Results 2,761-2,780 of 3,998 for speaker:Martin Kenny

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Rural and Community Development: Sustaining Small Rural Businesses: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2018)

Martin Kenny: I thank the delegates for their presentations. One thing that strikes me immediately about Microfinance Ireland is the fact that sums of between €2,000 and €25,000 are available. A figure of €25,000 seems very small and to be a very low threshold because many people in starting a business would need three times that figure to get it off the ground. As three times the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Rural and Community Development: Pobal: Chairperson Designate (3 Oct 2018)

Martin Kenny: On the inspections, is Dr. Ó Broin saying it has been identified that walk-in inspections are a problem and that Pobal intends to change that? Is Pobal being directed to do it that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Rural and Community Development: Pobal: Chairperson Designate (3 Oct 2018)

Martin Kenny: Is that coming from the Department or from Pobal?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Rural and Community Development: Pobal: Chairperson Designate (3 Oct 2018)

Martin Kenny: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Rural and Community Development: Pobal: Chairperson Designate (3 Oct 2018)

Martin Kenny: I thank all the witnesses, particularly Dr. Ó Broin, for attending this morning. I echo Senator Coffey's comments on the bureaucracy and difficulties community projects find in meeting the very high bar that has been set around accountability for many of them. That point is regularly raised with us. The issue seems to have become more burdensome in recent years. I have dealt with...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Priorities for Budget 2019: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (2 Oct 2018)

Martin Kenny: I thank the Minister and his officials for their attendance today. I attended a meeting last night in Ballinasloe on the issue of the suckler herd and I estimate there were between 400 and 500 farmers present. They were all feeling huge pressure because of the impact of the beef sector on the suckler cow sector. They are in a real crisis. As I pointed out last night, it is four years...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Priorities for Budget 2019: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (2 Oct 2018)

Martin Kenny: I appreciate that a suckler scheme becomes a coupled scheme. I understand that the Minister does not want to go down that route. I wonder whether there is a way of doing that which would be more like a welfare scheme for the weanling calf. Maybe certain actions relating to husbandry, welfare and management could be put in place. Such a scheme would be about the calf rather than the cow....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Priorities for Budget 2019: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (2 Oct 2018)

Martin Kenny: That is what we need to do. We are here to discuss the budget. Will something be put in place in the budget to help young farmers who are entering the industry? That is one of the issues we need to deal with. We have a bunch of forgotten farmers. We do not want to see any more farmers being put into that category. While I do not want to delay the meeting, I would like to raise two...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Priorities for Budget 2019: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (2 Oct 2018)

Martin Kenny: I understand it was presented in the past few days.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Credits (2 Oct 2018)

Martin Kenny: 162. To ask the Minister for Finance when the earned income tax credit will be increased from its 2018 level of €1,150 to €1,650 as promised in the Programme for a Partnership Government. [39932/18]

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Walks Scheme (2 Oct 2018)

Martin Kenny: 573. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development when the €2 million increase in allocation of funding for the walks scheme will be announced as promised in the programme for partnership Government. [39931/18]

Local Government (Water Pollution)(Amendment) Bill 2018: First Stage (27 Sep 2018)

Martin Kenny: I move:That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the provisions of the Local Government (Water Pollution) Act 1977 to provide for the granting of discharge licences by a water services authority for the development of single houses; and to provide for related matters. This Bill seeks to amend the Local Government (Water Pollution) Act 1977 to provide for the granting...

Local Government (Water Pollution)(Amendment) Bill 2018: First Stage (27 Sep 2018)

Martin Kenny: I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Rural and Community Development: Sustaining Small Rural Businesses: Irish Local Development Network (27 Sep 2018)

Martin Kenny: I thank the witnesses for attending. The enthusiasm of Dr. Senan Cooke is contagious for all of us. I live in a rural parish and some of his comments struck me strongly. Our parish has a three-teacher school and, on 30 September, we will not have enough pupils to maintain that number. Over the summer, we ran a campaign to get new families to come to the area. We found new families who...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Rural and Community Development: Sustaining Small Rural Businesses: Irish Local Development Network (27 Sep 2018)

Martin Kenny: I will make a comment that cuts across all of that. Many people on social welfare who want to participate in various schemes or start their own businesses are in a trap because they cannot get any help. It is almost as if they fall into an abyss. They have to be on social welfare for a year before they can get on the back-to-work scheme and many other schemes. They despair in terms of...

Confidence in the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2018)

Martin Kenny: There is a housing crisis not only in Dublin but throughout the entire country. We see it every day in my constituency of Sligo-Leitrim and across the entire western region. Here in Dublin, we meet it at its most extreme. Earlier today, I heard the Minister say houses are being built, cranes are up, people are working and building is happening. Building of a certain type of housing is...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Post Office Closures (25 Sep 2018)

Martin Kenny: The list of statistics the Minister has read is impressive in one sense. Broadband was mentioned earlier as another acute issue in most rural areas. As Deputy Ó Cuív said, the reality for people on the ground is that they do not have broadband and cannot get it. That is the situation in many rural areas. The problem with rhyming off summary statistics is they hide many...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Post Office Closures (25 Sep 2018)

Martin Kenny: In many parts of rural Ireland people cannot access those online services because they do not have broadband. The Minister really needs to deal with that issue. The points the Minister has made have some validity. It is true that services are not being used. Someone should have thought about the services being provided and questioned whether they were the correct services. It is clear...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Post Office Closures (25 Sep 2018)

Martin Kenny: 69. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development his plans to ensure the viability and sustainability of towns and villages in rural Ireland that have lost or are losing their local post office. [38641/18]

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Post Office Closures (25 Sep 2018)

Martin Kenny: As the Minister is aware, the issue of post offices is one he passed back fairly quickly. He is not in charge of it and I do not blame him. It is, however, something that has had a huge affect on many places in rural Ireland. Over the past couple of months, we have seen proposals to close many post offices. Most of those, proportionately, are in rural areas and communities that already...