Results 3,781-3,800 of 7,961 for speaker:Imelda Munster

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Control of Humanitarian Assistance Funding
2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade (24 Jun 2021)

Imelda Munster: As of May, there was a separate backlog of more than 100,000 online applications. It is my understanding that the resumption of the passport express service, both North and South, is dependent on that backlog being cleared. How long does Mr. Burgess expect that will take?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Control of Humanitarian Assistance Funding
2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade (24 Jun 2021)

Imelda Munster: What is the backlog with online applications?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Control of Humanitarian Assistance Funding
2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade (24 Jun 2021)

Imelda Munster: Is there none whatsoever?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Control of Humanitarian Assistance Funding
2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade (24 Jun 2021)

Imelda Munster: I want to touch on the registration of foreign births, which Deputy Sherlock asked about this at the beginning. If we take 2019 as a baseline year, there were 32,000 applications for FBR in total to be processed by the Passport Office. To the best of my knowledge, that has risen from 6,000 pre-Brexit in 2015. What is the current backlog?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Control of Humanitarian Assistance Funding
2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade (24 Jun 2021)

Imelda Munster: Going by 2019, that would be the equivalent of a full year of applications. Is that approximately correct?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Control of Humanitarian Assistance Funding
2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade (24 Jun 2021)

Imelda Munster: Am I correct that this particular type of application takes 12 to 18 months to process?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Control of Humanitarian Assistance Funding
2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade (24 Jun 2021)

Imelda Munster: That is what I was asking Mr. Burgess. He said earlier that the Department is prioritising emergencies and that is fine. However, it takes between 12 and 18 months to process applications, there is a backlog and the Department will only start to look at it in the autumn. He can correct me if I am wrong on this but I understand that photographs for passport applications are only valid for...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Control of Humanitarian Assistance Funding
2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade (24 Jun 2021)

Imelda Munster: Given that and the backlog, does Mr. Burgess have any idea of the number of people who believe that their applications are being processed at the minute and who are unaware that they are not? If six months have expired since they first applied, they would have to apply again. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Control of Humanitarian Assistance Funding
2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade (24 Jun 2021)

Imelda Munster: That is great. With regard to the photograph and the requirements relating to the six-month period, do the witnesses know the number of applications that would have been cancelled since the onset of the pandemic because of those requirements and the backlog? Perhaps they do not have that information. The applications may have gone past the six months so people would have to resubmit and...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Control of Humanitarian Assistance Funding
2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade (24 Jun 2021)

Imelda Munster: That is great. I thank Ms Jones.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Alcohol Sales (24 Jun 2021)

Imelda Munster: 13. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the difficulties that have been experienced by some publicans who have obtained section 254 licences yet are being prevented from serving drinks outdoors given that, according to An Garda Síochána, alcohol cannot be consumed in these areas under the liquor by-laws; and if he will...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Making Europe Fit for the Digital Age: EU Commissioner for Competition (23 Jun 2021)

Imelda Munster: I welcome Ms Vestager. Does she have a timeline for implementation of the Digital Services Act?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Making Europe Fit for the Digital Age: EU Commissioner for Competition (23 Jun 2021)

Imelda Munster: Okay. It is possibly by the end of next year. It may have some crossover or even conflicts with Ireland's online safety and media regulation Bill. We hope to have that Bill enacted by the end of this year. Is the witness in any way familiar with that legislation?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Making Europe Fit for the Digital Age: EU Commissioner for Competition (23 Jun 2021)

Imelda Munster: That is fair enough. The Bill, in particular, would treat harmful and illegal content in much the same way. I understand the European Commission has stated they should not be treated in the same way because they are not the same, more or less. I am interested to hear Ms Vestager's comments on that.

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Making Europe Fit for the Digital Age: EU Commissioner for Competition (23 Jun 2021)

Imelda Munster: I thank the Commissioner for that. Will she talk us through the plans she has for closing the digital divide between urban and rural areas? There is a major problem here in Ireland which is mainly due to poor broadband in rural areas, but it is also a problem in socioeconomic terms. During the pandemic, every child had to be schooled from home online. That was okay for some families, but...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Impact of Covid-19 on the Entertainment Sector: Music Entertainment Association of Ireland (23 Jun 2021)

Imelda Munster: I thank the Chair. I raise the recently announced changes to the PUP and the effects it will have on the sector. It will reclassify people as unemployed, so what effect will this have on the ability of those the association represents to work or receive supports? Does it also mean people could lose funding under the live performance support scheme, LPSS, should they accept work?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Impact of Covid-19 on the Entertainment Sector: Music Entertainment Association of Ireland (23 Jun 2021)

Imelda Munster: Okay.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tourism Industry (22 Jun 2021)

Imelda Munster: 60. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her views on reports of a worker shortage in tourism and hospitality; and her further views on the impact that low pay and poor conditions may be having on labour in the sector. [33256/21]

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tourism Industry (22 Jun 2021)

Imelda Munster: This question is to ask the Minister whether she will comment on reports of a shortage of workers in the tourism and hospitality sectors and whether she will share her views on the impact low pay and poor conditions may be having on labour in those sectors.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tourism Industry (22 Jun 2021)

Imelda Munster: Some sector representatives have claimed the issue is one of some workers feeling it is not worth their while to work when they can remain on the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP. Some in government, the media and the industry have created the false narrative people are abusing the PUP. It is not backed up by any data. An Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, representative, who recently...