Results 6,541-6,560 of 7,024 for speaker:Willie Penrose

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Suckler Beef Sector: Discussion with Irish Farmers Association (18 Dec 2018)

Willie Penrose: I thank the IFA witnesses for their presentation. It is interesting, but there is nothing new for those of us who live in my county. We know this at first hand because every time we meet farmers, particularly in the suckler cow area, they tell us exactly what is happening on the ground. The west, as Senator Conway-Walsh has said, is highly dependent on suckler cows. In the midlands it is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Suckler Beef Sector: Discussion with Irish Farmers Association (18 Dec 2018)

Willie Penrose: It is not easy unless we can get the price structure right, but how long will European consumers and everybody else continue to subsidise, notwithstanding that it is the primary objective of the CAP? There will be protests by yellow vests across the Continent on a different topic because it seems to be the "in thing" now. We must remember that consumers will forget they are getting a cheap...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Working Family Payment Data (19 Dec 2018)

Willie Penrose: Significant concern has been expressed about the number of civil and public servants who must resort to relying on the working family payment. Does the Minister agree that this is a significant indication of the inadequacy of the current wage levels and structures?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Working Family Payment Data (19 Dec 2018)

Willie Penrose: That 3,239 civil and public servants had to resort to this payment indicates the inadequacy of their current wage levels and structures. Thankfully, the payment is available to them. The Minister mentioned expenditure of more than €400 million for the whole cohort of people who rely on the payment, but how much of that is devoted to the civil and public servants who must rely on it?...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Working Family Payment Data (19 Dec 2018)

Willie Penrose: I take the Minister's point. It is great to have a family payment because, as the eldest of ten children, I remember there was no safety net like this and, therefore, I welcome it. Is it not indicative that if people cannot rear a family on their level of wages, they will have no chance of securing or paying a mortgage or anything else? It is a circular argument and it must be...

Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: From the Seanad (19 Dec 2018)

Willie Penrose: This is an important day for the advancement of workers' rights. We salute all the workers across various employments, including the Dunnes Stores workers for helping to achieve this. It is not a day for political hijacking, but many people put a good deal of work into this. The Low Pay Commission was established some years ago by my colleagues. That was an important initial spark, as...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Third Level Admissions Entry Requirements (19 Dec 2018)

Willie Penrose: I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this important issue for discussion. I am glad that the Minister of State, Deputy Mitchell O'Connor, is present. She is very familiar with the import of this issue and I have no doubt she is eager to resolve it in a positive way. It is a very invidious situation affecting a large cohort of young graduates and undergraduates. Concerns over this...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Third Level Admissions Entry Requirements (19 Dec 2018)

Willie Penrose: Those students attained the necessary minimum requirement for the masters in primary education when they sat their leaving certificate some years ago and had a legitimate expectation, which is a principle of European Union law, that they would qualify for the course because they met all requirements that were in place at the time. In order to meet the new minimum requirements, this cohort...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Third Level Admissions Entry Requirements (19 Dec 2018)

Willie Penrose: I have no doubt that the Minister of State understands the details of the issue very well. The change, however, is not a trivial or small one. For those concerned, it represents a considerable setback, and it is causing great stress, anxiety and upset. The Minister of State will agree that upsetting students is nothing to be proud of. The Minister of State can achieve the objective by...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Delays (19 Dec 2018)

Willie Penrose: 75. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the steps she has taken to address significant delays being experienced with carer's allowance applications; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53483/18]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Illness Benefit Costs (19 Dec 2018)

Willie Penrose: 82. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her views on the decision by many general practitioner practices to charge persons who are in receipt of illness benefit for certificates relating to the benefit; her plans to work with the Minister for Health to rectify the situation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53481/18]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pensions Legislation (19 Dec 2018)

Willie Penrose: 85. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of her plans for legislative changes in pension law; when amendments will be tabled to the Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2017; the reason for the delay of more than a year; when the Bill will be progressed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53482/18]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Legislative Measures (19 Dec 2018)

Willie Penrose: 537. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the details of the implementation strategy for the outstanding relevant sections of the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 remaining to be commenced; the sections that remain to be commenced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53525/18]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Commercial Rates (15 Jan 2019)

Willie Penrose: 55. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to address the negative impact of rates on small businesses in small villages and towns in rural Ireland. [52144/18]

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: National Orchestras (15 Jan 2019)

Willie Penrose: 1222. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if the oversight group and the working group that have been established to address issues in the transfer of the National Symphony Orchestra from the remit of RTÉ to the remit of the National Concert Hall have orchestra musicians and workers represented on both groups; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1570/19]

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Commemorative Events (16 Jan 2019)

Willie Penrose: 46. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her plans for the upcoming centenary commemorations of the War of Independence, the Civil War, the 1st Dáil and partition; the estimated cost of these commemorations; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1586/19]

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Built Heritage Investment Scheme Funding (16 Jan 2019)

Willie Penrose: 72. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the support funding which will be provided for built and heritage programmes in County Dublin and nationally in 2019. [1585/19]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Official Engagements (16 Jan 2019)

Willie Penrose: 107. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his plans to meet formally with the US Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ms Nancy Pelosi, the next time he visits the United States of America; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2020/19]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector (16 Jan 2019)

Willie Penrose: 114. To ask the Minister for Finance the reason the stakeholders forum which was promised as part of the valuation of the public banking model has not met to date; if this is due to the failure to appoint the relevant consultant in order to ensure that same can now progress; the date the stakeholders forum will be operating from; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2013/19]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Services for People with Disabilities (16 Jan 2019)

Willie Penrose: 192. To ask the Minister for Health the steps he will take to ensure that a replacement nurse with expertise in disability services is appointed to the child disability services team in Springfield, Mullingar, County Westmeath (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2015/19]