Results 561-580 of 2,988 for speaker:James O'Connor

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: There are acres of room at the facility. Do not try to sell me or any other public representative that line.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: With all due respect, that was one of the most outrageous answers I have heard since walking into the Oireachtas. I have to say that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: The HSE is in the process of trying to obtain an existing day care centre. I believe it has actually identified a location. As Mr. Kane knows well, I am talking about a residential mental healthcare service that has 24-hour staffing and supervision. If the square footage of the site is an issue, no one would be disappointed or upset at reducing the current number of beds by a fraction to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: There are 19 residents to be-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: There are probably rooms available in the facility.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: This is an important question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: I think I am being misled at this committee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: They are not giving accurate answers, Chairperson.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: There are 19 bedrooms in total in the Owenacurra centre.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: I asked a question and I want an answer to that. How many bedrooms are in the Owenacurra centre? The question is not how many residents were in there. How many bedrooms are in the Owenacurra centre?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: There are 19 bedrooms. If the HSE reduced the number of bedrooms in that facility to bring it up to the current guidelines that are needed by it to provide an acceptable level of care, is there then the availability or option of reconstructing a new residential mental healthcare service in Midleton?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: It has been interesting to listen to colleagues have an opportunity to question the representatives of the HSE. I am not at all satisfied by what I have heard at this meeting. Above all else, it comes down to the basic fact the HSE will strip my local area within my constituency of its existing residential mental health care services. For example, in Kanturk in north-west Cork, there are...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33: Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Programme E - Broadcasting (20 Jan 2022)

James O'Connor: First and foremost, I welcome RTÉ to the committee. We have been waiting some time for this meeting to happen, but all the same, it is welcome. I welcome Ms Forbes and Mr. Collins. I have a couple of issues that I would like to raise and questions I would like to ask. First, I would like to focus on the financial circumstances within RTÉ's organisation. I refer to...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33: Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Programme E - Broadcasting (20 Jan 2022)

James O'Connor: Obviously, it must be a very large part of the revenue that the organisation takes in. We have seen from viewership figures that it is one of the areas where RTÉ successfully manages to attract a large viewership of the television audience. Has RTÉ ever considered having a separate sports channel for broadcasting GAA, horse racing, soccer, the IRFU and other sports across male and...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33: Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Programme E - Broadcasting (20 Jan 2022)

James O'Connor: I will perhaps disagree with some of the points there in terms of not having a separate channel as it stands. There is enough sport going on in Ireland and we have a sports-mad culture, therefore this is something that should be considered. RTÉ is in very serious financial circumstances, arguably down to the television licence. On behalf of the taxpayers in the country, one could also...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33: Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Programme E - Broadcasting (20 Jan 2022)

James O'Connor: I apologise for interrupting Ms Forbes but I have a question that must be asked. Has RTÉ come forward with a concrete business plan to the relevant Departments that need to provide it with this additional funding to bring it out of that hole? Is that something the station is proactively doing? The drama, "Normal People", for example, was extremely successful. It was an original drama...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33: Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Programme E - Broadcasting (20 Jan 2022)

James O'Connor: I do not want to be overly negative. I wish to compliment the current affairs aspect of what RTÉ is doing; it is excellent. The public get good value for tax money in that regard, particularly with radio. The figures internationally are very impressive. Coming back to the content creation side of dramas with home-grown talent in Ireland, is Ms Forbes at liberty to divulge how much...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33: Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Programme E - Broadcasting (20 Jan 2022)

James O'Connor: I am sorry to interrupt Ms Forbes but I am up against the clock. My apologies for being so rude. I am sure she understands. The figures she compared are telling. Some €67 million is being spent on current affairs, while €17 million is being spent on the whole area of production of shows in RTÉ outside that scope.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33: Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Programme E - Broadcasting (20 Jan 2022)

James O'Connor: Drama. The sum needs to be drastically increased. Obviously, that will require support from the Government. My view is that increasing that budget significantly, and perhaps even doubling it, would represent a good return for that type of investment. Going back to the success of "Normal People" and other shows, it can be done. In the limited time I have left-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33: Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Programme E - Broadcasting (20 Jan 2022)

James O'Connor: -----I wish to make the point that it is worth exploring RTÉ having its own dedicated sports channel and investigating the financial income that could be generated from that. Irish sport needs this. There are so many sporting events that are not covered, particularly across women's sport, but also many other aspects of sport that are not given the coverage they could be given. This...