Results 4,261-4,280 of 9,160 for speaker:Thomas Pringle

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Conference of the Parties, COP, 25: Discussion (6 Nov 2019)

Thomas Pringle: I have listened to the Taoiseach quote our climate ambition. Embarrassingly for me it has all been quoting. I sponsored a Bill that the Government opposed right up to the point when it knew that it would pass. That has been the limit of our achievements on climate action. The Taoiseach recently spoke in the Dáil about climate change bringing benefits to Ireland. Would that be a view...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Conference of the Parties, COP, 25: Discussion (6 Nov 2019)

Thomas Pringle: Is it the Department's view that the climate change mitigation measures we have taken are adequate and that there are no benefits from climate change for Ireland?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Conference of the Parties, COP, 25: Discussion (6 Nov 2019)

Thomas Pringle: There are no benefits from climate change. Would that be the view of departmental officials?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Departmental Transformation Programme: Department of Justice and Equality (6 Nov 2019)

Thomas Pringle: I have a number of questions, some of which I prepared earlier having read the various reports, while others arise from the discussion we have had thus far this morning. Some may overlap. Mr. O'Driscoll spoke about a customer-centric response. Who does Mr. O'Driscoll see as the customers in the case of direct provision?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Departmental Transformation Programme: Department of Justice and Equality (6 Nov 2019)

Thomas Pringle: Is it solely the applicants?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Departmental Transformation Programme: Department of Justice and Equality (6 Nov 2019)

Thomas Pringle: If the asylum seekers are the Department's customers and it is taking a customer-centric approach, does it worry Mr. O'Driscoll to hear that some of his customers are afraid to raise issues and concerns with the Department?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Departmental Transformation Programme: Department of Justice and Equality (6 Nov 2019)

Thomas Pringle: While I accept that, there is something wrong if customers feel afraid to raise issues with a Department which is supposed to take a customer-centric approach. Moreover, the Department will not allow a third party to act on their behalf. That is very worrying. It is a negative step and I would worry about the customer-centric approach if that is what is involved. Perhaps Mr. O'Driscoll...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Departmental Transformation Programme: Department of Justice and Equality (6 Nov 2019)

Thomas Pringle: The first report of the effectiveness and renewal group in June 2017 stated that the Department should consider converting the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service and the Irish Prison Service into separate agencies. The transformation programme has developed a service delivery and improvement plan for immigration and has put all the operations together. How does Mr. O'Driscoll...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Departmental Transformation Programme: Department of Justice and Equality (6 Nov 2019)

Thomas Pringle: There has been much talk of cultural change. Before Mr. O'Driscoll's time, the Department was notoriously secretive and silo-based. It will continue to require close monitoring and continual efforts to prevent that from happening in the future. That is where many of the problems arose. This concern is less tangible. We cannot point to concrete results. How will Mr. O'Driscoll maintain...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Departmental Transformation Programme: Department of Justice and Equality (6 Nov 2019)

Thomas Pringle: I have a question on policing. I am from Donegal where the Morris tribunal was focused and I remember hearing at the time and I have heard since in Dublin that the modus operandiof the Morris tribunal was to make sure it stayed as a Donegal problem and was seen as being a Donegal problem. At the same time, there were problems all over the country. The Department will obviously dispute that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Departmental Transformation Programme: Department of Justice and Equality (6 Nov 2019)

Thomas Pringle: That is my last contribution.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (Amendment) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2019)

Thomas Pringle: I do not wish to speak to the amendments but rather the process being used. It would have been useful if the report on the Bill drawn up for the Minister by her Department had been shared with the committee. We could have read it and informed ourselves on the process. Maybe that could be considered in future so that the committee could have access to all the available information.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (Amendment) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2019)

Thomas Pringle: Yes.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (Amendment) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2019)

Thomas Pringle: In that case, perhaps the Chairman can answer my next question.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (Amendment) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2019)

Thomas Pringle: I am unsure how relevant ground rents are. Should the Department look at this issue? Should ground rents not be abolished altogether? In my home town of Killibegs a certain individual was buying up ground rents out of badness more than anything else.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (Amendment) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2019)

Thomas Pringle: I do not know whether there has been any research done on it. Maybe it is too simplistic a question.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (Amendment) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2019)

Thomas Pringle: It may be worth testing. The Minister has received a legal view. As we have seen in recent days, I could get a lawyer to say the exact opposite. There is only one place where it can be tested and verified and that is in the courts.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2019)

Thomas Pringle: In fairness to the Government, I do not believe it is at fault for all of this. As the Chief Whip said, the number of Bills it has counted does not meet the number of Bills that have been held up. There is a problem with how this is being interpreted. There is a tendency on the part of your office, a Cheann Comhairle, to act as gatekeeper. That is certainly my belief. There was an...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2019)

Thomas Pringle: I contend that the Taoiseach is misleading the House about this issue. There is an embargo in place right across the board. However, it is not referred to as an embargo. According to a letter from St. Joseph's hospital in Stranorlar, "interim control measures" were introduced in April 2019. That is coming from the HSE. Those measures apply nationally. The Taoiseach may not have figures...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2019)

Thomas Pringle: I wish to talk about the same issue as Deputy McDonald but from a different angle. I hope that I will get a different answer, although that would be a miracle. In April, the HSE implemented what was, to all intents and purposes, a recruitment embargo, supposedly to run for three months and end in mid-July. This was an attempt by the Government to manage the mismanagement of the national...