Results 2,061-2,080 of 5,632 for speaker:Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Wastewater Treatment (1 Oct 2024)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I could not agree with the Senator more and I am told the Department has secured record overall funding of €1.81 billion for the delivery of water services in 2024.As the Senator said, it has to actually happen, be delivered and done efficiently. I am also told Uisce Éireann has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives,...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Housing Provision (1 Oct 2024)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I thank Senator Wall for raising the issue of the proposed necessary refurbishment of the social housing scheme at McCauley Court, adjacent to the grounds of St. Vincent’s Hospital in Athy, County Kildare. As the Senator is aware, the age-friendly social housing development was initially funded under the Department of housing’s capital assistance scheme approximately 30 years...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Housing Provision (1 Oct 2024)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I will certainly ask the relevant Department to do that, but it is by no means the first time I have come across such a case. For example, proposed housing for veterans of the Defence Forces in Limerick and Cork is subject to similar transfer and process delays, which I find intolerable. These things are incredibly urgent and important and while this process has been going on for 30 years,...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects (1 Oct 2024)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: If it were the case that political backing for a school was beneficial and actually delivered things, I would have delivered the Dún Laoghaire Educate Together National School four years ago. Instead, I am in the same negotiations on behalf of the parents and children of Dún Laoghaire Educate Together National School. We are trying to work through planning permission difficulties,...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects (1 Oct 2024)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I completely agree with the Senator but it is a complex build in an area of architectural interest, which makes things more difficult. It sounds like an excellent design and I hope that, when the building has been completed, it will help move the school forward. The Senator is correct; the physical building is as important, in many ways, in moving forward as are the different traumatic...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: General Affairs Council Meetings: Discussion (25 Sep 2024)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I am very happy to appear before this committee for the first time as Minister of State for European affairs and defence. I sent this statement yesterday. I was writing it from the General Affairs Council to try to encompass yesterday's work, so if I have to deviate slightly to provide further updates, I am sure members will forgive me. I look forward to discussing the issues arising from...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: General Affairs Council Meetings: Discussion (25 Sep 2024)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: It is no difficulty. However, as I think of further information, I might provide it because I want to do the best I can to answer across the board. I will take them in turn, starting with the Middle East situation and what has happened in Lebanon. We are deeply concerned about the escalating violence in the Middle East. It is hard to say, but the committee will be aware that there are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: General Affairs Council Meetings: Discussion (25 Sep 2024)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I thought that too and wondered if I was qualified. They really are great jobs and a great basis for developing a really interesting, well-paid career with great opportunities. The Deputy is right to identify it. We are trying to change it but I am going to need a lot of help to tell this story more broadly. On the question of neutrality and whether we are under pressure on that, I have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: General Affairs Council Meetings: Discussion (25 Sep 2024)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: Indeed, they turned up for us physically and they saw how important it was for us not to have a border on this island. They did not have to do that but they did it and it improved understanding and helped to shape a European position that was entirely in Ireland's interests. It is our turn to turn up for them and while that does not mean changing our military position, it does mean turning...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: General Affairs Council Meetings: Discussion (25 Sep 2024)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: The Senator has identified something that is really important for Ireland and I thank her for doing so. The cyber attack on the HSE did get a lot of attention and people understood. It was not long after this that people were receiving phone calls to their mobiles looking for payment for an e-flow tag, for example. It was fraud, basically, and it was the acquisition of personal data by an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: General Affairs Council Meetings: Discussion (25 Sep 2024)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: Exactly. When I was there, Ireland's secondee on CCDCOE, Commandant Frank Hickey, gave a presentation to me, along with his superior, on the work they are doing more broadly across Europe but also on Ireland's increased participation in that. It is a NATO-accredited centre that enhances capability and co-operation between 38 countries in cyber defence. It brings together legal,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: General Affairs Council Meetings: Discussion (25 Sep 2024)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I do not know the answer to that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: General Affairs Council Meetings: Discussion (25 Sep 2024)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: To be clear, we are not under pressure concerning our independent foreign policy approach. I would not like anyone to get that impression - we are not. That is important and consistent with what Deputy Haughey heard separately. I raised Sudan yesterday and was the only member state representative to do so, to try to make it part of the discussion for the European Council meeting. We will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: General Affairs Council Meetings: Discussion (25 Sep 2024)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: This is exactly the point that net contributors are concerned about. That measure of frugality is absolutely at the top of our mind. We straddle the balance about needing to invest more in Europe. The Cathaoirleach is right to highlight it. That is the perspective we bring and I thank him for that. However, I do not know where it will land given the challenges of Europe as well. I again...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: General Affairs Council Meetings: Discussion (25 Sep 2024)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I might start at the back end, if I may. Yes, I did see that article. I do not think it reflects the work and ongoing engagement Ireland has had and continues to have. It is premised on an assumption, which I believe to be incorrect, that the portfolio that Michael McGrath has received does not have significance or importance. I could not disagree more. At the heart of the European...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (9 Sep 2024)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: 936.To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the up-to-date position regarding the rolling out of further hot school meals in schools in Dublin; the number of new schools that are included in the most recent addition of schools; if she will provide a list of all schools in County Dublin now benefitting from the scheme, including the date on which the schools were...

Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I thank the Chair and the Senators for inviting me to meet the committee today to discuss the issues relating to the transposition of EU directives. The committee's letter of invitation indicates a wish to discuss the provision of draft statutory instruments to the committee by Departments, as well as the matter of their publication by the committee. I received a letter from the...

Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I could not agree more.

Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: It depends on the-----

Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: Would the Senator like me to respond?