Results 21-40 of 97 for speaker:Nessa Cosgrove

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (11 Jun 2025)

Nessa Cosgrove: I am sorry that I have to raise this very concerning matter today. I had hoped that common sense and the inherent human decency of officials at the Department of justice would have resolved this quietly. I, along with Deputies Martin Kenny and Eamon Scanlon and Leitrim councillor, Eddie Mitchell, have raised this issue with the Department. Deputies Marian Harkin and Frankie Feighan have...

Seanad: Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Bill 2024: Second Stage (11 Jun 2025)

Nessa Cosgrove: I do not need to list and detail the crimes committed in the residential institutions operated chiefly by religious orders on behalf of the State. We are unanimous in our condemnation of this abuse, and I am sure in our belief that those abusers who are still alive should be punished to the full extent of the law. The others who facilitated, covered up and denied the abuse should have to...

Committee on Transport: Driving Test and NCT Delays: RSA (11 Jun 2025)

Nessa Cosgrove: Cuirim fáilte roimh na finnéithe. Many of my questions have come up already. I will concentrate on my area because the lack of public transport in the north west means more people are forced to use their cars. Recent numbers given to me indicate 1,209 people are waiting for a driving test in County Sligo, 2,317 in County Donegal and 513 in County Leitrim, which is a total of...

Committee on Transport: Driving Test and NCT Delays: RSA (11 Jun 2025)

Nessa Cosgrove: It is great to hear that. I hope the waiting times will come down. Another point has come up. I have heard about it from talking to several young people and driving instructors. There is a lot of frustration among young people that they have to wait six months after they receive their learner permit. They will have done their 12 mandatory lessons and spend a lot of money doing so. After...

Committee on Transport: Driving Test and NCT Delays: RSA (11 Jun 2025)

Nessa Cosgrove: The problem was the waiting times were so long when people applied for their tests.

Committee on Transport: Driving Test and NCT Delays: RSA (11 Jun 2025)

Nessa Cosgrove: If the waiting time is coming down, then that will make more sense. It was taking too long for people to get to do their tests.

Committee on Transport: Driving Test and NCT Delays: RSA (11 Jun 2025)

Nessa Cosgrove: It would make sense that people would not have to wait the six months.

Committee on Transport: Driving Test and NCT Delays: RSA (11 Jun 2025)

Nessa Cosgrove: I know. It is very frustrating.

Committee on Transport: Driving Test and NCT Delays: RSA (11 Jun 2025)

Nessa Cosgrove: It is especially so in a rural area like mine. I turn next to the waiting times we get from the NCT press office. It was claimed - this was referenced in the opening statement as well - the waiting time to do an NCT was going to be 14 days. I tried it myself on the NCT website on Sunday. I looked for a test in Sligo and Ballina. The next available date in Ballina was 19 August, which...

Committee on Transport: Driving Test and NCT Delays: RSA (11 Jun 2025)

Nessa Cosgrove: The figures are skewed then.

Seanad: Breast Cancer Services: Statements (10 Jun 2025)

Nessa Cosgrove: The Minister is very welcome. I thank everyone for raising the issue of breast density. I particularly thank Senator Costello. She is such a strong advocate for those with breast cancer. We really thank her for that. I have learned a great deal just from listening to her. I am delighted Deputy Carroll MacNeill is the Minister for Health. She is very proactive. I am delighted that we...

Seanad: Insurance Reform: Motion (10 Jun 2025)

Nessa Cosgrove: I, too, welcome the Minister of State and this debate. The Labour Party, in our submission on the new action plan on insurance reform, highlighted a number of areas of reform, including transparency, high premiums which do not match up with the reduced number of claimants, competitiveness, tackling fraud and investment in innovation and skills. The areas I will focus on today are...

Seanad: Situation in Gaza: Statements (29 May 2025)

Nessa Cosgrove: The Minister of State is welcome. It is very hard for me to come after that. All of us here know what needs to be done. I also disagree with the idea that the Opposition really does believe we are doing enough. We do not believe we are doing enough. The world has changed and is never going to go back to the way it was. We have been really brave over recent years. We know what it is...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: National Minimum Wage (28 May 2025)

Nessa Cosgrove: The minimum wage was established just over a quarter of a century ago, in April 2000, two years before the first euro notes and coins were circulated in Ireland. Just like the euro, the minimum wage has become an accepted and crucial element of our economy. At the time of its introduction, no political party represented in the Oireachtas opposed it. It was recognised as an essential tool...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: National Minimum Wage (28 May 2025)

Nessa Cosgrove: I thank the Minister of State for her response. It is great to hear her referring to the EU directive on the minimum wage. I will be continuing to try to bring forward the Bills I mentioned. Particularly in the construction sector at the moment, we need apprentices but it is very difficult for people to work on less than the minimum wage rate. It is true that the sub-minimum rates do...

Seanad: Dereliction and Building Regeneration Bill 2025: Second Stage (28 May 2025)

Nessa Cosgrove: I follow my colleagues in saying that the Government’s continued lack of urgency in dealing with the housing disaster - our most serious and seemingly intractable challenge - has been exposed again by the introduction by Fine Gael of this amendment. This Bill, which addresses dereliction and vacancy, should not be allowed to be delayed any longer. Dereliction and vacancy are twin...

Committee on Transport: National Transport Authority: Engagement (28 May 2025)

Nessa Cosgrove: Gabhaim buíochas leis na finnéithe as teacht isteach inniu. I have raised this with the witnesses at different stages. The NTA is responsible for a number of railway functions in association with Irish Rail. The issues I will deal with are the Sligo-Dublin railway line and the opening of the western railway corridor. The first thing I would like to talk about is the possible...

Committee on Transport: National Transport Authority: Engagement (28 May 2025)

Nessa Cosgrove: There is, and I am coming back in.

Committee on Transport: National Transport Authority: Engagement (28 May 2025)

Nessa Cosgrove: May I come back in for just a minute on that? I just want to press the urgency of this. Even if it were not a catering cart, perhaps a vending machine could be put there. The first train leaves Sligo at 5.40 a.m., and people travel from Donegal and from all around. Because we do not have cancer care services anywhere in the north west, many people go to hospital appointments in Dublin....