Results 841-860 of 9,160 for speaker:Thomas Pringle

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Thomas Pringle: Hear, hear.

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Thomas Pringle: I wish to speak to amendment No. 8. I tabled the amendment because of my concerns. The Minister outlined the concerns people have on the basis that 58% of the people who voted “No” to the referendum wanted the Oireachtas to have the power to inquire into issues. Everyone across the House agrees it should have such power. One of the main concerns, as highlighted by Members on...

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Thomas Pringle: The Constitutional Convention cannot make its own rules.

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Thomas Pringle: I move amendment No. 8:In page 23, between lines 44 and 45, to insert the following:"(4) Each house shall make rules and standing orders referred to in subsection (1) (a) that shall provide that a vote in favour of the conducting of an inquiry shall be deemed to pass if no less than two thirds of the designated opposition deputies vote in favour of the conducting of the inquiry by a...

Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Thomas Pringle: I welcome the opportunity to speak to the Bill, which repeals and replaces the 2003 Act. Under the legislation, people with certain convictions will be precluded from obtaining a public service vehicle licence. The Bill also introduces a demerit or penalty points system and transfers the licensing authority from the Garda Carriage Office to the National Transport Authority. It also makes...

Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Thomas Pringle: There is a two-line paragraph in the review and perhaps this is where this has all come from. I have serious concerns because many hackney drivers operate in the rural part of County Donegal where I live. Even though Killybegs has a population of 1,200 or 1,300 about eight or nine hackneys operate there every weekend. I can see the thought behind introducing this system through the rural...

Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Thomas Pringle: Nineteen would represent a big improvement. However, for a country of this size there is no way it will be possible to enforce regulation in that industry. Existing hackney licence holders should be able to tender with the rural transport companies. The payments can then be arranged with the rural transport companies. Hackney licence holders in rural areas are struggling and barely making...

Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Thomas Pringle: I agree with the basic tenets of the Bill. I ask the Minister of State to review the provisions of the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions) Bill and to have a different system for licence holders who are excluded for previous convictions. Apart from that, I believe the Bill should be acceptable.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Institutes of Technology Funding (3 Jul 2013)

Thomas Pringle: 40. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will outline in tabular form the capital funding which has been allocated to Institutes of Technology over the past three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32281/13]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Textbooks (3 Jul 2013)

Thomas Pringle: 41. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if there are plans for the wide-spread introduction e-books in schools nationwide; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32282/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Post Office Network Services (9 Jul 2013)

Thomas Pringle: 59. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her role in supporting the provision of the standard bank account through An Post for delivering social welfare payments through the post office network; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33202/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Post Office Network Services (9 Jul 2013)

Thomas Pringle: The point of my question is that 17% of people in the country do not have access to a bank account. Most of them are probably social welfare recipients who are the customers of the Minister's Department. While recognising the role of An Post in facilitating payments and its success in becoming the preferred bidder, I also know that the Department's preference is to move to electronic...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Post Office Network Services (9 Jul 2013)

Thomas Pringle: The Minister has outlined one of the reasons the post office network is so important. It is important from a social protection perspective to provide the basic payment account through the post office network. The recent pilot study carried out by the Department of Finance produced very disappointing results because An Post was not actually included in the pilot programme. There is great...

Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Second Stage (9 Jul 2013)

Thomas Pringle: I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I welcome most or practically all of the provisions in the Bill. Its objectives need to be realised. However, I have some concerns about the in camera rule and its easing as envisaged in the legislation. Particularly since I became a Member, I have received many communications, as have all of us, from fathers who have gone through...

Mortgage Arrears Proposals: Motion [Private Members] (9 Jul 2013)

Thomas Pringle: I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the mortgage crisis. The Technical Group raised the mortgage crisis on Private Members' business in April 2011. At that stage, it was obvious to everybody on this side of the House that there was a crisis. It has only deepened since. Today, 142,000 family home mortgages are in arrears, of which 54,000 are in arrears of 12 months or...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Code Issues (9 Jul 2013)

Thomas Pringle: 94. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will outline the level of information required to be provided by claimants who are returning Irish emigrants to satisfy the habitual residence condition; if she will provide an average time frame for the verification of habitual residency of such persons; and if she is satisfied with this process. [33203/13]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (9 Jul 2013)

Thomas Pringle: 210. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when an application for the July education programme will be assessed in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Donegal. [33150/13]

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water and Sewerage Schemes Funding (9 Jul 2013)

Thomas Pringle: 370. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the amount allocated to Donegal County Council under the rural water programme for the construction of new group water schemes in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33068/13]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Accommodation (9 Jul 2013)

Thomas Pringle: 402. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality his views on the transfer of all current inmates of St. Patrick's Institution to Wheatfield Prison, Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33409/13]

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Juvenile Offenders (9 Jul 2013)

Thomas Pringle: 459. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will provide a time frame for the completion of the young offenders' facility in Oberstown in north County Dublin, including the transfer of all minors to this facility; and if she will consider expediting its completion in view of the decision to transfer all current inmates to Wheatfield Prison, Dublin. [33352/13]