Results 2,321-2,340 of 18,851 for speaker:Fergus O'Dowd

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Services Staff (26 May 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: I support the Minister of State with regard to community care and voluntary organisations. However, it is not possible in some communities to do that, particularly as towns grow to become cities and people are not as neighbourly. They do not know their neighbours as well as was previously the case and that community benefit is lost. I am delighted that it is there. Could the Minister of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Services Staff (26 May 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: 10. To ask the Minister for Health the way that he proposes to address the large shortfall of homecare assistants nationally through better pay and working conditions and through specific recruitment drives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25454/22]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Services Staff (26 May 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: Older people are being encouraged to stay in their homes as long as they can, especially as they age and get sick. The demand for home carers has never been greater and neither has the funding. However, the fact is every week we find people who have been assessed as needing home care for whom there is no carer available. At the end of March over 5,458 people nationally had been assessed as...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Services Staff (26 May 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: I very much welcome the initiatives but they do not change the fact that home care was provided by the State through the HSE and that has changed now. I get glossy brochures regularly from big companies that are moving into this area and treating it as a market rather than what I believe it should be, which is a career for people. My point is I do not see any sign of a national...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Pandemic (26 May 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: 116. To ask the Minister for Health if the Government has further considered setting up a commission of inquiry to seek the truth for families on the significant loss of life in a nursing home (details supplied) during the initial wave of Covid-19 in 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25453/22]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Welfare (26 May 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: 146. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of sellers and suppliers of pets and animals who have registered with his Department in the years 2021 and to date in 2022; the details on plans to target the sale and distribution of animals through illicit puppy farms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26714/22]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (26 May 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: 175. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans if appropriate support will be provided to Irish pig farmers who are struggling to maintain their operations as costs rise exponentially; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26715/22]

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Renewable Energy Generation (26 May 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: 205. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when he expects that all homeowners with solar photovoltaic panels will start receiving payments or credits for excess electricity exported to the grid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27007/22]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement: Mr. Tim O'Connor (26 May 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: Apologies have been received from Senator Black, who is speaking in the Seanad. Please note that to limit the spread of Covid-19, people are encouraged to wear masks. Everybody is aware of that. We rotate the rota at every meeting so that every party gets an opportunity to contribute. Sinn Féin will have the first slot, followed by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the SDLP, Alliance,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement: Mr. Tim O'Connor (26 May 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: I thank Mr. O'Connor. It has been very enlightening. His integrity and hard work is outstanding, as was the work of his Department. He acknowledged all his peers in the Department. What struck me most in those comments is the relationship between the two Prime Ministers of the time, Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern. It was critical and once it gelled, peace flowed from it. There is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement: Mr. Tim O'Connor (26 May 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: I drove him to Belfast as well. I cannot leave out my brother-in-law, Mr. Ciaran Staunton, either, who was involved in a different capacity.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement: Mr. Tim O'Connor (26 May 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: It all worked. I agree with the emphasis Mr. O'Connor placed on Mr. George Mitchell and on how it all gelled. Everybody got together. It worked and it is still working, although like the patient, it is beginning to show issues that need to be addressed, but surgery is not necessarily required.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement: Mr. Tim O'Connor (26 May 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: Yes, we are on the right track. We have the right formula. We agreed earlier that the rotation for speakers would be Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, SDLP, Alliance, the Green Party, Sinn Féin, the Labour Party and then Independents. Each party nominates a speaker. Ms Gildernew is first.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement: Mr. Tim O'Connor (26 May 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: That is a very important contribution and I am learning a lot from what Mr. O'Connor is saying. There is much we can learn and apply now, and we agree fundamentally it is up to the two Governments to get together. If Boris Johnson wants to go down in history, he could embrace a new relationship with the Irish Government on the North.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement: Mr. Tim O'Connor (26 May 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: We will do a second round so that everybody can get the benefit of Mr. O'Connor's knowledge.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement: Mr. Tim O'Connor (26 May 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: I have a time problem. I want to be generous to everybody but I stopped the Sinn Féin group after its 15 minutes and I have let the Fianna Fáil group go on. I do not mean that in a rude sense. I have predicted what will be said so I will make sure to balance that later.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement: Mr. Tim O'Connor (26 May 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: The next speaker will be Dr. Stephen Farry, who was here earlier this morning. I do not know if he is online. He is not; that is no problem. The next slot is for the Green Party but there is no representative present. We will now move on to Sinn Féin slot, which will be 20 minutes.