Results 11,841-11,860 of 11,997 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Select Committee on Transport: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 31 - Transport (Revised) (25 Jun 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Minister for the briefing provided by his team. For programme A, cycling, walking and greenway, the outturn for 2024 was €387 million. As the Minister has outlined, the budget for 2025 is €360 million. That is a 7% decrease in terms of what was spent in 2024 versus what is budgeted this year. There is real concern about the almost systematic removal of references...

Select Committee on Transport: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 31 - Transport (Revised) (25 Jun 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: After the NDP review, does the Minister expect he will be in a position to raise that annual spend on programme A from €360 million and be able to do a higher annual spend?

Select Committee on Transport: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 31 - Transport (Revised) (25 Jun 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Minister. Yesterday, we saw really good news from CIE about increased passengers numbers across Dublin Bus, Irish Rail and Bus Éireann as well. We are seeing a steady increase in passenger numbers. The Minister has referred to it already. Has his Department done any work in terms of analysing the impact the fare reductions we have seen over the last number of years have...

Select Committee on Transport: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 31 - Transport (Revised) (25 Jun 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Minister. Undoubtedly the Minister's officials are bringing together the Department's bid for budget 2026 at the moment. Does the Minister intend to put in a bid for a new funding line for the public transport security service? Does he intend to have a line on that for budget 2026? How much is the Minister looking for in the context of budget 2026? Does he have a sense of...

Select Committee on Transport: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 31 - Transport (Revised) (25 Jun 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: What are those acceleration options?

Select Committee on Transport: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 31 - Transport (Revised) (25 Jun 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: Another Deputy raised the issue of contactless ticketing. I did not have an oral question last night so I did not hear the Minister's discussion of it in the House. When we spoke about this last week during my Private Member's time, the Minister gave the 2027 delivery date for phase 1, which is the in-use testing phase. Will commuters be using contactless in phase 1? What kind of scale...

Select Committee on Transport: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 31 - Transport (Revised) (25 Jun 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: What do the next two phases look like then? Is the Minister in a position to give any detail on those?

Select Committee on Transport: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 31 - Transport (Revised) (25 Jun 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: No one could accuse 2029 as being in a rush.

Select Committee on Transport: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 31 - Transport (Revised) (25 Jun 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Minister for that extra detail, which is really useful. The Minister referred to the NDP review and we will know the outcome of that in July. I am interested to know what scale of additional investment the Minister is looking for. When the NDP is announced for his Department, is there going to be a specific allocation or a pot for the Department? Will we get a sense of what...

Select Committee on Transport: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 31 - Transport (Revised) (25 Jun 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: Finally on that, in each budget each year, the increased capital will be allocated across the various sectors of public transport, new roads and so on, but when the announcement comes out in July, will we have a sense of the overall pot that has been given to the Minister's Department and, without going into specific programmes, how much of that will go to public transport versus how much...

Disregard of Historic Offences for Consensual Sexual Activity Between Men Bill 2025: First Stage (1 Jul 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh for bringing forward this legislation and the campaign group for highlighting the issue. I want us to recall the original provision under which these men were convicted. Section 61 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 states that "Whosoever shall be convicted of the abominable crime of buggery, committed either with mankind or with any animal shall be...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Legislative Measures (1 Jul 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: 10. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government for an update on the progress of the legislation to underpin the apartment defects remediation scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35771/25]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Legislative Measures (1 Jul 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Minister will be well aware of the anguish, worry and stalled lives of families living in apartments with structural defects, be they fire safety issues or water leakages, which they experience through no fault of their own. The defective apartment remediation scheme is a lifeline that will finally allow these families to move on. The Minister will appreciate how important that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Legislative Measures (1 Jul 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Minister. There are three real elements here. There is the statutory scheme, which will look after fire safety, structural issues and water ingress. The interim remediation scheme is solely for fire safety works. We then have the pathfinder projects, which are under way and are probably a subcategory of the interim remediation scheme. Has any money been paid out under the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Legislative Measures (1 Jul 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I appreciate the Minister's offer of a briefing. I will certainly take him up on that because residents are really worried. They are getting this information from their management company, which says there is a blockage. The Minister made a number of comments that if any of them are listening will probably make them even more nervous in terms of delay. There needs to be clarity. I accept...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs (2 Jul 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Minister of State for attending. I understand the NCSE is attempting address the crisis we have for places in special classes, and I know it is acting quickly. However, the way it has acted in the context of St. Mochta’s is not the right solution. St. Mochta’s has agreed to open two special classes - two ASD classes - in September for 12 students. It currently...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs (2 Jul 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I noticed that in the Minister of State’s reply, there is a focus on the 1 February deadline. As colleagues have said, there were no plans to open an ASD class in St. Mochta’s on 1 February and the only agreement on that opening came in April. In April, when the school did agree to open these two classes, it received a verbal agreement that the deadline would be waived for the...

All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Statements (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: A map of Ireland's railway network in 1906 that is often shared online provokes passionate debates about the state of our current rail network. We used to have 5,000 km of railway and more than 1,000 stations connecting all corners of the island. Today, the network is just a fraction of what it was at its peak. These debates show one thing very clearly: people want to see increased...

Middle East: Statements (2 Jul 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: Yesterday, I took part in the pre-legislative process for the Government's occupied territories Bill, or the OTB-lite. Like others, I focused on the Government's exclusion of services from the current draft. The officials from the Department of foreign affairs were able to give me a clear answer on one point I raised. One of the conclusions in the ICJ opinion, delivered last year, was that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025 (1 Jul 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank Mr. Keown and Mr. Smyth for being here. One of the conclusions of the ICJ opinion of July of last year was that states should abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the occupied territories or parts thereof. On the balance of probability, in the witnesses' legal view, is that reference to economic or trade dealings in the ICJ opinion more likely...