Results 681-700 of 796 for speaker:Pádraig Rice

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Funding Strategy for Traveller-Specific Accommodation: Discussion (19 Jun 2025)

Pádraig Rice: It is my firm assessment that this State is in violation of the human rights of Travellers. That is not just my assessment. The European Roma Rights Centre published an article, entitled "Council of Europe raps Ireland for continued violations of Travellers' rights". A headline in The Irish Times stated "Travellers' right to accommodation not in line with European Social Charter". An...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Funding Strategy for Traveller-Specific Accommodation: Discussion (19 Jun 2025)

Pádraig Rice: Domestic and international human rights bodies are saying we are in violation of the rights of Travellers as regards accommodation commitments, but we think we are spending enough money. That does not add up.

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Funding Strategy for Traveller-Specific Accommodation: Discussion (19 Jun 2025)

Pádraig Rice: Mr. O'Sullivan stated there was a low preference for halting sites. Does he think this could be to do with the conditions on those sites?

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Funding Strategy for Traveller-Specific Accommodation: Discussion (19 Jun 2025)

Pádraig Rice: On spending, it was said that local authorities stated they did not need to spend the full allocation. Is that the attitude in local authorities regarding budgets and their allocations? Do they come back to the Department saying they do not need to spend that full allocation or the money?

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Funding Strategy for Traveller-Specific Accommodation: Discussion (19 Jun 2025)

Pádraig Rice: I suggest that the preference for standard housing might be because of the living conditions in some of the local authority-run halting sites. For example, a report by the Ombudsman for Children published in 2021 identified a range of issues, including extreme overcrowding, inadequate sanitation and a range of other issues. I will quote some of the people who lived on such sites, especially...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Funding Strategy for Traveller-Specific Accommodation: Discussion (19 Jun 2025)

Pádraig Rice: My point was not on the halting site. I know there have been improvements to that halting site. My point was about the management of Cork City Council, the responsibility at CEO level and the ring-fenced budget within the council. Has there been that culture change at leadership level within the city council on this issue?

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Funding Strategy for Traveller-Specific Accommodation: Discussion (19 Jun 2025)

Pádraig Rice: With respect, Mr. O'Sullivan said there was adequate funding. Does the Department have adequate funding to meet all of the challenges faced by Travellers in terms of accommodation?

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Funding Strategy for Traveller-Specific Accommodation: Discussion (19 Jun 2025)

Pádraig Rice: My understanding is that eight local authorities set targets below the needs identified in their own TAPs. What sanctions does the Department impose on those councils that deliberately underplan for accommodation needs? Are there sanctions for those local authorities that are underplanning?

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Funding Strategy for Traveller-Specific Accommodation: Discussion (19 Jun 2025)

Pádraig Rice: I reiterate what I said earlier, namely that I have serious concerns around the violation of the human rights of Travellers. That is not just my opinion; it is the opinion of many monitoring bodies. The European Commission on Social Rights found that Traveller rights on accommodation are not in line with the European Social Charter. The Council of Europe Framework Convention for the...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Funding Strategy for Traveller-Specific Accommodation: Discussion (19 Jun 2025)

Pádraig Rice: On budgets, it is always about choice. The State has choices it can make in terms of how it allocates its overall resourcing. My concern is that minority communities, the Traveller community in particular, have been left behind and failed by the State. The State has repeatedly not allocated enough funding to address the very serious shortcomings in Traveller accommodation identified by...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Funding Strategy for Traveller-Specific Accommodation: Discussion (19 Jun 2025)

Pádraig Rice: On the conditions people live in, I cited an example earlier. I know it is an historical case but it is from 2018, so not that long ago. It is within the last couple of years. Reference was made to a persistent problem with rodent infestation; inadequate sanitation; extreme overcrowding; safety concerns about access to the site; illegal dumping; inadequate heating systems; unsafe...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Funding Strategy for Traveller-Specific Accommodation: Discussion (19 Jun 2025)

Pádraig Rice: Yes.

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Funding Strategy for Traveller-Specific Accommodation: Discussion (19 Jun 2025)

Pádraig Rice: I am conscious of the time. I have one remaining question.

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Funding Strategy for Traveller-Specific Accommodation: Discussion (19 Jun 2025)

Pádraig Rice: I have one remaining question on which I ask for a written response if we do not have time. The opening statement from the CCMA says the local authorities are committed to delivering "culturally appropriate" Traveller accommodation. Do the witnesses have specifications and a definition for that? I think this is an ongoing issue that needs to be addressed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Standards of Care, Related Practices and Oversight in Nursing Homes: Discussion (18 Jun 2025)

Pádraig Rice: I thank the Minister of State. We have a two and a half hour slot. We have followed the rota, as agreed. We want to allocate equal time to each group on that rota to ensure that every member can get in and ask questions, but we are limited by the slot provided, which is two and a half hours. It is open to the committee to re-engage with HIQA. As we said to its representatives this...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cancer Services (26 Jun 2025)

Pádraig Rice: 2. To ask the Minister for Health if her attention has been drawn to the failure of a number of symptomatic breast disease clinics to see newly referred patients within ten working days (details supplied); the steps being taken to ensure that these clinics meet their targets; if the required resources will be allocated to these clinics to ensure there is adequate staffing; to provide an...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cancer Services (26 Jun 2025)

Pádraig Rice: Access to symptomatic breast disease clinics has become a postcode lottery. Following an urgent GP referral, a person should be seen by a clinic within two weeks. However, timely access to these clinics varies widely. Last year, only four out of nine hospitals met the target of seeing 95% of urgent referrals within two weeks. The other five failed. The Mater Hospital only reached 29%,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cancer Services (26 Jun 2025)

Pádraig Rice: One report states that one in four people waited longer than recommended for an appointment at these urgent clinics. I would like to share with the Minister the experiences of two women from north Dublin. They had to wait for in excess of the two-week period to be seen by the matters symptomatic breast clinic. In February, one woman was referred by GP due to the presence of two lumps in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cancer Services (26 Jun 2025)

Pádraig Rice: We absolutely need better planning here. A lot of this comes back to staffing. Greater resources must be allocated specifically to breast clinics to ensure adequate staffing throughout the country, regardless of where people live. To secure cancer care pathways greater workforce planning is required but this cannot be siloed in the Department of Health. We need joined-up thinking. The...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Services (26 Jun 2025)

Pádraig Rice: 21. To ask the Minister for Health if her Department has received a copy of a 2017 report into paediatric urology services, known as the Dickson report (details supplied); if her Department was made aware of the existence of this report by Children’s Health Ireland, CHI, or anyone from Temple Street or Crumlin hospitals prior to CHI’s establishment; her views on CHI’s...