Results 301-320 of 2,283 for speaker:Matt Shanahan

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Update on Testing and Tracing and Rising Incidence in the State (29 Sep 2020)

Matt Shanahan: I thank our guests for attending this morning. I have used the word "frustration" a number of times at meetings of this committee. I am deeply frustrated today, and I will state why. Doctors differ and patients die. We are talking about tracing and so on when testing is the key. Rapid turnaround testing would do an awful lot to prevent a surge of Covid. I brought antigen tests to NPHET...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Update on Testing and Tracing and Rising Incidence in the State (29 Sep 2020)

Matt Shanahan: With respect, we know the delay that will result from PCR testing if we have very high test numbers. A delay is critical; Dr. Henry and I both know that. Why have we not even sought to have antigen testing as an addendum to PCR testing?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Update on Testing and Tracing and Rising Incidence in the State (29 Sep 2020)

Matt Shanahan: This is not a personal criticism of Dr. Henry but I believe the perfect is the enemy of the good here. With regard to the point on specificity, antigen test specificity is 90%. I am not sure the rate for PCR is much higher, to be honest. I am not an expert in this area but I certainly know there are other options besides those being pursued by NPHET. I and others in the medical space...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Update on Testing and Tracing and Rising Incidence in the State (29 Sep 2020)

Matt Shanahan: I thank Ms O'Beirne. I am rather short on time. This would all be very reassuring but when I go back through the minutes of the committee for more than six weeks, the statements are that we are looking at these. When we will get to a point when we will stop looking and actually implement something? This is what people want to see. This is the frustration that people outside of the public...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Update on Testing and Tracing and Rising Incidence in the State (29 Sep 2020)

Matt Shanahan: I thank Mr. Reid and I accept this but in any industry we look at peers and if we look at countries such as Austria, France and Germany and state we should not yet be doing what they are, then something is wrong. I know of two doctors who returned to Ireland and signed up for work as part of Be On Call for Ireland but they will not get an extension to their work contracts. The contracts...

Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2020 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (30 Sep 2020)

Matt Shanahan: The south east is no stranger to the issues of forestry. It is a very important business sector for the south east. We have companies such as Medite in Clonmel and SmartPly in Waterford which provide MDF and cost-effective, environmentally friendly alternatives to tropical plywoods for use in structural and non-structural applications. Those two companies directly employ more than 320...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Business of Special Committee (30 Sep 2020)

Matt Shanahan: I want to touch on one subject and follow up with two questions on the hospitality sector. On testing, I have heard the analogy made that we are in a war or battle and in battle one uses all of one's weapons and resources. It is now generally accepted that 50% of Covid cases are asymptomatic and, therefore, will not be picked up until people develop symptoms. People may not have...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Business of Special Committee (30 Sep 2020)

Matt Shanahan: I am sorry to interrupt Dr. De Gascun, but I am tight on time. I get the point of what he is saying. Professor Nolan already outlined in terms of airport testing that we would have a lot of misses in the context of community testing. It can be accepted that PCR testing is not the gold standard in terms of one single test. I believe we should be looking at other testing regimes in tandem...

Winter Plan 2020: Statements (1 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: Since the arrival of Covid into our country a clear and present danger has existed not just to the lives of our elderly and vulnerable, but also to the social and economic cohesion of our State. Covid-19 is largely a killer of the elderly and those with underlying medical vulnerabilities. Thankfully our knowledge of dealing with and treating this illness has advanced greatly over the past...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (7 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: I have five short questions about the programme for Government in respect of education. The programme seeks to make further progress-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (7 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: Okay. The programme for Government makes a commitment to examine the pupil-teacher ratio. Ireland has one of the highest ratios in the OECD, with 20% of our pupils in class sizes of more than 30 pupils. Will the Taoiseach give a commitment to reduce further the pupil-teacher ratio as the Government continues over this year and in the coming years?

Brexit and Business: Statements (7 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: Since Britain first announced its intention to break away from the European Union, it has generally been acknowledged by all onlookers that the fortunes of the Republic of Ireland would suffer most from this event. Not alone do we share social, cultural, economic and political ties with the UK, we also share a common Border which, with the advent of the Good Friday Agreement, has become a...

Bille na dTeangacha Oifigiúla (Leasú), 2019: An Dara Céim - Official Languages (Amendment) Bill 2019: Second Stage (8 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: B'fhearr liom caint as Béarla. I recently shared a post on social media not because this debate was coming up but, rather, because it struck a chord with me. The post in question was probably not written with Ireland in mind but it speaks to a hard truth and the responsibility on present and future Irish generations to act. The post I circulated states: Speak your native language to...

Covid-19: Statements (8 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: Yes. Magnanimous, I know. The Minister and I, along with other colleagues in the House, have engaged in hearings of the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response. Unlike other Deputies here I am not interested in what happened last weekend. I am interested in our strategy and where we go from here. Without going back over where we were, the committee was very important and I am...

Covid-19: Statements (8 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: Companies should engage with NPHET. That has been a problem. It will be proven that antigen testing should have been augmented 13 weeks ago when I brought the issue to members of NPHET. The validation could have been done in the meantime. We need it now. We need to get these things delivered and we need people to be able to engage with thought leaders in NPHET. They cannot be blind to...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Cards (13 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: 482. To ask the Minister for Health the date on which the income limits for medical cards will be increased (details supplied); if there will be further delays; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29896/20]

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: As a member of the Regional Group, I welcome the budget announced yesterday. The phrase "a wartime budget" is apt. I particularly welcome the increases in the health and education spend. I share some of my colleagues' reservations that an opportunity has possibly been lost to create social change in order to encourage migration to the regions, remote working, affordable housing and the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: I thank the Taoiseach for his comments. I agree with the Taoiseach that it is probably more than a decade, when Mr. Cullen was a Minister, since Waterford could look at any kind of significant capital infrastructural spend from the Government. It is probably a testament to that being the case that I am standing here now. In Waterford and south east we are absolutely ready to play our...

Financial Resolutions 2020 - Financial Resolution No. 7: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: I am sharing time with Deputy Fitzpatrick. I was in the House earlier this morning broadly welcoming many of the outlines of the budget but highlighting to the Taoiseach the need to make sure that we see fairness and equity in it. Before I go on to other parts of my contribution, I too will reference the Debenhams workers. I heard the Taoiseach's comments earlier this morning. We need to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (14 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: 68. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she has reviewed the case of a student (details supplied) who was downgraded in four subjects from her teacher grades as opposed to all of her class peers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25942/20]