Results 461-480 of 2,343 for speaker:Michael Colreavy

Spring Economic Statement (Resumed) (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Colreavy: I will speak about Northern Ireland.

Spring Economic Statement (Resumed) (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Colreavy: What I have to say is no reflection on the Minister. Austerity is hitting Northern Ireland just as it is hitting southern Ireland. One might say we should welcome the fact that the Irish Government thinks about Northern Ireland and is concerned about the good people living there, as successive Governments through the decades stood idly by and looked away while the people in the North of...

Spring Economic Statement (Resumed) (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Colreavy: Sinn Féin fought back on this but the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste aided a Tory leader in trying to enforce austerity on the people in Northern Ireland. How dare they come here and accuse Sinn Féin of administering austerity policies in Northern Ireland? We can talk about deception. There are different groups of people who have been listening to or reading about the spring...

Spring Economic Statement (Resumed) (30 Apr 2015)

Michael Colreavy: Last night I outlined relevant statistics that indicate clearly that what the Government states in the spring statement is unlikely to happen. Sinn Féin would argue that it cannot happen under our current system. Ours is a high cost and low pay society and when the purchasing power of Irish workers is accounted for, Ireland falls 13% below the EU15 average while almost 350,000 of the...

Spring Economic Statement (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Michael Colreavy: I may not take 20 minutes. The past couple of days around Leinster House have been a bit surreal. It was not the usual week in Leinster House. I was trying to think what it reminded me of and then it struck me: the weather. Last week it was nice, warm and sunny and held out the promise of good things to come. However, this week reality is back again, and it is cold and damp. With all...

Spring Economic Statement (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Michael Colreavy: I propose that we un-suspend.

Spring Economic Statement (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Michael Colreavy: I agree.

Other Questions: Electricity Grid Connection Fees (28 Apr 2015)

Michael Colreavy: I understand that but I imagine that a Government statement of policy would influence how companies approach this matter. Perhaps they need to be nudged and encouraged a little bit.

Other Questions: Post Office Network (28 Apr 2015)

Michael Colreavy: The Minister did not mention when he anticipates the report from the business development review group for the post office network. An interdepartmental group was established to examine this matter too. Will there be a separate report from that group? When does the Minister anticipate this report will be provided?

Other Questions: Electricity Grid Connection Fees (28 Apr 2015)

Michael Colreavy: 8. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans to establish a scheme to allow micro generation units to provide electricity to the national grid, and to compensate the providers for the electricity that they produce. [16291/15]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Energy Efficiency (28 Apr 2015)

Michael Colreavy: I may go down that route.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Energy Efficiency (28 Apr 2015)

Michael Colreavy: 5. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the efforts that have been made at European level to ring-fence funding for energy efficiency measures; and the position the Government has taken. [16494/15]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Energy Efficiency (28 Apr 2015)

Michael Colreavy: I ask the Minister the efforts that have been made at European level to ring-fence funding for energy efficiency measures and the position taken by the Government with respect to those measures.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Energy Efficiency (28 Apr 2015)

Michael Colreavy: It has been reported that last month our Taoiseach ordered Mr. Seán Kelly, MEP, to vote against a proposal that would earmark €5 billion in the European Parliament for energy efficiency. I understand Mr. Kelly originally put his name to the proposal but withdrew it after a phone call from the Taoiseach. If that is true, how does that sit with the Government's objectives of fully...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Energy Efficiency (28 Apr 2015)

Michael Colreavy: Is the Minister confirming that the phone call was made and the action followed the phone call? If so, that would raise a very serious question mark. Currently, we are importing the vast majority of energy through fossil fuels and that is not sustainable into the future. Sustainable renewable energy must be developed and promoted here, as well as energy efficiency. I understand the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Gas Exploration Licences (28 Apr 2015)

Michael Colreavy: 2. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he is satisfied with the Environmental Protection Agency progress report on Unconventional Gas Exploration and Extraction; and his views that the report provides enough information on the research carried out, as outlined by the terms of reference. [16438/15]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Gas Exploration Licences (28 Apr 2015)

Michael Colreavy: I am not and never will be a Minister but if I was a Minister who commissioned a progress report and I received a two page document comprising 43 lines I would throw it back to the body charged with preparing it. It is a disgrace that such a document was presented as a progress report. It contains little or no substantive information regarding the progress of the investigation of a very...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Gas Exploration Licences (28 Apr 2015)

Michael Colreavy: I am heartened to hear that we will be given more details on the matter. I would have been worried to learn that the Minister had accepted the document before me as a progress report. I will examine the detailed information for proposals on carrying out a health impact assessment and the rationale for selecting a company called CDM Smith, which is on the public record as acting as a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: North-South Interconnector: County Monaghan Anti-Pylon Committee (28 Apr 2015)

Michael Colreavy: Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh, agus cuirim fáilte mór roimh gach éinne. The witnesses are very welcome and I thank them for their clear, concise presentations. There is very little with which I would argue, except one sentence, which says that nobody listened. I must say that the Sinn Féin councillors and Deputy Ó Caoláin have been bending my ear to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: North-South Interconnector: County Monaghan Anti-Pylon Committee (28 Apr 2015)

Michael Colreavy: I would like clarification on the landscape management strategy. The distance of a pylon from a property or home is, of course, hugely important. To my mind, landscape management is about more than the distance of pylons from homes or properties. This relates back to the fundamental question of the impact of the presence of pylons on a landscape. I did not heard any mention of this.