Results 2,341-2,360 of 3,759 for speaker:Michael Collins

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Jul 2020)

Michael Collins: I will try to explore with the Taoiseach solutions to the broadband crisis that has existed for years throughout rural Ireland and in particular in my constituency of Cork South-West. High-speed fibre broadband is a dream for everyone in rural Ireland, which has turned into a nightmare. It has turned out to be a shameful legacy of Taoiseach after Taoiseach in this country. The current...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (14 Jul 2020)

Michael Collins: I thank the Chair and our guests for attending today. It is estimated that mental health problems cost the Irish economy more than €8.2 billion a year. During the past four months face-to-face counselling has ceased for the thousands of adults and children who are supported by the mental health services in Ireland. Experts are warning that our social healthcare should be prepared...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (14 Jul 2020)

Michael Collins: Have inspections of mental health facilities continued during Covid-19?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (14 Jul 2020)

Michael Collins: Does Mr. Rogan have an idea how many cases of Covid-19 were detected in mental health facilities?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (14 Jul 2020)

Michael Collins: During the lockdown period, many parents of adults and young children who suffer from mental health issues found it incredibly difficult to manage their special needs children around the clock with no break or respite. Now that restrictions have been lifted to a large degree, when will respite resume for these vulnerable people?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (14 Jul 2020)

Michael Collins: With regard to care of the elderly facilities, the HIQA standards recommend that 80% of bedrooms should be single occupancy. Do the same standards apply to mental health facilities across the country?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Michael Collins: I thank the witnesses. The former CEO of Mental Health Reform, Dr. Shari McDaid, has advised successive Ministers of State with responsibility for mental health, senior civil servants and senior HSE executives on solutions to improve the mental health service. She has recommended the organisation of a cross-governmental cross-society task force to develop the country's mental health...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Michael Collins: Yes.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Michael Collins: I thank Mr. Ryan. Have site visits and inspections continued during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Michael Collins: How many cases of Covid-19 were detected in mental health facilities?

Estimates for Public Services 2020 (Resumed) (9 Jul 2020)

Michael Collins: I wish the Minister the very best in her role. I commend the work which An Garda Síochána has done in west Cork, from the chief superintendent down to every individual garda, in putting people first. Community policing has been at its best, as it should be. I have argued that gardaí who are appointed to an area should reside in that area in order to build a relationship with...

Estimates for Public Services 2020 (Resumed) (9 Jul 2020)

Michael Collins: Humanitarian aid is a must for countries that genuinely need it. Our churches have for decades given generously to countries that struggle, and most of all to children who are suffering beyond belief. I remind everyone of the humanitarian crisis evident in Yemen, a country with 24 million people. Some 80% of the population is in dire need of humanitarian assistance. More than 12 million...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 Jul 2020)

Michael Collins: Hotels, cafés, restaurants and pubs are the main contributors to the tourism industry and they are massively struggling. The decision by the previous Government, supported by Fianna Fáil, to increase the VAT rate from 9% to 13.5% was a significant mistake that damaged many businesses in rural Ireland. Several restaurants, pubs and other facilities in west Cork and elsewhere in...

Vote 33 - Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (Revised) (9 Jul 2020)

Michael Collins: I congratulate the new Ministers who are before us today and wish them luck in their positions. I was across the corridors from the Minister, Deputy Martin, for the past four years and thankfully we had a lot of conversations and I hope we can work together going forward. The Deputy has the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and in my own constituency of Cork South-West the...

Rent and Mortgage Arrears: Motion [Private Members] (8 Jul 2020)

Michael Collins: I thank the Labour Party for tabling this motion. People in mortgage distress are in great fear of losing their homes. Many are genuine people who have done all they can to come to some arrangement with their banks but to no avail. Efforts to throw these people out of their homes must stop. The previous Government stood idly by. Will this Minister do the same? The laws must change....

Affordable Housing: Motion [Private Members] (7 Jul 2020)

Michael Collins: I wish the Minister the very best in his new role. Affordable housing is every family's dream but, sadly, it is not the reality for many families. Over the past four years, I have seen a large amount of lip service but no delivery on the ground. Housing and planning in this country is a total mess. It goes against families, building and local communities; it is basically anti-everything...

Microenterprise Loan Fund (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (7 Jul 2020)

Michael Collins: No.

Microenterprise Loan Fund (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (7 Jul 2020)

Michael Collins: I am sharing time with Deputy Mattie McGrath. I will allow the Tánaiste a few minutes. He might be able to respond to some of the questions I ask. Businesses are in serious trouble all over west Cork and the rest of Ireland. Representatives of SMEs, to whom I speak every day, ask the same question, that is, how they are going to survive. The Tánaiste is not a miracle man with...

Estimates for Public Services 2020 (7 Jul 2020)

Michael Collins: I am happy to have a chance to speak about these Revised Estimates for public services. I take the opportunity to urge that a closer scrutiny be made of how moneys are spent in various Departments to ensure they are not wasted, as we have seen happen with projects such as the children's hospital. That is one of many instances where massive amounts of money have been paid out. A total of...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Jul 2020)

Michael Collins: Page 61 of the programme for Government states that access to high-quality broadband across Ireland is essential to the development of all parts of our country. The Taoiseach may have seen national television and newspaper reports in recent weeks that Gaggan, west of Bandon, has little or no broadband. Areas in Kinsale, Bandon and Clonakilty all the way back to the three peninsulas in west...