Results 241-260 of 2,066 for speaker:Joe Flaherty

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Dental Services (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I raise the case of a successful County Longford businesswoman who has endured an unrelenting nightmare since she underwent what was meant to be a root canal procedure in May 2019. It left her with permanent injury that will require treatment and medication for the rest of her life, but that is not the worst of it. The worst is the absolute failure of any regulatory body, in this case the...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Dental Services (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I did clarify earlier that I was not going to do so. The same dentist is involved in numerous High Court and Circuit Court cases relating to allegations of negligence in the provision of medical care. To date, my constituent and I are unaware of any actions or sanctions by the Dental Council against this dentist. In fact, a letter from the Dental Council of October 2023 clearly stated it...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: We have had seven months of uncertainty and disquiet for staff, service users and family members of service users at St. Christopher’s Services in Longford. Figures have been bandied over and back with the HSE. We have been assured that a new funding structure is to be put in place. At the moment, they are running the service with a shortfall of at least €140,000 per month....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Parks and Wildlife Service Strategic Review: Discussion (25 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I thank the witnesses and apologise for missing the opening statement. I was in the Chamber. Needless to say, I am come at this from a pronounced rural perspective. I am particularly concerned at what appears to be the exclusion of the National Association of Regional Game Councils, NARGC, from the process to date. I am fielding multiple calls about it in my constituency. I am...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Parks and Wildlife Service Strategic Review: Discussion (25 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: Being from rural Ireland, I am very aware of our game councils. There is nobody more passionate about conservation and wildlife than our game councils. These are people who live and breathe rural Ireland every day of the week. Will the witnesses give me a cast-iron assurance that NARGC will have a place at the stakeholder forum equal and on a par with any other agency on that and have the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Parks and Wildlife Service Strategic Review: Discussion (25 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I will take Mr. Ó Donnchú's commitment at face value. What the game councils tell me is that to date, they have had five meetings with the Minister of State, and I am conscious he is probably sitting behind me at the minute-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Parks and Wildlife Service Strategic Review: Discussion (25 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: -----and I have an excellent working relationship with the Minister of State but the game councils tell me he has had 50 meeting with environmental NGOs. It is very important, given the role NARGC has played in the cultivation, development, safeguarding and underpinning of values in rural Ireland. Our new Taoiseach said he would underpin everything that happens in rural Ireland as a key...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Parks and Wildlife Service Strategic Review: Discussion (25 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I appreciate the Chair's indulgence. I appreciate we are into a new consultation period with regard to the licensing issue and I would add the same caveat to that, which is that it is absolutely sacrosanct that NARGC is included in that process and that any contributions it makes are given the same weighting as any other organisation. There certainly is a view out there in the game council...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Parks and Wildlife Service Strategic Review: Discussion (25 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I will make a point of clarification before asking dhá cheist. I appreciate and empathise with the work the NPWS is doing. I see it at first hand on a local project. The Chair will agree that, the longer we stay in this job, the more cynical and sceptical we tend to get, so the witnesses will understand I am framing my question’s wording from that stance. I ask them to put...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Parks and Wildlife Service Strategic Review: Discussion (25 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: Good. I am satisfied with that response. I listened with interest to the comments about how important it was that everyone in our communities be involved, including farmers. I am particularly interested in Dr. Bleasdale’s work and I applaud his efforts to date. We do not have a Conor Pass in Longford, but we do have an Inchcleraun, an historic island in the middle of Lough Ree....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Parks and Wildlife Service Strategic Review: Discussion (25 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: Perfect. I thank Mr. Ó Donnchú.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (20 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: As the Tánaiste knows, the escalation of decarbonisation brought forward the closure of the Lough Ree power plant in Lanesborough, County Longford to 2020, resulting in a five-year loss of rates in the region of €1.2 million per annum to Longford County Council. Thankfully, in each of the four budgets since, central government stepped into the breach and provided €1.2...

International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Motion (Resumed) (19 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I will be the first from the Government benches to put my hand up to acknowledge we have been far too slow to respond to the immigration crisis. We entered Government in early 2020 with fewer than 3,000 arrivals per annum and a commitment to end direct provision as part of the programme for Government. Over the intervening four years, numbers have soared and we have peppered the country...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (19 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: 44. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide an update on a minor works grant application to repair a roof by a school (details supplied). [26415/24]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Current Progress and Future Projections of Uisce Éireann Objectives: Uisce Éireann (18 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I want to raise a few local issues but first, before we go into that, in relation to the transition from local authorities to Uisce Éireann, it was announced in February that there would be 700 new jobs across Ireland. Has Uisce Éireann started to recruit for those yet?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Current Progress and Future Projections of Uisce Éireann Objectives: Uisce Éireann (18 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: In that regard, has there been a recruitment campaign since the press release in February?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Current Progress and Future Projections of Uisce Éireann Objectives: Uisce Éireann (18 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I have a few local issues. While this issue is local to me, it is probably a broad issue for many of the members here, namely, the change in the criteria for taking in charge group water schemes. l will speak specifically about the Forgney group water scheme in Longford. When it began with the first expression of interest, it had 14 households. That has now grown to 17 but they were...