Results 17,721-17,740 of 18,496 for speaker:Brendan Smith

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (23 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: I apologise for missing the earlier part of the contributions because I was in the Chamber for questions to the Minister of further and higher education. I welcome the contribution of the witnesses here today. They question a lot of the IIEA report and it is good to have the varied opinions and the questioning. It is extremely important. In Professor Doyle's statement, I notice he refers...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (23 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: On the differential in the figures Professor Doyle has just quote, I have often heard from people, particularly those living in Britain who may be home on holidays, talking about the good social protection systems here in comparison to what they are in receipt of in London, for example. I presume Northern Ireland is not better than London regarding state pensions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (23 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: Is there no equalisation within pension recipients?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (23 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: Professor Doyle is saying there are different levels of payment depending on when someone entered into a pension scheme.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (23 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: I recall meeting an Irish lady who was a young widow and she told me she was getting a widow's pension in London that was half of what her sister, who lived here in this State, was getting.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (23 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: Right. Our system, for all its deficits, is much better than that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (23 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: Professor Doyle also mentioned economic growth in his opening statement. Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to study his opening statements in detail and I missed his oral presentation. None of the presentations referred to the growth in the all-island economy since 1998. I have often said in this committee that one of the unsung successes of the Good Friday Agreement is the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (23 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: In his presentation, Professor McGuinness referred to the share of educated workers employed. The sectoral productivity in the Republic increases with the share of educated workers employed and levels of investment. Is that investment public sector investment plus foreign direct investment?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (23 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: Roughly, how does that divide between public, international and domestic investment?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (23 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: Would Dr. Bergin hazard a guess at it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (23 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: Presumably foreign directly investment is a significant part of the whole broad investment.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (23 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: In Professor McGuinness's paper, he stated: More recent research has found evidence of educational downgrading in both regions, whereby a person’s educational attainment actually falls below that of their parents. I am shocked with that research. In our role, we mix with people. We are very much up to date with what is going on in our communities and across our constituencies....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (23 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: I must go to a question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (23 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: I am sorry.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (23 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: That is okay.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: As the Taoiseach knows, Louth-Cavan-Monaghan Garda Division has a long land Border with the neighbouring jurisdiction and this creates additional and unique policing demands on the gardaí in our area. For a number of years, I have continually expressed my concerns that, with resignations and retirements, we are not getting nearly enough of the new Garda recruits into our division. The...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (29 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. Unfortunately, the security situation worldwide has deteriorated drastically since 2022 and, of course, our country is not immune from those difficulties and those challenges. We never pay enough tribute to the work of the emergency services in this country, including how they protected us and our State during a very troubled era. I am thinking of An...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Services (28 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: 152. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the up-to-date position regarding the provision of a service (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23969/24]