Results 3,861-3,880 of 6,887 for speaker:Ruairí Ó Murchú

Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (25 Jan 2023)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: In fairness, I acknowledge that we will be dealing with some amendments that will look at this further, namely technological questions. We all get the idea of the changed geopolitical set-up in the world. We are all aware that the State, in the context of security, requires the necessary powers to ensure that communication networks are protected. However, we need some sort of clarity on...

Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (25 Jan 2023)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I am not sure our backlogged court system will provide any solution, so I would hate it if anyone were to suggest that judicial review was the way to go. We know the issues with court services, which are insufficiently resourced. Will the Minister of State go into some detail about the consultations he mentioned? All of this comes with the caveat of national security, which presumably...

Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (25 Jan 2023)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: It is about the technological logistics. Let us say a decision is made. It is about engaging with the alternative supplier and then with the companies, ensuring the supply chain is there and enough time is allowed so that we do not end up in a ridiculous situation where we take out components and we cannot make phone calls.

Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (25 Jan 2023)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: This issue is similar to others we have conversed about already. It is about a process. We can get into components and how critical or not they are. Stakeholders who work in the field would consider every component critical in the sense that without it, the system would not work. The Minister of State has made his arguments about why determinations would be made. We need a greater level...

Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (25 Jan 2023)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I accept some of what the Minister of State said. Nobody wants to display our weak points and ask that no one kicks us there. I understand that point as it applies to infrastructure. However, Deputy McNamara made his point in a straight manner. The idea is that there are components that are not to be used. We are talking about a situation where a blanket ban could be applied in respect...

Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (25 Jan 2023)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I will attempt not to repeat myself or labour the point but it is almost the same point that arises in relation to all of these matters. We are back to the need for a process. I accept that all states will make determinations on the basis of national security. There needs to be some element of oversight - we can call it accountability - and making sure there are eyes on, that due diligence...

Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (25 Jan 2023)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: My apologies for interrupting, but the Minister of State has indicated his support for all of these amendments.

Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (25 Jan 2023)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: The Minister of State stated that he was accepting it but he had not bothered putting his own name to these references to "public order". "Public Order" is mentioned in multiple lines and Deputy McNamara has covered that base.

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Driver Test (24 Jan 2023)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: 209. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of driving tests cancelled by the Road Safety Authority in all test centres in each of the months June to December 2022, in tabular form; the reason for the test cancellations by the RSA; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2887/23]

Forestry Strategy: Statements (26 Jan 2023)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: There has been much discussion of this issue. I assume the Minister, the Ministers of State and everyone else across the House has received a large amount of correspondence from people who have been put out by what they have seen. We can probably all make easy politics of a situation where natural resources are being sold to a British investment fund. That sells well. The problem is that...

Interim Report on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: Statements (26 Jan 2023)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: As people can see from all around me, I am operating the same paper-based system as the HSE. That is a joke, but the system is a joke that we need to fix. It is an easy fix that we have managed not to implement for many years. Like other Deputies, I wish to thank the Mental Health Commission. I also thank Dr. Susan Finnerty for her excellent work on this. We will all say that we are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Priorities for European Presidency: Engagement with Ambassador of Sweden (25 Jan 2023)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I appreciate that from Deputy Haughey. This should be a delight for the committee because usually I just hog this space. I am not good at being brief, as we all know. The ambassador has laid out a considerable number of priorities, and some of them are obvious, such as renewables. He made the point that you have to expect the unexpected because nobody could have guessed any headline we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Priorities for European Presidency: Engagement with Ambassador of Sweden (25 Jan 2023)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I was interested in that point, given that we are possibly meeting with a committee from Turkey, possibly in the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence. I was interested to hear the ambassador's view on that but that is a work in progress from where he is coming. There has been a change of view in Sweden, which has been in the public domain. A lot of people have probably changed their...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Culture Policy (26 Jan 2023)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: 45. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her future plans for the expansion of the Imbloc/Bridget of Faughart festival in the coming years; if specific funding for the festival has been ringfenced; if specific funding for County Louth is available for the festival; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3295/23]

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Tourism Promotion (26 Jan 2023)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: 71. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will outline the plans there are in 2023 for the employment of a fulltime tourist officer in Dundalk, County Louth; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3294/23]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (26 Jan 2023)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: 141. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will outline the targets for 2023 for the construction of public housing on land owned by Louth County Council; the 2023 targets for the construction of housing on otherwise publicly owned lands in County Louth; his plans for progressing these targets in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3592/23]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Schemes (26 Jan 2023)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: 166. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his Department's allocation to local authorities in 2023 for schemes (details supplied), including when the local authorities will be able to draw down the money; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3306/23]

Ceisteanna - Questions: Citizens' Assembly (31 Jan 2023)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: We need the citizens' assembly on drugs to happen as soon as possible. We are looking at absolute failure. When we talk about drug use, drug addiction, the services that relate to those problems, drug criminality and drug-debt intimidation, we speak about its impact across society, which is particularly bad in working-class areas in urban settings. We need to do something different. We...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (31 Jan 2023)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: 14. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee that deals with social protection will next meet. [4413/23]

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (31 Jan 2023)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: The Government has spoken about community welfare or exceptional needs payments as a means of dealing with the cost-of-living crisis that many people are dealing with. We are all aware of many people who are waiting an extremely long time. I know of cases in Dundalk of people waiting eight, nine and ten weeks, or longer. In some cases, we know these people are applying for exceptional...