive: Financial Statements 2023 (5 Oct 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: To try to translate that into layman's terms, Mr. Gloster is saying that different languages are being spoken and that the HSE is attempting to translate into the language it would be more comfortable in. If the Comptroller and Auditor General and the PBO are telling me they find it difficult to get a handle on the spending, that means it is not readily understandable to the lay person. One...

Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive: Financial Statements 2023 (5 Oct 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: I understand that. My counterpoint to that is that when it becomes difficult to understand in that way, people who are within this House are going to the people trying to explain why there is a budget overrun. When you do not have clarity in that communication between the HSE, the Department and the Members of the Oireachtas, that creates difficulties.