Results 8,421-8,440 of 10,600 for speaker:Patrick O'Donovan

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Special Educational Needs (9 May 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: I apologise to Senator O'Loughlin. I am not sure what happened at the start. A priority for the Government is to ensure that all children have an appropriate school place and that the necessary supports are provided to our schools to cater for children with special educational needs. It is important to remember that the vast majority of children with special education needs are supported...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Special Educational Needs (9 May 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: I have a fair few family members in west Cork. Even though Cork is an adjoining county to my own county, I would be in Dublin faster than I would be down to see some of them. The distances are not only great, but they are complicated. I can only imagine what it must be like to be the parent of a young child from Baltimore, Ballydehob, Schull, Goleen, Bantry or any of the places on the...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Planning Issues (9 May 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: Thank you for your indulgence, a Cheann Comhairle. I have two responses that overlap so I will try to condense them. I beg the Deputies' indulgence in that regard. I thank the Deputies for raising the issues. In regard to the Topical Issues before the House on 5G digital masts, two procedures are in place depending on where the telecommunications infrastructure is to be located. In...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Planning Issues (9 May 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: To go back to the points of Deputies Lahart and Brophy, I reiterate that a person applying for a licence under section 254 of the Act must provide the planning authority with such plans and other information concerning the position, design and capacity of the appliance, apparatus or structure as the authority may require. I am not getting into the ins and outs of a particular planning...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Fire Stations (9 May 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy O'Donnell. The provision of a fire service in its functional area, including the establishment and maintenance of a fire brigade, the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of fire station premises, is a statutory function of individual fire...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Fire Stations (9 May 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: As Deputy Ó Laoghaire points out, I am taking this on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy O’Donnell. It is important to note that the non-availability of any particular fire station does not mean that fire risk management, including fire service response, is diminished. The systemic approach to fire risk management, which has been the policy in use in this country for a more...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: EU Funding (11 May 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh. I apologise for the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, who is overseas. The total resources available at Union level for ERDF were determined as part of the overall negotiations of the multi-annual financial framework for the period from 2021 to 2027. The resources allocated to each member state were based on the amounts calculated for each of the individual regions by...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: EU Funding (11 May 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: I thank the Deputy. As I said at the outset, the metrics are set out by parameters from places other than the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. I will finish where I was with regard to PEACEPLUS. The northern and western region is also able to avail of other supports. The new EU co-financed PEACEPLUS programme for 2021 to 2027 will invest...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: EU Funding (11 May 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: On top of the metrics I have already outlined, their rationale and the fact there is a per capitadouble payment in the region versus the other two regions, the region also received significant funding from other Departments, including that specifically set up to deal with this issue, which is the Department of Rural and Community Development. Some examples of recent allocations in the region...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Flood Risk Management (11 May 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: This is in my area of responsibility and I am glad to be able to answer it. The Office of Public Works, OPW, as the lead agency for flood risk management, is co-ordinating the delivery of measures towards meeting the Government’s national flood risk policy across three areas of flood risk management, which takes the potential impacts of climate change into account under the headings...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Flood Risk Management (11 May 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh. I have been in Crossmolina on a couple of occasions. I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh for the support associated with this. She is conscious of the fact that Mayo County Council is the applicant to the planning authority and, under the Arterial Drainage Act, the Minister is the consenting authority. We cannot predetermine the outcome of a planning process which...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Flood Risk Management (11 May 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: I do not disagree with Deputy Conway-Walsh. If we had a magic bullet to circumvent the regulations we must go through, we certainly would be using it. Many towns, villages and cities such as Galway are under constant threat. When people are living under a psychological threat such as this, it causes a lot of mental trauma. It is not for the want of energy and enthusiasm from our point of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Budget Process (11 May 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: As I said to Deputy Conway-Walsh earlier, the Minister, Deputy Donohoe. is out of the country and I will take all of the questions. A 5% growth rate for core expenditure was set out in the 2021 summer economic statement as part of our medium-term expenditure strategy. This strategy aims to align core voted expenditure growth with the trend growth rate of the economy as measured by GNI*....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Budget Process (11 May 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: In the context of the provision of the budgetary climate and infrastructure for 2024, the Deputy will be aware that the summer economic statement will shortly be addressed by the Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and McGrath, and that will take place in July, most likely. Over the coming months, in advance of that, the Minister will further consider other budgetary positions, in collaboration with...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Budget Process (11 May 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: It is important to point out also that the total amount of Government expenditure for the year is in excess of €91 billion, a not insignificant significant amount of money. Notwithstanding the difficulties that are there, I think everybody accepts from history, particularly in this country, that when governments try to chase inflation, it winds up in an inflationary spiral and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Home Care Packages (11 May 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: I thank the Deputy, on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, for raising this very important issue. The Government is committed to promoting care in the community for older people so they can continue to live in their own homes for as long as possible. Home support is an increasingly important part of the supports the Government offers to older people and will continue to increase in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Home Care Packages (11 May 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: As the Deputy is aware, it is not appropriate for a Minister, in the context of existing commercial discussions, tendering processes or anything of that nature, to discuss them on the floor of the Dáil. As I said earlier, the HSE has proposed a further extension of the contract arrangements to Friday, 30 June which is its prerogative as the lead agency on this. As I said at the...