Results 2,601-2,620 of 3,333 for speaker:James O'Connor

Ceisteanna - Questions: Census of Population (22 Feb 2022)

James O'Connor: I want to acknowledge the point made by the Minister of State on the time capsule. I think it is quite fascinating that it will be done and I welcome it. It will be interesting to see what each of us will put into our individual time capsules. I look forward to that measure. We are watching the census with real interest in Cork, particularly from a democratic and political perspective,...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (17 Feb 2022)

James O'Connor: My time is precious and it is very important that I ask final question, which is about the access of serviced land. My constituency, East Cork, has one of the most important strategic growth zones for housing in the country, the metropolitan area of Cork city. The Department is probably familiar with the number of strategic housing developments, SHDs, ongoing in that area. From talking to...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (17 Feb 2022)

James O'Connor: I welcome the officials before the committee. The work they are doing is extraordinarily important. The hopes and dreams of an entire generation are on their shoulders. As a 24-year old, the youngest Deputy in Dáil Éireann and the youngest Member of the Oireachtas, I am extremely concerned about the pace of delivery. How much of a surplus was there in the previous year's...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (17 Feb 2022)

James O'Connor: Yes.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (17 Feb 2022)

James O'Connor: How did that happen?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (17 Feb 2022)

James O'Connor: At what stage during the financial year did it become apparent to the Department it was accumulating available money that was unspent?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (17 Feb 2022)

James O'Connor: My next question relates to Rebuilding Ireland. Am I correct in saying there is a mechanism within local authorities to allow them to work with developers to complete unfinished housing estates, for example, and for the development of land to build housing?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (17 Feb 2022)

James O'Connor: Does Ms Graham have an approximate figure for how many housing estates or housing units are under development in that area? While she is trying to locate that answer, I might embellish my point. The reason I ask the question is it has been brought to my attention that issues have arisen in some parts of the country in cases where there are tripartite agreements, where there are developers...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (17 Feb 2022)

James O'Connor: I am a rural Deputy, and it is common in every constituency outside of Dublin to have a lot of small contractors and builders. They say that when they want to get involved in the building of houses, accessing credit is an enormous issue for them. There is something profoundly wrong about the Rebuilding Ireland scheme. A small builder who has a crew on the ground and opportunities to scale...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (17 Feb 2022)

James O'Connor: Is there not an opportunity to kick out the middleman, as such, in terms of getting the councils directly in contact with smaller builders rather than having to work with a developer? To many, a developer might appear to be a large conglomerate or a multimillionaire, but in many cases there are people throughout the country who may just own land that is zoned, who can create a company and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Iarnród Éireann (17 Feb 2022)

James O'Connor: I welcome the people who have come in to the committee today from Irish Rail. I acknowledge that throughout the pandemic it has been extremely difficult for many people working within public transport. I thank Irish Rail for coming through what has been an horrendous two years. I hope we are out of the worst of it. I wish Irish Rail well with the recovery of passenger traffic. My...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Iarnród Éireann (17 Feb 2022)

James O'Connor: I completely understand the premise of the question I am asking and how big a challenge it is. I am asking because there is a drive at European level for increased investment in rail. The latter will require completely new infrastructure because of the electrification requirements. We probably cannot use ancient rail bridges and all of that. Irish infrastructure went through a renaissance...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Iarnród Éireann (17 Feb 2022)

James O'Connor: If a European fund every became available to co-fund projects for electrified high-speed rail, would Irish Rail consider it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Iarnród Éireann (17 Feb 2022)

James O'Connor: I have another question I want to ask and I ask the Chair for a little leniency because it is a difficult question to answer. It is very important for Irish Rail to give its feedback to the Oireachtas. On the planning process for the implementation of new rail lines and the reinstatement of pre-existing rail lines that are now closed down, could Mr. Meade speak about any difficulties or...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Iarnród Éireann (17 Feb 2022)

James O'Connor: I would encourage Mr. Meade to feed into that process, if he could seek a meeting to do so. It is imperative for that to happen.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Iarnród Éireann (17 Feb 2022)

James O'Connor: It is representatives of Irish Rail who, primarily, need to be making the case about how to make things more efficient. My final question relates to the new greenway. There is obviously a historical aspect to the rail line in Youghal. We would be delighted if there was a chance to get a historic train to Youghal as a focal point for the greenway. If that is something our guests could...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Iarnród Éireann (17 Feb 2022)

James O'Connor: I thank our guests.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Disabilities Assessments (15 Feb 2022)

James O'Connor: 160. To ask the Minister for Health the status of the backlog of assessment of needs for children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5446/22]

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

James O'Connor: I welcome the representatives from NBI and thank them for appearing before the committee. For the purposes of full disclosure, I have met all of them previously through the other Oireachtas committee. I was also on one of the field trips. I found it was helpful to go and see the work being done. It helped me develop a better understanding of what NBI is doing. However, the job of the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

James O'Connor: Is it correct that NBI and its shareholders are not making any profit from approximately €2.6 billion in public money approved under EU state aid rules or is it part of the overall set-up of the organisation?