Results 9,401-9,420 of 11,367 for speaker:Matt Carthy

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (8 May 2024)

Matt Carthy: Last Friday evening parents of students living in Donaghmoyne, Lisdoonan and other parts of south Monaghan who attend three post-primary schools in Carrickmacross and Scoil Phádraig primary school in Corduff were notified by Bus Éireann that their school buses would be unavailable from yesterday morning, essentially the next school day. This is a familiar story of families having...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Departmental Programmes (8 May 2024)

Matt Carthy: I wish to tell the Taoiseach about a 14-year-old boy from my constituency. This young man had braces fitted in the orthodontic clinic in Louth County Hospital last October. In December, however, his family were told this young man's dentist had resigned and there would be a lengthy waiting period for his next appointment. He had his braces tightened but was then informed he was no longer...

Europe Day: Statements (8 May 2024)

Matt Carthy: It is fitting that these Europe Day statements take place this year just four weeks out from the European elections on Friday, 7 June. Those elections will take place at a time when Ireland and Europe are facing many challenges and I believe these elections will be seen as an opportunity for people to have their say on the change they want in Ireland and in Europe. We have a Government that...

Affordable Housing: Motion [Private Members] (8 May 2024)

Matt Carthy: How many drawdowns?

Affordable Housing: Motion [Private Members] (8 May 2024)

Matt Carthy: The reason that not only do we have an ongoing housing crisis but it is getting worse is quite simple. The Government has set targets for social and affordable housing that are far too low and year-on-year they have managed to miss these targets. To give some solace to the Minister of State, I can tell him one target that it did actually meet in 2023. It was the affordable housing target...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (9 May 2024)

Matt Carthy: 49. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the timeframe in which he intends to submit a declaration to intervene in the case of South Africa v. Israel taken under the Genocide Convention at the International Court of Justice, ICJ. [21105/24]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (9 May 2024)

Matt Carthy: What is the timeframe in which the Government intends to submit a declaration to intervene in the case of South Africa v. Israel taken under the Genocide Convention at the International Court of Justice? In his remarks will he also confirm to the House that Ireland, along with other states, intends to recognise the state of Palestine on 21 May, as reported?

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (9 May 2024)

Matt Carthy: I am sure the Tánaiste agrees that it is impossible to imagine what parents, children, men and women in Rafah are going through right now, considering all they have come through in the past seven months. In many instances, they have been moved up to six times already and are living in a situation that can only be described as depraved, and now they have the anxiety of wondering when the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (9 May 2024)

Matt Carthy: It is welcome that the Government has made this commitment. The point is, in some ways, down to the timeframe. It is also down to the substance of the intervention, when Ireland makes it. We want it to be as strong as possible. The ICJ has made it clear in previous rulings that there is no specific timeframe in which a state can intervene. In other words, a state can intervene at any stage.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (9 May 2024)

Matt Carthy: Legally, there is no need in this instance, for example, to wait until the substantive submission by South Africa is filed.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (9 May 2024)

Matt Carthy: That is a matter of fact and ruling by the ICJ. I again welcome that Ireland, along with other states, has indicated it plans to recognise the state of Palestine on 21 May. I welcome that although I contend it is far beyond the time it should have happened. It would be useful if the Minister would confirm that is the case.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (9 May 2024)

Matt Carthy: The recognition on 21 May. We also must recognise that a Palestinian state today is unviable precisely because Israel has made it unviable. A further incursion and invasion into Rafah will make not only a Palestinian state but any prospect of a lasting peace settlement virtually impossible to contemplate. Does the Minister agree there is a need for the international community and states...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Passport Services (9 May 2024)

Matt Carthy: 50. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his proposals to ensure the Passport Office operates efficiently throughout the busy summer period; if he will ensure that applicants can avail of urgent passport renewal or first-time in-person application and collection services when required; and if he will outline the number of additional staff who will be appointed to the Passport...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Passport Services (9 May 2024)

Matt Carthy: I commend the staff in the Passport Office, who have been going through probably the busiest two or three years the office has ever faced. I think everybody in this House has at some stage added to their burden in terms of dealing with urgent cases in particular. Will the Tánaiste ensure there are sufficient staff within the Passport Office to deal with demand during the busy summer...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Passport Services (9 May 2024)

Matt Carthy: I have said a number of times that when the passport service works well, it works very well. That is the experience for many people. I know a lot of people who have applied, particularly for passport renewals, who have actually been surprised at the speed at which their passport has arrived in their letterboxes. That is an absolute credit and testament to the staff and the operation that...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Passport Services (9 May 2024)

Matt Carthy: The urgent passport service is the gap within the services. It is primarily for first-time applicants. I am not talking about people who apply on 1 May and wish to travel on 20 May. In most instances we deal with, these are people who submitted their applications late last year or in the very early weeks of this year. They subsequently received notification from the Passport Office that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Middle East (9 May 2024)

Matt Carthy: I would appreciate more clarity on the timeframe for recognition. Last night, several media outlets reported 21 May as the date being set. They did not make that up; they got it from the Tánaiste's office. There is nowhere else from which they could have got it. In essence, it is confirmation that Ireland is working with other states to come to the point of recognition. That will be...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: European Union (9 May 2024)

Matt Carthy: 54. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if the Government intends to support the reappointment of European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, for a second term. [20781/24]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: European Union (9 May 2024)

Matt Carthy: We know that Ireland has worked with Ursula von der Leyen on a number of issues, particularly Brexit, in which regard she and her Commission have been commended. However, does the Tánaiste accept that, through her actions in respect of what Israel has done, she has not only undermined her own position, but also the credibility of everyone in the EU who ever wants to act as an advocate...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: European Union (9 May 2024)

Matt Carthy: This is not a time when we can engage in the usual political bartering for positions. I say this regardless of whether Ursula von der Leyen has been perfectly politically correct in everything else she has done. She has not, by the way. I have acknowledged that there are areas in which Ursula von der Leyen was of substantial assistance to Ireland, but on the humanitarian issue that will...