Results 4,601-4,620 of 5,269 for speaker:Joan Collins

Report on the Summer Programme 2023: Motion [Private Members] (2 Feb 2023)

Joan Collins: I thank the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Autism, of which I am a member, for pushing for this debate to take place today. I welcome the report on the summer programme produced by the committee. From her work, the Minister of State will be aware of the background and details of many of the parents and groups, and she will have heard their testimonies at the committee hearings last year on...

Nursing Home Charges and Disability Allowance Payments: Statements (9 Feb 2023)

Joan Collins: This is a moral and political issue, namely, whether we provide for our elderly and pay what people are owed or drag them through prolonged legal battles to cut costs. The fact remains that thousands of people who were entitled to State care were denied it. This was covered up, and when it came out successive Governments, led by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Green Party and the Labour...

Emergency Housing Measures: Motion [Private Members] (9 Feb 2023)

Joan Collins: The housing situation is a crisis for everyone in the country. More and more people are feeling it. It is just getting worse. Doctors and nurses cannot find homes. Some 70% of young people are considering having to leave the country. High rents and mortgages are affecting families all over the country and we have over 11,500 people in emergency accommodation. That is the highest figure...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (9 Feb 2023)

Joan Collins: 18. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she is actively seeking to give a double payment of social welfare payments to assist with meeting costs, given that inflation is still running at just below 9%, the price of groceries has gone up by 15% and gas bills have gone up by nearly 60%. [6126/23]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (9 Feb 2023)

Joan Collins: 45. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will provide the statistics of exceptional needs payments from the two Intreo offices in the Dublin 8 and Dublin 12 areas for November 2022, December 2022 and January 2023. [6134/23]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Feb 2023)

Joan Collins: I have a few questions to ask which have been touched on already by other Deputies and Senators, particularly the one around the annual ministerial statement to the Dáil. I see the need for that. It is something this committee has to discuss in detail and put a huge emphasis on in the report we will bring out. Ms Gibney emphasised that point well. I will touch on the points made by...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Feb 2023)

Joan Collins: It was unfortunate that the audio was dropping all the time and I did not catch much of what the doctor said. I will pick it up from the video, the transcript or Oireachtas TV.

Cost-of-Living Supports: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (14 Feb 2023)

Joan Collins: I thank Sinn Féin and Deputy Doherty for tabling this Private Members' motion. Two reports have come out over the past month about the everyday reality for people in Ireland. One is from Barnardos, on food poverty in Ireland, and one is from Oxfam, on wealth inequality. They reveal two starkly different experiences of living in this country. Just two people in this country have nearly...

Energy Costs and Windfall Taxes: Motion [Private Members] (15 Feb 2023)

Joan Collins: I thank the Social Democrats for tabling this very important Private Members' motion which the Government should take more seriously. The cost of energy is a crisis for many in the country. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, states that 40% of households are now living in fuel poverty. Many are cutting back on heating to afford food or cutting back on food to afford...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (16 Feb 2023)

Joan Collins: I listened to an interview with Dr. Patricia Keilthy, head of policy for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, this morning. The number of calls to the society went up by 20% last year and continues to rise. Calls for help with energy and utility bills went up by 40% and a quarter of the calls received were from first-time callers. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is calling for targeted...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Ukraine War (14 Feb 2023)

Joan Collins: 437. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if a location (details supplied) has been prepared to facilitate IP applicants or Ukrainians fleeing war. [7028/23]

Co-ordination of International Protection Services: Statements (16 Feb 2023)

Joan Collins: I concur with what my colleague, Deputy Connolly, has just said, that as a neutral country we should be calling for peace at every step of the way and providing humanitarian support. I wish to make a couple of points in the three minutes available to me. For years, the Opposition has called for changes to the asylum process in this country, including when the Green Party was in...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Water Services (16 Feb 2023)

Joan Collins: I am disappointed that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage is not here. The issue I tabled relates to the referendum on the public ownership of our water services. I asked when the Minister will bring forward the wording, which he committed to bringing forward early this year. I also asked for the date of the referendum. On 12 October last year I asked about the...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Water Services (16 Feb 2023)

Joan Collins: I am certainly none the wiser. It has been seven years since we introduced the Bill which was supported by Fianna Fáil. We were told it would be early in the new year and now we are being told it will be in the near future. As the Minister of State said, the housing commission is ready to bring out its report. I would have thought the Minister would have been working on the wording...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

Joan Collins: I thank Mr. Hession and Ms Hurley for coming in today. They have given us much information on where we can possibly go from here. Many questions have been asked, so I will not repeat them. What are the witnesses’ views on the income disregard? Mr. Hession said it seems to stop at €165 and that is it, in general. That is related to people’s concerns about medical...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

Joan Collins: Do the officials have information on how many people applied for the back to work enterprise allowance and how many did not get it? Could that information be sent to the committee?

Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use: Motion (21 Feb 2023)

Joan Collins: I welcome the formation of the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use. Can the microphone be turned on? I have co-signed the amendments put forward by Deputy Cairns and I, supported by Senator Ruane. Ireland's drug policy has never achieved what it set out to achieve. There are thousands of convictions each year, the majority of which are around personal use. Young people face the brunt of...

Eviction Ban Bill 2022: Second Stage [Private Members] (22 Feb 2023)

Joan Collins: I thank People Before Profit for introducing this Bill, which I support. If the Government does not extend the eviction ban, it will once again prove its lack of political will to take the action needed on the housing crisis. Homelessness is at a record high of 11,632 people. This figure does not count those sleeping rough or housed by non-Government-funded hostels or by Departments other...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Feb 2023)

Joan Collins: Shame on you.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Feb 2023)

Joan Collins: I am sorry you are a victim, Taoiseach.