Results 1,181-1,200 of 1,441 for speaker:Ann Phelan

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Health Services Staff Recruitment (7 Oct 2015)

Ann Phelan: I thank the Senator for raising the matter. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister for Health who is on government business elsewhere. The policy of the Government is to support older people to live in dignity and independence in their own homes and to keep them in their communities for as long as possible.If it becomes necessary for older people to move to a nursing home, appropriate...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Health Services Staff Recruitment (7 Oct 2015)

Ann Phelan: I understand the Senator’s frustration and will undertake to contact the Minister’s office. The answer states this matter “will be pursued as a priority”.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects Status (7 Oct 2015)

Ann Phelan: I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter as it provides me with an opportunity to clarify the position on the major capital project at Scoil Mhuire in Stranorlar. The Deputy will be aware of the demographic challenge facing the education system in the coming years. The Department's latest...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects Status (7 Oct 2015)

Ann Phelan: I thank the Senator and I will take on board some of his comments. I am keeping a close eye on this issue. While accepting the current position, I draw his attention to the fact that while Stranorlar and other schools have not been included in the five-year construction plan, they are being progressed to the final planning stages in anticipation of the possibility of further funds being...

Seanad: State Claims Agency: Motion (7 Oct 2015)

Ann Phelan: The debate up to now has been very reasoned. I would like to congratulate my Labour Party colleagues on bringing forward the motion. In response to the point made that it has taken us four and half years to get the motion on the table, anybody could have tabled the motion. Therefore, the Labour Party must be congratulated on doing so. The Labour Party has tabled a Seanad Private Members'...

Seanad: State Claims Agency: Motion (7 Oct 2015)

Ann Phelan: Before I continue with my speech, I shall reply to some of the issues that were raised. We have an opportunity here to examine whether a more person centred approach can be taken for catastrophic injury cases. Currently, the State Claims Agency can only operate within the constraints of the tort system. With that the courts expect due process under a tort system which, in many cases, can...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Rural Development Programme (8 Oct 2015)

Ann Phelan: The Leader element of the Rural Development Programme 2014–2020 will provide €250 million in financial resources to support the development of sustainable rural communities. For the purposes of the new Programme, there are 28 sub-regional areas , with County Clare being one of these. Stage one of the selection process invited any entity who wished to be considered as a Local...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Redundancy Payments (13 Oct 2015)

Ann Phelan: My Department has no role in the internal operations of any private organisations and, therefore, does not have a role in relation to staff or employment matters, which are for the Board of the company, as the employer, to manage. In relation to the details supplied, my Department has been engaged in discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and with the Attorney...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Voluntary Sector Funding (13 Oct 2015)

Ann Phelan: Funding was provided to the project concerned to under the Local Community Development Programme (LCDP), during 2013 and 2015. As the Deputy will be aware, the LCDP was implemented on a transitional basis until end of March 2015. The new Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) was subsequently rolled out across communities on 1 April 2015, following a competitive...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Redundancy Payments (13 Oct 2015)

Ann Phelan: My Department has no role in the internal operations of any private organisations and, therefore, does not have a role in relation to staff or employment matters, which are for the Board of the company, as the employer, to manage. In relation to the details supplied, my Department has been engaged in discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and with the Attorney...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Voluntary Sector Funding (13 Oct 2015)

Ann Phelan: Funding was provided to the project concerned to under the Local Community Development Programme (LCDP), during 2013 and 2015. As the Deputy will be aware, the LCDP was implemented on a transitional basis until end of March 2015. The new Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) was subsequently rolled out across communities on 1 April 2015, following a competitive...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Leader Programmes Funding (13 Oct 2015)

Ann Phelan: As the Deputy is aware, in line with the 'bottom-up' approach to rural development, there are 34 Local Action Groups contracted, on my Department's behalf, to deliver the LEADER elements of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 throughout the country. Training activities are currently funded through a specific training measure under the LEADER programme. This measure has the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Leader Programmes Funding (13 Oct 2015)

Ann Phelan: All of the funding available under the LEADER elements of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 has been fully allocated and it is expected that expenditure over the full period of the Programme will be in the order of €370 million by the end 2015. It should be noted, however, that the full financial position for the Programme will not be fully known until after the Programme has...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Leader Programmes Applications (13 Oct 2015)

Ann Phelan: Mayo North East Leader Partnership, South West Mayo Development Company and Comhar na nOilean Teo are the Local Action Groups contracted by my Department to deliver the Leader elements of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 in County Mayo . In the context of my Department’s responsibility to ensure that Programme funding was delivered in an efficient and effective way, a decision...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2015)

Ann Phelan: Fianna Fáil cut the rate by 8%.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2015)

Ann Phelan: Where are your solutions? You ran away.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2015)

Ann Phelan: I draw attention to some of the statistics at the time the Government came into office in 2011. At the time we only had enough money for five months to pay teachers, nurses and gardaí and to try to keep public services on the road. We had an unemployment rate of 15.5%, which is now down to 9.4%. The IMF and the troika were here as the Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government was...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Housing Provision (20 Oct 2015)

Ann Phelan: I thank Senator Bradford for raising this very important issue. I know that the issue of vacant local authority housing, or voids as they are called, has been a topical one, given the need to address the waiting lists and to make best use of the existing stock, while the extensive programme of new build that the Minister, Deputy Kelly, has put in place with the local authorities is advanced....

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Housing Provision (20 Oct 2015)

Ann Phelan: I take the Senator's points. We have had discussions about using common sense and joined-up thinking. We are also considering a rural repopulation programme within rural economic development, RED, zones but that would not be on a statutory footing. It would be a voluntary repopulation programme. We are in the process of developing that.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (21 Oct 2015)

Ann Phelan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 157 and 158 together. I assume the Questions refer to my Department’s Local and Community Development Programme (LCDP) and the new Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP). The LCDP was implemented until March 2015 pending the roll out of SICAP in April 2015. The objective of SICAP is to reduce poverty, promote social inclusion and...