Results 25,041-25,060 of 32,924 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe
- Questions on Proposed Legislation (17 Nov 2016)
Paschal Donohoe: It is completing Second Stage in the Seanad. I call on the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Coveney, to respond to Deputy Breathnach directly.
- Questions on Proposed Legislation (17 Nov 2016)
Paschal Donohoe: That is a priority for this session and it is listed for this session.
- Questions on Proposed Legislation (17 Nov 2016)
Paschal Donohoe: This is an issue on which the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, is doing an enormous amount. I will ensure that he corresponds with the Deputy on the matter. My understanding is that a non-statutory Shannon co-ordination body, the job of which job is to bring together all the agencies to deal with the issues of non-co-ordination to which Deputy Eugene Murphy referred, is now in place. We...
- Questions on Proposed Legislation (17 Nov 2016)
Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. It is an issue that the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, has outlined as a very important priority for him and the Government. It is listed for this session and there is an enormous amount of engagement now taking place between the Attorney General, the Department of Justice and Equality and the Department of Health on it. Alongside...
- Questions on Proposed Legislation (17 Nov 2016)
Paschal Donohoe: It is my understanding that in May 2016 there was an increase to the rural practice allowance to try to deal with the issues to which the Deputy refers. I also understand that there was a change in the eligibility criteria for the scheme to try to ensure that more GPs participate in it to ensure rural communities have access to the primary facilities and care they deserve.
- Questions on Proposed Legislation (17 Nov 2016)
Paschal Donohoe: Deputy Mattie McGrath and Deputy Martin Kenny made reference to therapists and the need for support. This year alone, an additional 83 posts for speech and language therapists have been sanctioned. That is a 10% increase on last year. On the broader matters raised by Deputy McGrath, they will be considered by the HSE in the context of its service plan for 2017. Deputy McGrath is right to...
- Questions on Proposed Legislation (17 Nov 2016)
Paschal Donohoe: I thank Deputy O'Dea for raising this matter. This is an exceptionally serious matter to which there is no one overall solution. It is driven by the fact that people are living longer as well as the change in the investment environment that we are seeing and which is affecting bond yields. The response will vary by pension fund. There is clearly a need for heightened engagement between...
- Questions on Proposed Legislation (17 Nov 2016)
Paschal Donohoe: From an expertise and functions point of view, the Department of Social Protection is best placed to process a payment that is made weekly and on which a large number of people depend. On primary care, as we speak, 92 primary care centres are now in operation throughout the State. A further 15 locations are under construction and a further 30 primary care centres are at an advanced stage.
- Questions on Proposed Legislation (17 Nov 2016)
Paschal Donohoe: The heads of the Bill were approved by the Government in July. We expect it to come before the House in the next session.
- Questions on Proposed Legislation (17 Nov 2016)
Paschal Donohoe: Given that the Deputy managed to get two questions in, I will do my best to answer both.
- Questions on Proposed Legislation (17 Nov 2016)
Paschal Donohoe: The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Varadkar, is here to offer me moral support and guidance on how I do this morning.
- Questions on Proposed Legislation (17 Nov 2016)
Paschal Donohoe: The drafting of the Bill is at an advanced stage and it is due to be published this session. Section 12 of the Garda Síochána (Policing Authority and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015 will be enacted by the end of December and those members of the Garda Síochána who applied for the vacancies to which the Deputy referred were told when they applied that the Policing...
- Questions on Proposed Legislation (17 Nov 2016)
Paschal Donohoe: This is the reason we have put in place the higher levels of investment in the health service, the €14.6 billion to which I referred earlier in reply to a question from Deputy Kelleher. I agree with Deputy Martin Kenny regarding the hiring of front-line speech and language therapists and I want further progress to be made on the matter. The HSE is carrying out a review of how it...
- Questions on Proposed Legislation (17 Nov 2016)
Paschal Donohoe: I want the service to be expanded and improved across the country next year.
- Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2016)
Paschal Donohoe: I am not in a position to provide the staffing levels relating to the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs this morning, but I will obtain that information and forward it to the Deputy. On his broader point regarding the need for balanced regional economic development, this was acknowledged very strongly by myself and the Government on budget day. For example,...
- Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2016)
Paschal Donohoe: I agree with much of what the Deputy said. Of course, there were clear lessons in the message people sent to the previous Government in the recent general election. The reason an action plan will be published later this year by the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Humphreys, and the Ministers of State, Deputy Ring and Deputy Kyne, is to respond to...
- Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2016)
Paschal Donohoe: Can I just confirm my understanding? Has Deputy Wallace agreed to appear in front of the Committee of Public Accounts in relation to this issue?
- Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2016)
Paschal Donohoe: Will the Deputy?
- Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2016)
Paschal Donohoe: And when will the Deputy do it?
- Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2016)
Paschal Donohoe: We must have process in relation to all of this. Deputy Wallace has called for, and Government responded-----