Results 19,201-19,220 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald
- Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Parole Bill 2016: Committee Stage (24 May 2017)
Frances Fitzgerald: I am glad to hear that.
- Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Parole Bill 2016: Committee Stage (24 May 2017)
Frances Fitzgerald: I have no difficulty with accepting amendment No. 92. I may need to return to it following further discussion with the Courts Service and advice from Parliamentary Counsel, but I accept the amendment.
- Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Parole Bill 2016: Committee Stage (24 May 2017)
Frances Fitzgerald: A technical amendment may be required to the Title to include the words "and related matters". This will be raised in the drafting. We may have to come back to it.
- Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Parole Bill 2016: Committee Stage (24 May 2017)
Frances Fitzgerald: I thank the Chairman.
- Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)
Frances Fitzgerald: The Dublin Region Homeless Executive has overall responsibility for co-ordinating the response to homelessness on behalf of the four Dublin local authorities, as the Deputy is aware. What happened on Tuesday night is unacceptable. The demand for accommodation experienced on Tuesday night was exceptional. It was out of the ordinary in comparison with the situation in 2017 to date. In...
- Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)
Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy knows, more than most, the intense focus there has been on ensuring supply is developed following the disastrous lack of supply of recent years, the reasons for which I do not need to articulate. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, has indicated that the current legislation that defines legal responsibility for the provision of homeless services, including the provision of accommodation...
- Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)
Frances Fitzgerald: All Members of the House are aware of the scale of the challenge in terms of supply of housing and the reasons we are in this situation. The Government has recognised this challenge and has taken every possible action to ensure that the people of whom the Deputy speaks are provided with appropriate homes as quickly as possible. The most recent homeless figures are a reminder of the...
- Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)
Frances Fitzgerald: The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Coveney, has made it clear repeatedly that local authorities will have support and funding and they have bought many hundreds of houses over the past year. This has been possible because improvements in the economy mean that the budget to do so is available. I have told the Deputy that €5.3 billion has been...
- Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)
Frances Fitzgerald: We have a growing population and extra demands. Houses cannot be built overnight.
- Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)
Frances Fitzgerald: All the different initiatives-----
- Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)
Frances Fitzgerald: Everyone wants to see this problem solved.
- Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)
Frances Fitzgerald: Everyone is working to ensure we take every possible initiative at national level and local authority level, in conjunction with private landlords, to ensure housing is available. It is a very challenging situation. What happened on Tuesday night is absolutely unacceptable. We do not want to see one family in that situation. I repeat again that Garda stations are certainly not the places...
- Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)
Frances Fitzgerald: I want to repeat the point about the extra accommodation that has become available since Tuesday in terms of the emergency contingency capacity. It has doubled for families who present in emergency out of hours. It is reassuring that not all of the accommodation that has been made available was used last night. Only one of the new additional contingency units was used to accommodate a...
- Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)
Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputy knows, the Department is involved in an analysis of those vacant homes. I do not have the precise timeframe as to when further details will be published. Clearly, every action is being taken to ensure that where it is feasible for vacant homes to be used or purchased by local authorities-----
- Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)
Frances Fitzgerald: That does not mean there is not activity going on within the Department. The Deputy knows the complexities around vacant homes. There are ownership and property issues, questions of who in fact the owners are. This is not something that can be dealt with overnight. Every effort is being made to ensure that, where appropriate, vacant properties can be brought back into use.
- Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)
Frances Fitzgerald: I have already made my position and that of the Government in respect of the Garda Commissioner very clear . The Government established the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland under the chairmanship of Kathleen O'Toole. Deputy Wallace comes to the House and puts various names on the record. He does so again and again. I believe that we ought to observe due process. In...
- Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)
Frances Fitzgerald: As I have often stated, the Deputy comes into the House repeatedly and speaks about individual cases, but I cannot comment on individual cases. However, I can ensure the Garda has the resources to deal with the issues that the Deputy has outlined-----
- Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)
Frances Fitzgerald: -----to conduct appropriate investigations and to get on with the operational work it has to do.
- Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)
Frances Fitzgerald: Let me be clear. At the very beginning I indicated my concern at the findings of the interim internal audit report relating to the financial procedures in the Garda College in Templemore. It paints a disturbing picture of the way in which the college's finances were run. In short, it found that financial controls that cannot be stood over were in place there. That is the reality of the...
- Questions on Promised Legislation (25 May 2017)
Frances Fitzgerald: The issue the Deputy raises is a very significant one. The issue of farm safety is a very significant priority for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and his colleague, Minister of State, Deputy Pat Breen, who has responsibility for the Health and Safety Authority. Farming is the occupation with the highest risk of fatalities in Ireland with a rate nearly ten times the...