Results 1,041-1,060 of 1,995 for speaker:Joe Flaherty

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementing Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Jan 2023)

Joe Flaherty: Per head, it is the biggest in the country. In summary, would it be fair to say, first, that we are going to have an affordable housing scheme this year and, second, that we are going to hit that 390 target within five years?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementing Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Jan 2023)

Joe Flaherty: I welcome Deputy Gould. We have gone slightly off schedule but I call Senator Cummins now and then Deputy Gould can comment. Is that okay?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementing Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Jan 2023)

Joe Flaherty: Mr. Gilligan is speaking more than Senator Cummins, which is an achievement in itself. Will he let the Senator back in?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementing Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Jan 2023)

Joe Flaherty: I call on Deputy Gould and thank him for facilitating the other speakers in coming in.

Forestry Strategy: Statements (26 Jan 2023)

Joe Flaherty: No one needs to be convinced of the merits of trees. Experts tell us that, if we plant 18,000 ha per year between now and 2050, we will be carbon neutral without taking any other action. That is not an improbability. Back in 1994, we were planting 24,000 ha per year. Of that, 18,000 ha were in the private sector. Farmers and other members of the public were more than happy and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Joe Flaherty: I will try not to rehash much of what was said. I will start with the positives. I welcome the Minister's comment that the deal in front of us is not his preferred option for strategic partnerships and that his preferred one is for farmers to plant trees on their own land through incentivisation under the €1.3 billion scheme, which we widely welcomed. He wants all strategies to be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Joe Flaherty: I do not mean to cut across the Minister but I am conscious of my time and that of other members. Time is precious here. Coillte has entered a commercial arrangement, so if it needs to it should take the hit. Has the Minister explored the capacity to say what I suggest to ISIF, given that the money is State money?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Joe Flaherty: It is still controlled by the Minister for Finance.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Joe Flaherty: Has the Minister scoped the prospect of the deal not going ahead? What would the fallout be?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Industrial Relations (Provisions in Respect of Pension Entitlements of Retired Workers) Bill 2021: Discussion (25 Jan 2023)

Joe Flaherty: I thank all of the speakers for attending and giving us an invaluable insight into this hugely important area. I have a particular interest in the ESB as I grew up in Lanesborough at the foot of the power station and surrounded by a lot of ESB staff. Many of those staff are retired and this is a key issue for them. A number of weeks ago I met Mick Casey, who is seated behind me with a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Industrial Relations (Provisions in Respect of Pension Entitlements of Retired Workers) Bill 2021: Discussion (25 Jan 2023)

Joe Flaherty: Is this a uniquely Irish situation? Does Mr. Nugent have some insight? Is it a case that people can go collectively to the ombudsman, or a similar body, in Europe or the UK?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Industrial Relations (Provisions in Respect of Pension Entitlements of Retired Workers) Bill 2021: Discussion (25 Jan 2023)

Joe Flaherty: Mr. Nugent referenced the six-month rule again. That will change for the WRC, but it will not change for the equality tribunal or the Labour Court. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Industrial Relations (Provisions in Respect of Pension Entitlements of Retired Workers) Bill 2021: Discussion (25 Jan 2023)

Joe Flaherty: They will not be with regard to pensions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Industrial Relations (Provisions in Respect of Pension Entitlements of Retired Workers) Bill 2021: Discussion (25 Jan 2023)

Joe Flaherty: I will play the devil's advocate. The Government could say it is not being done anywhere. However, Ms Shaw would say that does not mean we should not do it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Industrial Relations (Provisions in Respect of Pension Entitlements of Retired Workers) Bill 2021: Discussion (25 Jan 2023)

Joe Flaherty: I return to Mr. Collins's submission and the sponsoring employer section. The second-last paragraph refers to access to the ombudsman for a class or group of workers. It states: Retired workers have no forum within which to challenge this unfair and inequitable practice of changing the terms & conditions of their retirement. This Bill will give retired workers that right, i.e. to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Industrial Relations (Provisions in Respect of Pension Entitlements of Retired Workers) Bill 2021: Discussion (25 Jan 2023)

Joe Flaherty: We are probably halfway there in that regard and we need to follow through and give pensioners access to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman. The door has been opened in that regard. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Industrial Relations (Provisions in Respect of Pension Entitlements of Retired Workers) Bill 2021: Discussion (25 Jan 2023)

Joe Flaherty: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Industrial Relations (Provisions in Respect of Pension Entitlements of Retired Workers) Bill 2021: Discussion (25 Jan 2023)

Joe Flaherty: I am running out of time. As a Government member, I am in a different position from some other members in that I must find value in the Bill but must also find some ways to square the anomalies. My point to go back to the Minister is the door is open to address this in relation to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman. The Government has gone some degree of the way but not the full way.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Industrial Relations (Provisions in Respect of Pension Entitlements of Retired Workers) Bill 2021: Discussion (25 Jan 2023)

Joe Flaherty: Has the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman given any reason for his claim that he cannot take a class or collective case? What is the position in the UK or Europe? Can a group take come up with agreements?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementing Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Jan 2023)

Joe Flaherty: Deputy Gould wants to come back in.