Results 6,361-6,380 of 8,844 for speaker:Verona Murphy

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (17 Apr 2024)

Verona Murphy: I wish the Taoiseach the best of luck in his job. Wexford has a deficit in roads funding of €66 million. I raised this as a Topical Issue on the floor a month ago. It was taken by a junior Minister, who promised there would be engagement with the line Minister, but I have heard nothing. We have a deplorable set of circumstances. The roads are in an awful state. Many roads in the...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Coastal Erosion (18 Apr 2024)

Verona Murphy: I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and thank the Minister of State for bring here to respond to the Topical Issue. In fairness, there are two things, in particular, in County Wexford, that we should focus on with regards to erosion. The first is prevention. As we all know, a stitch in time saves nine. In the context of coastal erosion, this phrase is particularly relevant. Proper...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Coastal Erosion (18 Apr 2024)

Verona Murphy: I thank the Minister of State. I am glad he provided that to me because I asked the director of services for it last week, but I think he said he was going to play golf or something on Thursday. He did not manage to get it to me by this Thursday. The problem is that much of what we have discussed was set down in a report in 2018 and 2019. I went back over that report and six years later...

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (18 Apr 2024)

Verona Murphy: I appreciate that the witnesses are doing a difficult job. I am concerned about our other services, such as childcare and disability services. The disability service was integrated into the Department. Has that integration happened in full?

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (18 Apr 2024)

Verona Murphy: There is an extra €2.8 billion in the Department's budget now. I am concerned, with that €2.8 billion, about the level of service being provided, which is non-existent in many cases. I know of a 15-year-old girl who is one of four siblings who have serious special and physical needs. For the past 12 months, she has been visiting a consultant, her doctor and the hospital on an...

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (18 Apr 2024)

Verona Murphy: Can Mr. McCarthy imagine the challenge-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (18 Apr 2024)

Verona Murphy: If there is a recruitment crisis, I do not know what point Mr. McCarthy is making with regard to the embargo. We cannot get them, never mind the embargo.

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (18 Apr 2024)

Verona Murphy: This is a very difficult situation. This is a home-caring parent of four very seriously physically dependent children, one of whom is non-verbal. This particular child has serious spinal medical requirements. She is unable to get physiotherapy. She is also unable to obtain a weighing scales for a child who weighs 52 kg whom she has to lift out of the bed and weigh twice a week because she...

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (18 Apr 2024)

Verona Murphy: It should not even have to be asked for twice, should it, realistically?

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (18 Apr 2024)

Verona Murphy: It does not make sense, does it?

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (18 Apr 2024)

Verona Murphy: I am not asking Mr. McCarthy to defend it; I am asking him to engage and have it sorted. It is particularly distressing that we do not have the services, and those who are providing them under extreme duress are not being assisted. This is one instance. When we come to childcare, I am inundated with parents who are very concerned about not having the provisions of childcare in place, and...

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (18 Apr 2024)

Verona Murphy: Will Deputy Murphy repeat the details?

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (18 Apr 2024)

Verona Murphy: An after-school childcare service provider closed, leaving 60 working families without after-school care. Nobody here is familiar with it.

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (18 Apr 2024)

Verona Murphy: It is a private provider.

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (18 Apr 2024)

Verona Murphy: It was left to the school to sort out and source another provider. Another provider has come in but for how long I do not know. Ultimately, these services just do not pay any more.

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (18 Apr 2024)

Verona Murphy: It is not just that they do not pay. The other issue is that providers have great difficulty in recruiting staff because they cannot pay them enough. The staff they are recruiting are at a level when they are not taken on as full-time employees. They have no pension entitlements. They could get a job in Tesco, for example, that would serve them better in every regard. This is where we...

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (18 Apr 2024)

Verona Murphy: I do not really need you to. I want you to institute------

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (18 Apr 2024)

Verona Murphy: I have two minutes left and I want to move on. If Mr. McCarthy wants to write to us on this, that will be no problem.

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (18 Apr 2024)

Verona Murphy: I need to move on.

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (18 Apr 2024)

Verona Murphy: We will come back but this is very important. As the Committee of Public Accounts, our first requirement is to ensure value for money. How does Mr. McCarthy ascertain the figures he provides for international protection accommodation? How does the Department come by figures for much a bed night costs? How is that ascertained?