Results 48,781-48,800 of 74,100 for speaker:Bernard Durkan

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Eurozone Issues (5 Jul 2017)

Bernard Durkan: 91. To ask the Minister for Finance if he unilaterally or in discussion with his EU colleagues has identified particular threats to the European economy for countries in the eurozone and outside; if particular action is required in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31763/17]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Availability (5 Jul 2017)

Bernard Durkan: 92. To ask the Minister for Finance the extent to which the availability of working capital is being addressed with particular reference to the needs of SMEs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31764/17]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Availability (5 Jul 2017)

Bernard Durkan: 93. To ask the Minister for Finance if lending institutions are making adequate credit available to the farming community in view of the pivotal role of the agrifood sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31765/17]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Availability (5 Jul 2017)

Bernard Durkan: 94. To ask the Minister for Finance the extent to which commercial banks are meeting the credit requirements of the agricultural and business sectors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31766/17]

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (5 Jul 2017)

Bernard Durkan: 99. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he remains satisfied regarding the ability to meet the potentially conflicting challenges of restoration of income through FEMPI and the need to maintain the competitiveness of the economy in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31756/17]

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Capital Expenditure Programme (5 Jul 2017)

Bernard Durkan: 100. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the degree to which he expects to be in a position to meet the costs associated with addressing infrastructural deficits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31758/17]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Home Care Packages Provision (5 Jul 2017)

Bernard Durkan: 197. To ask the Minister for Health if a homecare package can be facilitated in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31702/17]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: House Prices (5 Jul 2017)

Bernard Durkan: 255. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the extent to which he may be in the position to address the issue of dramatically increasing house prices by one or other means to address the housing requirements of young families; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31767/17]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Agenda Developments: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (5 Jul 2017)

Bernard Durkan: I welcome the Minister of State and her colleagues and wish her well in her ministry which is very important and pivotal and growing in importance. The challenges are ten a penny, now more than ever before, but Meath people tend to rise to a challenge, which is why I have no doubt that she will be well able for her role.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Agenda Developments: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (5 Jul 2017)

Bernard Durkan: Even against Kerry from time to time, Meath has been known to put in a good display. I agree strongly with my colleagues who have referred to the unhelpful comments made by people who have made proposals on the direction Ireland should take in considering the future of the European Union. To say the least, such comments are unhelpful and they have come from people who should know better....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Link between Homelessness and Health: Discussion (5 Jul 2017)

Bernard Durkan: I compliment our guests on the work they do individually and collectively throughout society in very difficult and challenging circumstances. Unfortunately, the position has become more challenging and difficult with the passage of time. We all encounter at the coalface the social issues that emerge daily, record the extent to which we are capable of addressing them and ask whether we are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Link between Homelessness and Health: Discussion (5 Jul 2017)

Bernard Durkan: Thank you.

Quarterly Report on Housing: Statements (6 Jul 2017)

Bernard Durkan: I am allegedly not a cross guy either, but I am amused sometimes. I listened with interest to Deputy Ruth Coppinger. She really is a nice person when one gets to know her, but she has some of those crazy Trotskyite ideas that are old-fashioned and do not work, although they have been tried. Poor old Trotsky came to a very sticky end, if anyone wants to dig into the matter.

Quarterly Report on Housing: Statements (6 Jul 2017)

Bernard Durkan: All the Deputies who have spoken have peculiar ways to solve a problem which really requires a simple response. We have to go back to the genesis of the problem about 15 years ago when the Government of the day decided to shift responsibility away from the local authorities and handed it to special housing bodies and the Department of Social Protection. I remember speaking on the issue in...

Quarterly Report on Housing: Statements (6 Jul 2017)

Bernard Durkan: They were camped in tents on roundabouts. It was both strange and extraordinary, but they had no place to go and there were no homes available for them. They could not afford what was available. That is a sad reflection on society. We are in a situation where young people are not in a position and do not have the confidence to aspire to do what their parents did and own a home of their...

Quarterly Report on Housing: Statements (6 Jul 2017)

Bernard Durkan: They cannot buy any house on that income. Writing people off and technically knocking them off the housing list drives them up the wall. Whast is worse is that it drives me up the wall also.

Other Questions: School Curriculum (6 Jul 2017)

Bernard Durkan: 11. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which he remains satisfied regarding the adequacy of the school curriculum at primary and second level to cater for the creation of an education and skills base adequate to meet the requirements of a modern, competitive economy, with particular reference to the maximisation of access to opportunities in the workforce; if the...

Other Questions: School Curriculum (6 Jul 2017)

Bernard Durkan: This question seeks to ascertain the extent to which each stage in the education system dovetails into the next to give the students every advantage in extracting from it the requirements needed to meet the challenges they will face eventually in the workplace.

Other Questions: School Curriculum (6 Jul 2017)

Bernard Durkan: I thank the Minister for his reply. I ask further about the degree to which any research takes place on the completion of each stage and induction into the next stage and the degree to which the student is best placed to progress to the following stage and, eventually, to third and fourth level and on into the workplace, whichever is the optimum.

Other Questions: School Curriculum (6 Jul 2017)

Bernard Durkan: Are any comparisons made with other jurisdictions in like-for-like cases? To what extent has information been gleaned from any such comparisons with a view to maximising the benefit from the point of view of the students?