Results 6,961-6,980 of 25,880 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Emigrant Support Services (25 Jan 2018)

Darragh O'Brien: I hope the Minister does not mind me saying that the response is pretty vague. It really misses the fundamental point I am trying to make. The vast majority of the 27,400 people who returned have serious difficulties getting car insurance, for example. They are rated on the basis that their previous driving experience in places such as Canada is not taken into account and their previous...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Emigrant Support Services (25 Jan 2018)

Darragh O'Brien: I thank the Minister for that. There are practical measures available. I am aware of the report on challenges faced by returning Irish emigrants. The economic report the Minister has mentioned will be published in the next few weeks. I am asking for a commitment that the matter will be debated here in the House. I will explain why. Significant numbers are returning and that is great and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Emigrant Support Services (25 Jan 2018)

Darragh O'Brien: No.

Leaders' Questions (25 Jan 2018)

Darragh O'Brien: In recent days, the Government has given in to pressure and decided to partly address the anomaly that the Government created and voted for in 2012 when the former Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, made changes to the State's pension contribution rules. The Government ploughed ahead and voted for the cut despite having the discrepancies and anomalies pointed out to it at...

Leaders' Questions (25 Jan 2018)

Darragh O'Brien: I am not undermining it in any way. I put it to the Tánaiste that his Government was dragged kicking and screaming into reversing the changes that the previous Fine Gael Government brought forward. It is certainly welcome that in time many people will receive a reimbursement of money that should have been due to them. Most of those people are women who worked in the home raising their...

Leaders' Questions (25 Jan 2018)

Darragh O'Brien: The current anomaly is not all of it, but it is a major part of it.

Leaders' Questions (25 Jan 2018)

Darragh O'Brien: The Government doubled the criteria and set the bar much higher.

Leaders' Questions (25 Jan 2018)

Darragh O'Brien: We were.

Leaders' Questions (25 Jan 2018)

Darragh O'Brien: The Government is going to leave all those people behind.

Leaders' Questions (25 Jan 2018)

Darragh O'Brien: It is wrong to do it for some and not for others.

Leaders' Questions (25 Jan 2018)

Darragh O'Brien: The money will only be paid until 2019.

Leaders' Questions (25 Jan 2018)

Darragh O'Brien: It is not an anomaly-----

Leaders' Questions (25 Jan 2018)

Darragh O'Brien: -----it is a policy decision made by the Government.

Questions on Promised Legislation (25 Jan 2018)

Darragh O'Brien: On page 20, section B of the programme for Government, the action plan on housing is outlined. Is the Government committed to reviewing the pyrite remediation scheme in full? I ask this in the context of the Pyrite Resolution Act 2013 with which the Tánaiste will be familiar as a former Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. The Act only includes those with...

Questions on Promised Legislation (25 Jan 2018)

Darragh O'Brien: Reasonable people.

Report of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements (Resumed) (25 Jan 2018)

Darragh O'Brien: I would like to say to colleagues that I have always approached, and continued to approach, the issue of abortion and the right to life in a compassionate and responsible way and I genuinely respect all opinions on a matter that is very personal to thousands, if not millions, of people. I thank in particular all those who have been in contact with me in recent weeks, particularly since the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Issues (25 Jan 2018)

Darragh O'Brien: 11. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if the Government has prepared and finalised Brexit sectoral response plans for each Department as committed to in May 2017; if so, if he will publish these plans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3688/18]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Strategies (25 Jan 2018)

Darragh O'Brien: 21. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will further elaborate on his plans to double Ireland's global footprint by 2025; the criteria being used to determine the way in which this strategic plan will be achieved; if this plan has been fully costed; if funding has been ringfenced for this plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3685/18]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Israeli Settlements (25 Jan 2018)

Darragh O'Brien: 25. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he formally raised the expansion of illegal settlements with the Israeli Prime Minister during his recent visit to the Middle East; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3689/18]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (25 Jan 2018)

Darragh O'Brien: 32. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his plans to open a regional passport office in the Border region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3686/18]