Results 3,921-3,940 of 3,977 for speaker:Pádraig O'Sullivan

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 38 - Department of Health (Revised) (25 Jun 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: I welcome the Minister and the Ministers of State. I say "well done" and "fair play" to the Minister on the rostering of staff over the weekend. It is very welcome news. I hope it will contribute to the transformation we all hope to see and are striving for on the health committee. I will start with the nursing homes issue, which has been very topical in recent weeks. In light of the...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 38 - Department of Health (Revised) (25 Jun 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: It is welcome to hear that issues pertaining to governance are to be addressed and that the Minister of State hopes to make changes in this regard. The ratio of public beds to private beds is about 80:20 or 85:15.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 38 - Department of Health (Revised) (25 Jun 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: The Minister will probably appreciate that I am going to raise one of my favourite topics: rare diseases. I thank her for meeting a group of us last week. We appreciated her time. As I said to her privately, I am encouraged about the direction this could be moving. However, I want to come back to the issue of early access. Thanks to Senator Costello, we had a group in a few weeks ago who...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 38 - Department of Health (Revised) (25 Jun 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: I re-emphasise that the early access scheme might need to be completely different from the scheme already in situ. As we spoke about at the meeting last week, there are quality thresholds and the area of value for money, or whatever way we want to put it. The drugs in question will never meet the criteria we set down under the existing process, so whatever early access scheme is devised...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 38 - Department of Health (Revised) (25 Jun 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: I have two more questions. On asking them, I will give the Minister the remainder of the time. First, the Minister mentioned the Italian health minister. The Italians do a very expensive heel-prick test. Over the past few years, Deputy Burke and I have lobbied for an expanded heel-prick test. Les Martin, a constituent of the Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris, has been very active on...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: I welcome the review. We have been waiting for it for a while. I do not want the House to be in this position again of debating legislation from 2004 and 2005. I do not want to pass legislation that we cannot live up to, as we have done with the assessment of need process. There are timelines in the Act that the State is consistently failing to deliver. Whatever we do with this review,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Construction Industry (1 Jul 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: 15. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the efforts he and his Department have made to encourage new technologies in the construction sector; the role he believes modular housing can play in the current crisis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35401/25]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Construction Industry (1 Jul 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: Will the Minister outline the efforts he and his Department have made to encourage new technologies in the construction sector, and the role he believes modular housing can play?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Construction Industry (1 Jul 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: The Minister referenced the fact that the Department has made a good deal of progress on MMC. Will he quantify that for me if he has the figures available? How many units have been built since 2023 or whatever date he referenced? I understand a target of 1,500 was mentioned, but will he quantify the number of units that have been delivered via this method? A much-maligned project took...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Construction Industry (1 Jul 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: I am someone who is about to embark on a journey with my family to build our first home. If there was a genuine modular offering for us as a family, we would look at it but, unfortunately, it is just not there for us as one-off house builders. I am lucky to be in that position. Still, there are significant barriers there. I was at a lunch today with the Estonian ambassador and she spoke...

All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Statements (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: I am sitting here kind of amused though I probably should not be. There is obviously a regional disparity in the investment in rail services. I listened to the contributions of the Social Democrats and there is obviously a Cork bias because the Cork representatives, even within my own party, seem reasonably happy with the level of investment we are receiving. Things in the west are starkly...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Planning Issues (1 Jul 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: 59. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of applications that have been processed by his Department under the single stage process, per county, for 2022, 2023, 2024 and to date in 2025, in tabular form; his views on what the strengths and weaknesses of the programme are; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35400/25]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Appointments (1 Jul 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: 374. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if an application for a contract of indefinite duration for a person (details supplied) will be expedited; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35701/25]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Facilities (2 Jul 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: 244. To ask the Minister for Health if a hospital (details supplied) in Cork will provide the full allocation of beds in its dementia unit to the public; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36401/25]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Update on Departmental Priorities and Legislation: Department of Culture, Communications and Sport (2 Jul 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: I will master the ability to be in three or four places at one time some day.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Update on Departmental Priorities and Legislation: Department of Culture, Communications and Sport (2 Jul 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: I wish to ask about the LSSIF. I have chased it with the Minister of State for a long time. I understand another round will most likely be sometime next year. With regard to projects on the list to be approved or confirmed - I hate to call it a waiting list - is the Minister of State confident going into budgetary discussions? Will he seek additional money for a fresh call to address some...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Solar Energy Guidelines (3 Jul 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: I am taking this question in the name of Deputy James O'Connor.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Solar Energy Guidelines (3 Jul 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: I thank the Minister. I am aware of the scheme he outlined and the number of farmers who have availed of it. It is a very good scheme. The designation of land, land use policy and so on is really a matter for the Minister for local government, but one of the reasons Deputy O'Connor raised this matter with the Minister for agriculture is its potential impact on farming, particularly the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (3 Jul 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: Over the last number of weeks many ETBs across the country have expressed their concern about funding shortfalls and are saying that they are being squeezed. I have read articles about same related to Louth and Meath ETBs and in my own county, Cork City and County ETB has experienced a similar shortfall in funding. I am guessing - the Minister can correct me if I am wrong - that this is...