Results 281-300 of 3,754 for speaker:Michael Collins

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: It is.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: No hope to these towns. Some have been waiting for 27 years.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: Accountability.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: We have been waiting for 27 years.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: In many parts of our country, infrastructure is greatly lacking, leaving many towns and villages dying a death and nowhere is this more evident than in west Cork. A complete lack of investment by successive Governments has left two bypasses promised to the people of Bandon unfinished, one bypass in Inishannon, not only unfinished but not even started, and a promised bypass for Bantry not...

VAT Rate for Hospitality Sector: Motion [Private Members] (16 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: I thank the Acting Chair. First, I think Deputy Fitzmaurice and the Independent Group of Deputies for putting forward this very worthy motion at this time. The Minister of State should remember one thing which is that all of these restaurants, cafés, pubs and hairdressers are small businesses. That is why the Government has them crushed. It is trying to crush them out of business....

VAT Rate for Hospitality Sector: Motion [Private Members] (16 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: They came up yesterday. In one minute I will give the Minister of State time to talk and I will not interrupt his talking. They came up here yesterday out of their goodwill and took another few pounds out of their pockets. They were brought up here a couple of days before the budget, the VAT 9 group, and were codded to their eyeball by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. The Minister of...

Social Welfare Bill 2024: Second Stage (15 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: On carers, and it already has been mentioned to the Minister numerous times, there is no point in getting up to say the budget was all bad. That is wrong. The problem is that while there is a lot of money out there, it is pegged everywhere and there is no accountability as to where it ends up. The real bonanza is in the Minister's Department with all of the social welfare payments out...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Issues Impacting the Fisheries Sector and Aquaculture: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (9 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: I thank Ms McSherry, Ms Brennan and Ms O’Sullivan for their opening statement. I have many questions, which I will try to go through as quickly as possible. I will start with the inshore sector because they were the first to contact me. I was at the AGM of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation. I was invited there on Saturday and got quite a lot of insight into the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Issues Impacting the Fisheries Sector and Aquaculture: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (9 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: Will that happen very soon?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Issues Impacting the Fisheries Sector and Aquaculture: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (9 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: I thank Ms O'Sullivan very much. Have the Minister or the Department looked into a yearly financial scheme for inshore fishermen? The Department's ultimate role is to protect fishermen.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Issues Impacting the Fisheries Sector and Aquaculture: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (9 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: Yes. I am connecting it to the next question. The Minister announced money under the inshore assessment scheme, which was welcome. The inshore fishermen welcomed and appreciated it, but the amount that will be given does not come close to what is needed. There is not a crewman or inshore boat in Ireland that has not lost €10,000 a year in recent years. They are asking for a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Issues Impacting the Fisheries Sector and Aquaculture: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (9 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: I thank Ms McSherry.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Issues Impacting the Fisheries Sector and Aquaculture: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (9 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: Many of these guys are self-employed. They spend a lot of time out of the water due to various circumstances. Sometimes, they cannot go out perhaps because of the weather or if they are not allowed to fish for seasonal reasons. Have the team from the Department and the Minister worked with the Department of Social Protection to try to come up with something to bridge the gaps in income for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Issues Impacting the Fisheries Sector and Aquaculture: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (9 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: I know that, but self-employed people find it very difficult to get it. I will move on because I have a large number of questions. Could the Department tell us if it has tried to source better markets for crab and shrimp?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Issues Impacting the Fisheries Sector and Aquaculture: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (9 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: I thank Ms Brennan.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Issues Impacting the Fisheries Sector and Aquaculture: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (9 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: The whole point is that we need to look for new markets. This is a serious issue for the inshore sector going forward. I would appreciate it if the witnesses could furnish me with some information. If we see where we are going, we might be able to work on that. I will move on to pelagic fishermen. Their worst fears were yet again realised last week when ICES advice in respect of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Issues Impacting the Fisheries Sector and Aquaculture: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (9 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: I see that, unfortunately. It is reckless overfishing by Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland. Why can this not be called out? Why can it not be stopped? I cannot answer this question. I have one other question now. I have many more but I might be able to get back in later on. In fairness to BIM, there was great praise for the scheme to provide grant aid to do up vessels. The thing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Issues Impacting the Fisheries Sector and Aquaculture: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (9 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: I appreciate that. I thank Ms McSherry.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Issues Impacting the Fisheries Sector and Aquaculture: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (9 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: Brexit has severely impacted the Irish fishing industry, affecting catching, processing and exporting. The loss of quota led to a decommissioning scheme resulting in the loss of 40 boats from the commercial sector. This has significantly harmed fish producer organisations in west Cork, especially the Irish South and West Fish Producer Organisation, ISWFPO, which saw its membership drop from...