Results 4,721-4,740 of 5,269 for speaker:Joan Collins

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Apr 2023)

Joan Collins: I object to the fact that every time we on this side of the Dáil raise critical questions about housing, the Taoiseach just throws the blame on us as being the cause of the problem and not on the Government for not implementing a package needed to radically change the position regarding the housing catastrophe that we face over the coming period. The Taoiseach mentioned that the...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Apr 2023)

Joan Collins: Exactly how will the Government replace the moneys to the local authorities euro by euro?

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Apr 2023)

Joan Collins: You blame us every time for it.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Apr 2023)

Joan Collins: You have.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Apr 2023)

Joan Collins: Once it is appropriate housing.

Rent Reduction Bill 2023: Second Stage [Private Members] (26 Apr 2023)

Joan Collins: I thank People Before Profit-Solidarity for putting forward this legislation, which I support. The OECD released its report, Taxing Wages 2022, confirming that Irish workers saw a sharp decrease in living standards last year. It called the combination of a 3.3% decrease in real wages and a 0.8% increase in average income tax paid a double blow for workers. This is not just a double blow...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Agreements (27 Apr 2023)

Joan Collins: 74. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if the Government intends to declare its intent to leave the Energy Charter Treaty, given the widely criticised European Commission reforms to the treaty. [20140/23]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Agreements (27 Apr 2023)

Joan Collins: Does the Government intend to declare its intention to leave the energy charter treaty, ECT, in light of the widely criticised reforms proposed by the European Commission? When I questioned the Taoiseach on the ECT last week, I was told we would work in concert with the EU on modernisation. However, the European Commission said that given the number of countries quitting individually,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Agreements (27 Apr 2023)

Joan Collins: Nine countries have indicated they will leave the treaty and a number have already left. The modernisation attempts have failed. The European Commission has already agreed on modernisation reforms leading to countries exiting the treaty with EU officials saying that there is no qualified majority in the Council to adopt the modernised treaty. The European Commission said that given the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Agreements (27 Apr 2023)

Joan Collins: We need to lead on these issues and we are not leading by remaining in those negotiations. We are supporting the closed-door arbitration court which allows companies to sue for lost profits. We are supporting the protection of €344.6 billion in European fossil fuel assets. Total claims are estimated to cost governments €1.3 trillion worldwide by 2050. There is an ongoing...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Agreements (27 Apr 2023)

Joan Collins: Why have the other countries abandoned it?

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Agreements (27 Apr 2023)

Joan Collins: It is benefiting the fossil fuel companies. We should have statements on this in the Dáil.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Tourism Industry (25 Apr 2023)

Joan Collins: 486. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he is aware of the lack of wheelchair accessibility at Spike Island tours; what steps his Department is taking to ensure that tourist sites are accessible to all; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19479/23]

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Tourism Industry (25 Apr 2023)

Joan Collins: 487. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he is aware of the case of a proposed exhibition (details supplied) at Spike Island being put in jeopardy due to the lack of a wheelchair-accessible bus on the island; if he will take steps to ensure that issues of accessibility are appropriately addressed by a company; and if he will make a statement on the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Draft Regulations on the Operation of the Social Welfare Appeals Office: Discussion (26 Apr 2023)

Joan Collins: I thank the Cathaoirleach. I thank the Secretary General and Mr. Molloy for attending the meeting. I have some questions. I do not know whether the new general agreement has come into play. A letter was sent in from Fórsa and the Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants, AHCPS, in regard to the last meeting we had in November and the issues they had with some of the statements...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Draft Regulations on the Operation of the Social Welfare Appeals Office: Discussion (26 Apr 2023)

Joan Collins: Apologies. That is true. I thank the Secretary General. I welcome him addressing those concerns about the independence of the social welfare appeals officer, SWAO, and the fact that it will now be given to the chief appeals officer after the social welfare appeals officer has made a decision. That was a concern, and I would still have a concern that there would be pressure on-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Draft Regulations on the Operation of the Social Welfare Appeals Office: Discussion (26 Apr 2023)

Joan Collins: I also welcome the fact that Mr. McKeon will take it on board the need to update the leaflet, so that there is a hard copy information leaflet. That is important, because while a lot of people are savvy on computers and so on, there are people who are not, and who depend on the word, as such, in leaflet form. I would appeal to the Department to do that. It was said the rise in appeals has...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Draft Regulations on the Operation of the Social Welfare Appeals Office: Discussion (26 Apr 2023)

Joan Collins: Okay. I am also concerned about training. I used to work in HR in An Post. We had staff who were there for 30 or 35 years. The experience they could bring to newer recruits or people who came to the section was invaluable. As regards the role of social welfare payments officers in particular, it was always the case their training gave them the ability to be able to make independent...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Draft Regulations on the Operation of the Social Welfare Appeals Office: Discussion (26 Apr 2023)

Joan Collins: Yes. I understand that. I hope there will be a continuation of good relations between trade unions and the Department. The letter we got from the trade unions was quite concerning about how the changes were going. I welcome the fact the Department met with them recently. I hope that will continue.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 May 2023)

Joan Collins: In December, I submitted a question on the lack of development assessments for newborn babies at three and ten months of age at the Old County Road Health Centre. The reply I received explained there was a deficit of public health nurses and that a plan was in place to see children on the waiting list in January 2023. I put the question again in the Dáil at the end of January, after...