Results 2,401-2,420 of 3,225 for speaker:Paul Connaughton Snr
- Light Rail Projects. (26 May 2009)
Paul Connaughton Snr: Question 53: To ask the Minister for Transport his views on whether the international credit crunch will have a negative effect on the roll out of metro north; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21160/09]
- Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report Stage (26 May 2009)
Paul Connaughton Snr: I agree with the sentiments expressed regarding Deputy O'Sullivan's amendment. This question arose on Committee Stage. I should like the Minister of State to reflect carefully on this because it is very important. As has been pointed out, we all know we are in very tight financial circumstances, which are likely to prevail in Ireland for a number of years. The problem arises in terms of...
- Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report Stage (26 May 2009)
Paul Connaughton Snr: The longer this debate goes on, the more worried I become with regard to what will happen to the elderly in the future. In light of the Minister of State's remarks, I am of the view that huge waiting lists will be created and that there will be a competition among the elderly to qualify for the scheme. The Minister of State provided a guarantee that the HSE will have adequate funding. It...
- Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report Stage (26 May 2009)
Paul Connaughton Snr: There were many things of which it took no heed.
- Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report Stage (26 May 2009)
Paul Connaughton Snr: Will there be an independent appeals mechanism for an applicant who feels they may have been wrongly turned down in an assessment?
- Early Childhood Care and Education. (26 May 2009)
Paul Connaughton Snr: I congratulate Deputy Enright for bringing this motion to the floor of the House. As I do not want to repeat what has already been said, I will focus on two aspects of this debate. Regardless of what end of the scale one comes from, one cannot deny that we have had a series of anti-family budgets. When the early child care supplement scheme was introduced in 2006, many people believed it...
- Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (26 May 2009)
Paul Connaughton Snr: Just before the break I was asking the Minister of State what mechanism was available to people who believed they did not get a fair deal on the assessment. I am referring to the opportunity for a person who believes that he or she did not get the full crack of the whip and is genuinely convinced the assessment was wrong. Is there a direct appeal mechanism?
- Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (26 May 2009)
Paul Connaughton Snr: It is a long journey, then.
- Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (26 May 2009)
Paul Connaughton Snr: There was a great debate on this point on Committee Stage. The Minister was present for the debate and gave an undertaking to revisit this matter. This is the greatest sidestep I have seen in a long time. This amendment does not help the people I spoke about on that day. Deputy Dan Neville raised the matter the Minister has addressed but she did not address the lack of a cap on farms...
- Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (26 May 2009)
Paul Connaughton Snr: The Minister of State is living in cloud cuckoo land. Question, "That the words proposed to be deleted stand", put and declared carried.
- Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (26 May 2009)
Paul Connaughton Snr: One of the amendments arose because many nursing home owners and administrators were concerned that, with the poor track record of the Department of Health and Children and the Health Service Executive, HSE, they would not be able to draw down the funding necessary to keep their operations going. The Minister of State said that because the block grant would be paid monthly, there was less...
- Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (26 May 2009)
Paul Connaughton Snr: In such circumstances could a family doctor act in this role?
- Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (26 May 2009)
Paul Connaughton Snr: For clarity, is it possible for the Minister of State to give a commitment to the House this evening that only the information that is originally sought will be required? In other words, the normal information that one would expect to be sought for such an application. Members fully appreciate that, as Deputy O'Sullivan noted, reasonable questions must be asked and no one is making a case...
- Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (26 May 2009)
Paul Connaughton Snr: That is correct.
- Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (26 May 2009)
Paul Connaughton Snr: This could turn out to be a very serious matter. Over the years, there have been many good debates and robust exchanges on the valuation of farms. There is no exact science in this regard. Normally, the Valuation Office would have the average prices that were paid either for buildings, houses or lands in various areas throughout the country. The problem is that there is always a much...
- Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (26 May 2009)
Paul Connaughton Snr: That is the point. Where will it go at that stage?
- Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (26 May 2009)
Paul Connaughton Snr: No. If I may say so, the Minister of State is missing our point. If there is a difference of opinion between the applicant and the HSE, where will all of this go? What will be the next step at that stage? Who will decide which participant's valuation will be accepted? That is the question.
- Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (26 May 2009)
Paul Connaughton Snr: Who are they? Where are they?
- Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (26 May 2009)
Paul Connaughton Snr: What would happen in a case where the couple are the beneficial but not the legal owners of the asset, if for example, they are not registered in the Land Registry office but have been in possession of the asset all their lives? There are thousands of such cases around the country. Where would they stand in so far as this legislation is concerned?
- Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (26 May 2009)
Paul Connaughton Snr: In that case who pays for the time in the nursing home because the 5% cap cannot apply to that property?