Results 261-280 of 5,746 for speaker:Ruairi Ó Murchú

Microenterprise Loan Fund (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (20 Mar 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: It is, and, as I said, we are supportive-----

Microenterprise Loan Fund (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (20 Mar 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: Go raibh maith agat. I do apologise. Occasionally-----

Microenterprise Loan Fund (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (20 Mar 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: -----I go off at a tangent. I do not think anyone will be against the idea of Microfinance Ireland coming under State control. I do not think anybody will have any difficulty with any streamlining. It is exactly as Deputy Quinlivan says. It is a fact, though, that we need to look at the relationship between some of these smaller enterprises and the banking and lending sector. We know...

Microenterprise Loan Fund (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (20 Mar 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: But I think house prices are impacting businesses. As I have said previously, we support this Bill. We need to look at the wider issue of making sure that we can provide the proper credit and that we provide those additional supports as regards those companies. I welcome, as I said, the positive interactions I have had with the Minister of State, but who knows what the future holds? I...

Microenterprise Loan Fund (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (20 Mar 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: Go raibh maith agat.

Microenterprise Loan Fund (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (20 Mar 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: The Minister of State is pretty fast.

Pre-European Council Meeting: Statements (20 Mar 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: The credibility of the EU is at stake. There are more than 31,000 dead, 70% of them women or children, and 72,000 injured. These are just the figures we have at the minute – we do not know what they will increase to. António Guterres is right when he speaks about people facing catastrophic hunger, and that is even before the awaited ground invasion of Rafah. What would one...

Pre-European Council Meeting: Statements (20 Mar 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: Has there been any movement among those who would join us? We need answers.

Pre-European Council Meeting: Statements (20 Mar 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: The EU needs to take action. It is failing miserably.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (20 Mar 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: It is obvious that Netanyahu's Israel is operating a policy of slaughter, starvation and famine. That is how he intends to ensure that not only will there be no Palestinian state, there might not be a Palestinian people. We all dread what is ahead in Rafah. Sinn Féin welcomed the Taoiseach's letter to Ursula von der Leyen. As Deputy Ó Laoghaire stated, it is somewhat shocking...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Offices (20 Mar 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: I raised previously the case of a fire station officer from Dunleer, John Molloy. The Taoiseach's office has responded to me about it. At the end of the day, the difficulty is that Mr. Molloy will turn 60 on 24 May. He is the fifth man in the minimum crew of five. Not only would we lose him with no one to replace him, we could also have an issue with the fire station. The Taoiseach said...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Programme for Government (20 Mar 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: I wish the Taoiseach well, but I add my voice to what the rest of the Opposition said about the next Taoiseach and the Government, that is, that the decision should be made now and made by the people. I want to follow on from Deputy Ó Laoghaire. We talk about the assessment of need backlogs and the people who cannot get assessments or therapies but we are not having the real...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Elections 2024, Voting Rights and Combating Disinformation: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: I will follow on from Deputy Howlin. We are talking about a rapid response to misinformation and disinformation but that is not happening at this point. Mr. Godfrey has, in fairness, taken a bit of a hit from some of the characters online who have put him up as a hate figure. Unfortunately, that is the world we are in. When we are talking about misinformation and disinformation, I have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Elections 2024, Voting Rights and Combating Disinformation: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: They are the bad guys, not us.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Elections 2024, Voting Rights and Combating Disinformation: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: Starting.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Elections 2024, Voting Rights and Combating Disinformation: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: They will need to. In fairness, Coimisiún na Meán is taking on their algorithms, which are obviously how they make money, but they cause a lot of this issue and the amplification. How does it work regarding the European Commission's enforcement and Coimisiún na Meán's engagement with it? My fear is with a post-match analysis, the match is lost for a number of people.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Elections 2024, Voting Rights and Combating Disinformation: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: Having never been brief in my life, I will begin. On some level, Coimisiún na Meán has an impossible task. We obviously wish its representatives luck. As I said before, it is taking on Goliath but is an absolute necessity based on the issues we have. There are a number of things. When we get into the idea of trusted flaggers and all the rest of it, we have all seen the hate and...

Report of the Joint Committee on Autism: Motion (7 Mar 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: I have a tendency to go over my time.

Report of the Joint Committee on Autism: Motion (7 Mar 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: I will add my voice to what has been said, in the sense that a spectacular piece of work has been done by the Oireachtas committee. I thank Senator Carrigy, Deputy Tully and everybody who worked on the committee, of which I was not a member but I sort of inveigled myself in. I have a tendency to do that. The Minister of State will not be shocked, exactly. We dealt with a huge number of...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Fire Service (7 Mar 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: I appreciate that. If a final solution was put in place, we would all be better off.