Results 2,681-2,700 of 6,908 for speaker:Cian O'Callaghan

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Nov 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: I move amendment No. 84: In page 61, line 2, to delete “20 per cent” and substitute “10 per cent”.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Nov 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: I move amendment No. 90: In page 65, line 20, to delete “two-thirds” and substitute “half”. These amendments are about the removal of the mayor from office. Given that there could be a situation where a mayor is elected by the general public and that may well not coincide with who has a majority on a council or anything like that, I can understand a rationale...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Nov 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I accept the rationale in respect of amendment No. 90. As I said earlier, the balance in this is important. We do not want a situation, in an over-politicised sense, where a slim majority in a council could remove someone with a direct mandate from the people. That could happen in any sense. Looking at some other jurisdictions outside of...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Nov 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: The process is a good one and is thought out. There are checks and balances to stop a group or majority of councillors in a council playing politics with this if they come from a different party from the mayor. My concern is a bad actor mayor and a cohort of councillors that reaches 26% could block any legitimate reasons for this process to be gone through. I will withdraw amendment No....

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Nov 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: I move amendment No. 91: In page 67, line 1, to delete “three-quarters” and substitute “two-thirds”.

Imposing Sanctions on Israel: Motion [Private Members] (15 Nov 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: I strongly condemn the rise in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia around the world in the last weeks. The life of a child in Gaza has exactly the same value as the life of a child in Israel or Ireland. If a child loses their parents, that grief is the same whether that child is Irish, Palestinian or Israeli. It knows no borders and no boundaries. During the Nakba, or disaster, in 1948,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (15 Nov 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: 95. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the budget allocation for refurbishing social housing voids for each year since 2020, broken down by local authority, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50088/23]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Staff (15 Nov 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: 146. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 1229 of 7 November 2023, if there is an estimated timeframe for when pay parity will be delivered for medical scientists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50129/23]

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Bodies (15 Nov 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: 158. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will provide the terms of reference for the high-level stakeholder group for dog control; the membership of this group; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50130/23]

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (15 Nov 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: I want to speak broadly in support of this amendment. This is a very important part of the Bill in which the powers are not sufficiently strong. I take on board the comments from Deputy McAuliffe but I do not read in this anything that would prevent further or additional powers. In many ways, if the Government is not going to support a proposer's amendment on the basis that the proposal is...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (15 Nov 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: While in one sense, amendment No. 13 covers a relatively small issue, namely, the appointment of four staff members, it is also critical to the Bill. If the amendment is not agreed to, or if the Minister of State does not address it on Report Stage, we will pass a Bill that will explicitly make the mayor subordinate to the director general in the key function of assembling the staff that...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (15 Nov 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: We should be conscious that we are discussing the legislation. What the intentions are, what might happen otherwise or what Ministers or others might consider to be good practice are relevant but we are concerned with the wording of the legislation in front of us. The normal practice the Minister of State mentioned is not in any way expressed in the legislation. The legislation is short,...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (15 Nov 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: This is about delegation of functions of the directly elected mayor to the director general. This part of the Bill is highly problematic. We have discussed why we do not have the full detail on it, which is because Schedule 1 is still being worked on. We are in situation where the directly- elected mayor for Limerick is already going to have very limited powers. This section allows him or...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (15 Nov 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: Yes, Ministers can. I did not list Ministers.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (15 Nov 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: I thank the Deputy for his contribution.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (15 Nov 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: Given how limited the roles are in this office, my fear is that someone will be elected to the office and he or she will not take it as seriously as he or she should. He or she could end up delegating a whole load of the powers back to the director general. We already have a total power imbalance in local democracy between elected representatives and what are currently chief executives. If...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2023: Second Stage (14 Nov 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: I will be making a short contribution to this debate and will not be using the full time or anything close to it. This is because usually on Second Stage I outline the amendments I intend bringing forward and the rationale for them. Given that we accept the independence and impartiality of the commission, we will not be bringing forward amendments to its suggestions regarding the boundary...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Electric Vehicles (14 Nov 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: 117. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if the Government will consider the introduction of grants to enable the installation of safe electric vehicle charging points in high density areas where the cable for the charger needs to be routed under a pavement to reach the vehicle; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49965/23]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (14 Nov 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: 185. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide a breakdown of the amounts of ICT funding each secondary school receives; whether there are different funding rates; the criteria for same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49320/23]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (14 Nov 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: 225. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide a map of the catchment area for a school (details supplied) as some local residents have found they cannot get school places despite their proximity to the school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49964/23]