Results 22,801-22,820 of 23,109 for speaker:Paddy Burke

Seanad: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Second Stage (15 Jun 2022)

Paddy Burke: I thank the Tánaiste for coming to the House and wish him well with this legislation. It is very welcome.It is only right that workers are well looked after. Employees must be kept happy because then they will do more work and the better the return one will get. As previous speakers said, however, there is going to be a knock-on impact from the cost of this scheme. Somebody has to...

Seanad: Cost of Living: Motion (15 Jun 2022)

Paddy Burke: I welcome the Minister to the House. This is a great debate. We have debated this issue up and down and the Minister will hear more before the evening is out. I am sure the Departments of the Ministers for Finance and for Public Expenditure and Reform are looking in at what is being debated here as well. What has happened over the last ten or 12 years is unprecedented. We have had the...

Seanad: Cost of Living: Motion (15 Jun 2022)

Paddy Burke: These were the same fellows who said we should close banks and that we should-----

Seanad: Cost of Living: Motion (15 Jun 2022)

Paddy Burke: -----take money out of the economy and close the economy down. That is what they said. Now they say we should pump money into it. Pumping the money into it has paid off when you look at what has happened. People's salaries had been reduced. Everything was reduced. Social welfare was reduced. Hospital services were reduced. However, all of those have been expanded over the last number...

Seanad: Annual Transition Statement: Statements (22 Jun 2022)

Paddy Burke: I welcome the opportunity to say a few words on this very important topic. I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I know he is very much au fait with this topic. It is sometimes hard to understand what is happening. We were importing peat while at the same time producing peat for export, although that was shut down and we are now just importing peat. On the other hand, we were...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (29 Jun 2022)

Paddy Burke: I welcome the announcement by the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Naughton, of over €13 million in co-funding for transport projects in Ireland under the European Union's Connecting Europe facility.This is a key EU funding instrument to promote growth and jobs in Europe. I particularly welcome the €2.5 million for Irish Rail to support studies on the...

Seanad: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2022)

Paddy Burke: I can see the point Senator Gavan is making but I agree with the Minister of State. Good legislation has to stand on its own two feet. It cannot be the case that we are bringing in legislation but we will have to amend it in a particular way because of something else. It has to stand on its own two feet. What Senator Gavan is proposing is a matter that can be brought forward by a...

Seanad: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2022)

Paddy Burke: As Senator Sherlock said, this has to work for all workers. It has to work for employers as well. We have to be fair to employers as well. This is, as has been said, groundbreaking legislation. I suppose everything is relative. Whether one is on a lower wage or a middle-income wage, one's outgoings will be relative to what one's income will be. If somebody is out sick, whether he or she...

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (5 Jul 2022)

Paddy Burke: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am grateful for the opportunity to say a few words on this important Bill. I, too, would like to voice my opinion on the rushing of this legislation. It happens every summer and at Christmas time and I often wonder why. In relation to data centres, the biggest companies in the world are employing thousands of people in this country and the...

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (5 Jul 2022)

Paddy Burke: We may well be but we have an obligation to have data centres here, particularly given the employment being generated in this country.

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (5 Jul 2022)

Paddy Burke: It is unbelievable that the Derrybrien wind farm is being dismantled. The Minister should seek a derogation from the European Union in relation to the current fines until we reach maximum energy production in this country. At a time when we are not self-sufficient in energy, it is daft that we are about to dismantle a wind farm at great cost and replace it with gas generation. The Minister...

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2022)

Paddy Burke: On the PSO levy being returned, could the levy be used so that people might be able to get a loan to put in solar panels? Equally, could this money be offset by some of the electricity or generation companies so that this levy could go towards a loan to put in solar panels or some other form of green energy?

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2022)

Paddy Burke: Why is this money going to be taken out if it is going to be put back into people's account? Is that the way or how is it going to operate?

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2022)

Paddy Burke: How will the low-cost energy scheme operate on the ground? Where does someone go and who will provide those low-cost loans? Will this come from the generation or who will do it?

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2022)

Paddy Burke: Would people be able to go to their local credit union and get the loan there?

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2022)

Paddy Burke: Planning permission has held up many projects on account of various issues. Nearly 40 years ago the Naas dual carriageway was held up because of a snail. A wind farm near where I live was held up because of objections to the planning permission due to concerns that the red grouse would become extinct. Objections to a bridge over the River Moy on the grounds of the freshwater pearl mussel...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Employment Schemes (6 Jul 2022)

Paddy Burke: I thank Senator Chambers for sharing her time. I welcome the Minister of State to the House. Senator Chambers has outlined in detail the case and what took place at the very large meeting in Castlebar last Monday. There is no need to go over the case that Senator Chambers made. The Minister of State is only too well aware of the work carried out by the schemes on football, hurling and...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Employment Schemes (6 Jul 2022)

Paddy Burke: These jobs are vital to communities and the Minister of State will be aware of the benefits that accrue to the community due to the work people do. We again ask him to seriously consider what we are looking for. They are not big demands in the great scheme of events. The money that is involved is in the region of €2.5 million, which is very little in the overall budget of the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Jul 2022)

Paddy Burke: Hear, hear.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Jul 2022)

Paddy Burke: Most definitely.