Results 21-40 of 280 for speaker:Ciarán Ahern

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Waste Management (15 Jul 2025)

Ciarán Ahern: 228. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his views regarding the remunicipalisation of waste services in Ireland; if he has engaged with campaigners on the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39460/25]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (15 Jul 2025)

Ciarán Ahern: 371. To ask the Minister for Finance his position on the eight-year deemed disposal rule in the capital gains tax system; whether he would consider abolishing this rule; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39619/25]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (15 Jul 2025)

Ciarán Ahern: 470. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps she is taking to ensure that school secretaries are not forced to take strike action, as is currently proposed to take place in August; if she will ensure school secretaries are given access to the Single Public Service Pension Scheme given they have been on her Department’s centralised payroll since 2023; and if she will make...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: International Protection (15 Jul 2025)

Ciarán Ahern: 735. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will pause the eviction of 6 families who have been granted asylum planned for this Friday 4 July from the IPAS centres (details supplied); if he will respond to reports of harassment of these families by staff at the IPAS centres; if he will confirm whether these families will be eligible for emergency accommodation...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Environmental Investigations (15 Jul 2025)

Ciarán Ahern: 774. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his response to the fact that over half of assessments of forested areas in Ireland indicate bad conservation status under the Nature Directives; the steps he is taking to remedy the situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39455/25]

Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (10 Jul 2025)

Ciarán Ahern: I am conscious we are discussing domestic, sexual and gender-based violence on the day we learned George Gibney will be extradited from Florida to Ireland to face 79 charges of sexual offences against children. Gibney was a high-profile Irish Olympic swimming team coach in the eighties and nineties who abused his position of power and trust. He was previously charged with, but not tried...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Jul 2025)

Ciarán Ahern: I am glad to hear about the Government's focus on accelerating what we are doing. However, the fact remains that we are not meeting our climate targets. While there was a 6% reduction in emissions in 2023, there was only a 2% reduction in 2024. The EPA is saying we are going backwards. This is because we are seeing significantly slower progress than needed on many fronts, like onshore...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Jul 2025)

Ciarán Ahern: Yesterday, Uisce Éireann announced that areas in 12 counties, from Donegal to Wexford, are officially suffering a water drought. This is at a time when we have seen tragic flash floods in Texas, wildfires outside Marseilles and an extended heatwave in many countries across Europe that is about to hit Ireland. Before I came in here, I got an alert on my phone from Met Éireann that...

Ministers and Secretaries (Attorney General) Bill 2023: Second Stage [Private Members] (3 Jul 2025)

Ciarán Ahern: All too often the State approaches litigation against it in the same way any private corporate entity would. It is a war of attrition against each individual plaintiff who dares to sue it. That approach must change, not least because it is hugely discriminatory against those who do not have the time, resources or mental fortitude to fight a case like that. We must also consider the...

All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Statements (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Ciarán Ahern: I am delighted to speak on the all-island rail review. We need to see a major modal shift in how we get ourselves from one place to another on this island so that we are not so dependent on our cars. Rail will obviously play a huge role in that. We have a somewhat sorry history in this country when it comes to rail infrastructure. What was once a fairly comprehensive rail network in the...

Nursing Homes: Motion [Private Members] (2 Jul 2025)

Ciarán Ahern: I commend my colleagues, Deputies Sherlock and Wall, for tabling the motion. All of us in the House were outraged by the "RTÉ Investigates" programme, which showed the appalling levels of abuse and malpractice in older people's care settings. These are some of the most vulnerable people in our society. They depend on the help of others to meet their basic needs, as any one of us here...

Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Carbon Budget: Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment (2 Jul 2025)

Ciarán Ahern: I thank the Minister for coming in and engaging with us. I welcome the language he used in his opening statement, in being so frank that we are not on track to meet our first two carbon budgets and that this is removing any option of deferring action and forcing us to confront the gap between our ambition and delivery. While the language is welcome, we will see the colour of the...

Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Carbon Budget: Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment (2 Jul 2025)

Ciarán Ahern: It was reported this week that it was sent to the Minister.

Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Carbon Budget: Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment (2 Jul 2025)

Ciarán Ahern: On energy security and the report, we are being told we need to invest in our Defence Forces at the moment to increase the security of our territorial waters and things like that. I suppose one would query the reality of some of the perceived threats. I also want to talk about how the Minister will ensure the climate and gas demand conditions on any gas reserve will be transparently and...

Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Carbon Budget: Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment (2 Jul 2025)

Ciarán Ahern: To follow up on that, private wires are relevant to data centres. In the Minister's proposals for private wires, will he ensure they will be used for sustainable energy only, particularly for large energy users? Going back to the CRU's policy on large energy users, it said it does not have a mandate, not even under section 15 of the climate Act, to require them to use sustainable...

Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Carbon Budget: Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment (2 Jul 2025)

Ciarán Ahern: That is fair enough. The fear around some of these large energy users is that, in being required to create their own energy but not necessarily connect to our overall grid, that energy will come from non-renewable sources. That was the basis of my question and I hope the Minister will consider that.

Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Carbon Budget: Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment (2 Jul 2025)

Ciarán Ahern: Very briefly, in light of the renewable heat obligation, RHO, that is coming down the tracks, has the Minister considered increasing the percentage of HVO or other renewable fuels to be used as part of that, rather than maintaining the current rate of 1.5% to 3%?

Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Carbon Budget: Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment (2 Jul 2025)

Ciarán Ahern: The Minister will love this. I will go back to LNG. Can I get a sense of the Minister's decision-making process around that? He referred to an existing planning application. I will not ask him to talk about that. At the time, was the Minister advised that allowing for the State's strategic reserve could or would lead to planning applications for commercial LNG being revisited? Did the...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Departmental Staff (2 Jul 2025)

Ciarán Ahern: 42. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of vacancies by job title currently within the railway investigation unit of his Department as of 25 June 2025; the expected timeframe for filling each of those vacancies, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36467/25]