Results 1-20 of 911 for in 'Dáil debates' speaker:Brian Leddin

Irish Economy: Statements (23 Apr 2020)

Brian Leddin: It is our duty as parliamentarians to not only keep our citizens safe during the immediate crisis, but to ensure that we plan for the future. The Irish people have never lost faith in their future and that of Ireland. It is at our toughest times that we must hold onto and safeguard this faith in our future. As a nation we have endured hardships but we have prevailed and will do so again....

Covid-19 (Agriculture, Food and the Marine): Statements (30 Apr 2020)

Brian Leddin: I support Deputy Cahill's call for opening allotments in urban areas. These fulfil an essential function regarding food production and provide an outlet for urban dwellers to carry out physical exercise in a safe and socially distant way, while also allowing positive interaction within communities. The Covid-19 health crisis and the associated financial crisis have focused the minds of...

Covid-19 (Tourism): Statements (6 May 2020)

Brian Leddin: I am sharing time with Deputy Noonan. We now know that our tourism industry will not have a summer season this year. As a result, we urgently need to plan for the following year instead. We have a chance right now to redefine our tourism strategy and how it will work for us in the future, especially for areas outside Dublin. Ireland is divided in the country, with a few high-profile...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (7 May 2020)

Brian Leddin: I offer my condolences to all who have been bereaved so far by the Covid-19 pandemic. I share my sympathies, as Members across the House have expressed theirs. I would like to revisit my colleague, Deputy Ossian Smyth's, and I am sure the Minister's, favourite topic, namely, the Covid tracker app. I thank the Minister for the publication of last week's document. Although it is not a...

Covid-19 (Health) - Statements (14 May 2020)

Brian Leddin: I have four questions for the Minister on behalf of the Green Party, about testing, tracing, isolation and funding for our community and voluntary sector. We all agree that being innovative and effective in each of these areas is key to our continued success in suppressing Covid-19. There has been a lot of discussion, including in this House, about testing capacity, volume and turnaround...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (27 May 2020)

Brian Leddin: I will be sharing time with Deputy Noonan. I want to talk to the Minister about Limerick. There is concern in my city and county at the rise in trolley numbers at University Hospital Limerick, UHL. While I acknowledge the Minister's response to my constituency colleague, Deputy Quinlivan, many people locally have questions about the spare capacity in Barrington's hospital and why it is not...

Covid-19 (Communications, Climate Action and Environment): Statements (27 May 2020)

Brian Leddin: I welcome the opportunity to ask the Minister questions in the Thirty-third Dáil. I acknowledge his hard work as Minister in recent years and thank him for it. He has always shown my colleague, Deputy Eamon Ryan, respect and courtesy in the Dáil and I will endeavour to engage constructively with him and his successor in the very important work carried out by the Department of...

Covid-19 (Education and Skills): Statements (4 Jun 2020)

Brian Leddin: Is deas dom an deis seo an tAire a cheistiú don chéad uair sa Dáil seo. These are certainly testing times for the Minister and I wish him well in his responsibility to oversee the leaving certificate in 2020. Today, students should be sitting English paper 2, which would include their comparative studies, but that is not the case. I wish the State Examinations Commission,...

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (10 Jun 2020)

Brian Leddin: I acknowledge the effort made by the Minister and the Department in recent years. Our task to reduce our emissions significantly is gargantuan and will require a significant and sustained effort from all members of society and sectors of the economy. Effort should not and does not equate to burden. Often we tend to forget this. If we were to look at the benefits of acting on climate...

Back to School, Further and Higher Education and Special Education: Statements (3 Sep 2020)

Brian Leddin: As Deputy Costello is unable to attend, I will use his time to raise matters I discussed with him a short while ago. I also take this opportunity to congratulate the Minister, whom I have not had the chance to address in the House yet. I wish her well in her new role as Minister for Education and Skills. When schools closed and the country went into lockdown, many schools kept working...

Services for People with Disabilities: Statements (10 Sep 2020)

Brian Leddin: I will speak about mobility impairment. We do not treat disabled members of society fairly. There is much evidence to support this claim but I want to focus on how we have failed to create towns and cities that all of our citizens can get around and enjoy. We park vehicles on footpaths. We allow dogs to foul our streets and do not clean up after them. We install gates that people with...

Climate Action: Statements (17 Sep 2020)

Brian Leddin: I want to talk about the challenge of climate action in the term of this Parliament. I am pleased, but not surprised, to hear statements from representatives of other parties in this Chamber confirming how urgent it is that we take action on climate change. No one party has a monopoly on the topic of climate change. I look forward to hearing the contributions of Deputies in the remainder...

Covid-19 (Transport): Statements (23 Sep 2020)

Brian Leddin: I will talk about rail transport, and how it can contribute to balanced regional development as we deal with the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. We are beginning to see a new model of working, which could be a significant driver of regional development if we can continue to develop our rail transport infrastructure to service our regions. This is the model of hybrid remote...

Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2020 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (30 Sep 2020)

Brian Leddin: This Bill is important. It was nobody’s intention that the forestry licensing system would become blocked and unfit for purpose. However, that is the situation we have, and we will continue to have saplings rotting in nurseries and jobs in rural areas at risk unless we, as legislators, do something about it. I am my party’s spokesperson on climate action and I want firstly...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Equality Issues (3 Dec 2020)

Brian Leddin: 94. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the level of funding allocated for LGBTI+ services in 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40777/20]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Equality Issues (3 Dec 2020)

Brian Leddin: I ask the Minister about the level of funding available for LGBTI+ services in 2021.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Equality Issues (3 Dec 2020)

Brian Leddin: I thank the Minister for that. It is very welcome news. I want to raise the issue of LGBTI+ services in the mid-west. Following the suicide of two men in Limerick in the 1980s, a group of volunteers set up the Gay Switchboard in 1986 in the St. Vincent de Paul building, later joined by the Limerick AIDS Alliance in the same building. Those two services, with other services in Limerick,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Equality Issues (3 Dec 2020)

Brian Leddin: I thank the Minister for that answer. I will finish by asking about the status of the gay men's health service. I know many gay men, trans men and men who have sex with men have been waiting for the resumption of that service since it closed in March. Can the Minister given any clarity on when services will resume and what he is doing to expedite the opening of that much-needed service?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Direct Provision System (3 Dec 2020)

Brian Leddin: What steps will the Minister take to ensure that persons being moved from direct provision are provided with sufficient notice and adequate translation services to ensure that this transition is as seamless as possible?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Direct Provision System (3 Dec 2020)

Brian Leddin: This question has arisen from what was broadly a good news story and comes from my colleague, Deputy Matthews, whose office dealt with the case. The family, who I will not name, lived in direct provision in Wicklow. They were offered own-door accommodation in Galway. The way in which this was handled was, unfortunately, problematic. I am not blaming the Minister personally. The family...