Results 2,841-2,860 of 3,652 for speaker:Michael Collins
- Inshore Fishing: Motion [Private Members] (25 Jan 2023)
Michael Collins: There was an application involving €300,000 from the Minister's Department for a feasibility study on Union Hall. His Department has refused to give that money to the people of west Cork and to Union Hall pier. The Minister himself went down to Union Hall after the Brexit disaster that he played a massive part in and did nothing for them.
- Inshore Fishing: Motion [Private Members] (25 Jan 2023)
Michael Collins: He told them to apply for this funding and they did, but he refused to give it to them afterwards. Shame on the Minister and shame on Fianna Fáil. That is what they have done.
- Inshore Fishing: Motion [Private Members] (25 Jan 2023)
Michael Collins: A con job.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Jan 2023)
Michael Collins: I wish to raise serious concerns we have about the ambulance service in west Cork. West Cork has four ambulances: one based in Clonakilty; one based in Castletownbere, one based in Bantry General Hospital; and one based in Skibbereen. I am reliably informed that, on most days and from early morning to late at night, the Clonakilty ambulance is in Cork city and county, not in west Cork,...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Jan 2023)
Michael Collins: I respect that the Taoiseach may not have to hand all of the information relating to the west Cork ambulance service. I appreciate the Taoiseach's offer that the Minister will engage on this matter. Staffing is an issue. The staff the ambulance service has at the moment are exhausted. Some are walking away. I have spoken to them personally. There were great ambulance staff who just...
- Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Instruction to Committee (25 Jan 2023)
Michael Collins: This is an important Bill. Anything that relates to the security of post offices is important. The post office sector has gone through quite a lot in recent years, with little Government aid or attention. I see the same in my village, Goleen, which lost the post office few months ago. Only two or three weeks after losing it, the now Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, who was a Minister at the...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)
Michael Collins: I will give a short opening statement followed by questions and answers. I hope the Ministers will not play down the clock. I certainly will not. The proposed deal relates to the potential acquisition of 100,000 ha of forestry across the country by Gresham House, a company listed on the London Stock Exchange. That company has been in existence since 1857. Is it any wonder that its share...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)
Michael Collins: Yes.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)
Michael Collins: I thank the Minister. When did the Minister of State become aware of the deal?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)
Michael Collins: The Minister of State did not know about it in March 2021.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)
Michael Collins: How were the Minister and Minister of State consulted and informed about the deal, formally or informally?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)
Michael Collins: How was the Minister informed?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)
Michael Collins: What did the Minister do, if anything, after becoming aware of the deal?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)
Michael Collins: Was this issue-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)
Michael Collins: Was this issue discussed at Cabinet level at any time?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)
Michael Collins: Did the Minister or the Minister of State give any indication to the CEO or board of Coillte after they were told about this deal on 16 December that they had an issue with it?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)
Michael Collins: Why did the Minister not instruct Coillte when he became aware of the deal to at least pause it pending an independent review?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)
Michael Collins: I only have two questions left. Why did the Minister not instruct the CEO of Coillte to pause the deal when they met last week pending a full review incorporating socioeconomic and cost-benefit analyses on behalf of the taxpayer?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)
Michael Collins: We accept that Coillte is not selling off the taxpayer's woodlands, but if a semi-State company has to team up with a UK-based private investment group to plant new forest, it raises legitimate questions about what Coillte is doing and why we should have a State forestry agency at all.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)
Michael Collins: Under the Forestry Act 1988, the Minister has powers and the company "shall comply with every direction given to it under [section 38]." Unfortunately, the Minister has not used this power. This section needs to be read clearly by the Minister and Minister of State.