Results 4,901-4,920 of 9,252 for speaker:Jim O'Callaghan

Housing for All: Statements (Resumed) (29 Sep 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: I welcome the Housing for All plan. It is a plan and a document that recognises the scale of the housing crisis that exists in this country at present. One of the reasons I welcome the document is that it recognises that this is not just a housing issue but also a societal issue. We need to recognise that in this House, and I believe that the Government is coming to recognise it with the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (29 Sep 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee and for their presentations. Obviously, our purpose is to carry out pre-legislative scrutiny on this important legislation. We want to improve it as best we can before it is enacted by the Houses of the Oireachtas. I would point out that we must engage in a balancing act in terms of ensuring that the procedure is fair for the person...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (29 Sep 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank Mr. Kennedy for that answer. My next question is for Mr. Clarke and the Bar Council. I was very interested in the point he made about section 13 of the Protected Disclosures Act and how it limits the options available to a person who has been discriminated against as a result of making a protected disclosure. He also referred to the capacity that exists for a person who has made a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (29 Sep 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank Mr. Clarke for that. I wish to pose a rhetorical question but I do not expect the witnesses to answer now because it would require much more consideration. One would have to also consider the extent to which the constitutional protections that an employer would have would be preserved if there was no requirement to provide an undertaking as to damages but that is not a matter for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (29 Sep 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank Ms Keane for that answer.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (28 Sep 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: 287. To ask the Minister for Finance if applicants and or employers who were initially approved to avail of the temporary wage subsidy scheme for domestic employees and or childminders and who were subsequently refused eligibility can appeal the decision to pay the liability issued to them by the Revenue Commissioners; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46182/21]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Leaving Certificate Reform: Discussion with School Management Bodies (28 Sep 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank the Chairman and the witnesses, also, for coming before us today. It is important to point out that the purpose of these hearings is that we will be producing a report on reform of the leaving certificate. We should not shy away from any questions, irrespective of how basic they may seem. I will start by asking a very simple question of Mr. Irwin, if that is okay with him. Is it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Leaving Certificate Reform: Discussion with School Management Bodies (28 Sep 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: Why is that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Leaving Certificate Reform: Discussion with School Management Bodies (28 Sep 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: From the committee’s point of view, nothing should be left off the table. Unquestionably, however, Mr. Irwin’s evidence is that assessment is essential for education. It is important for the committee to hear that and that all of his colleagues would agree. Mr. Crone mentioned that we should try to decouple entry to third level from leaving certificate results. How would...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Leaving Certificate Reform: Discussion with School Management Bodies (28 Sep 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: Irrespective of what level of reform we advise or the State decides to implement, does Mr. Flood agree that no matter what we do, we will have to retain some form of competitive environment when it comes to assessment at the end of second level? Is it possible to have assessment without there being a competitive environment?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Leaving Certificate Reform: Discussion with School Management Bodies (28 Sep 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank all the witnesses.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Leaving Certificate Reform: Discussion with School Management Bodies (28 Sep 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank Mr. Crone. One of the points Mr. Curtis made relating to the benefit of school-based projects. How do we ensure that better resourced students do not have a significant advantage as a result of resources they may have at home, or privately, over other students when it comes to such projects?

Garda Siochana (Functions and Operational Areas) Bill 2021: Second Stage (22 Sep 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: One of the reasons Irish independence succeeded was that we were able to establish an independent police force very quickly after we got independence and that police force secured the support and consent of the Irish public it policed. That was a major achievement of the State. Other countries that gained their independence did not always manage to transfer power to a police force that...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (22 Sep 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: 147. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps he will take to ensure that in-person lectures at a university (details supplied) recommence in alignment with other third-level institutions. [45287/21]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (22 Sep 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: 148. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will engage with the provost of a university (details supplied) to ensure that in-person lectures at the college recommence in a similar way to other third-level institutions. [45288/21]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (22 Sep 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank Deputy Mairéad Farrell for nominating me as Acting Chairman. Our Chairman, Deputy McGuinness, is momentarily delayed so I have been asked to sit in until he arrives. I remind members to ensure their mobile phones are switched off. This is important as it causes serious problems for broadcasting, editorial and sound staff. Apologies have been received from Deputies Steven...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Services (21 Sep 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: 130. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he plans to conduct a business case review into the BusConnects project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44511/21]

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: An Garda Síochána (21 Sep 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: 229. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the Office of Public Works has handed back Fitzgibbon Street Garda station to the Garda authorities; if not, when it will be handed back; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45054/21]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Birth Certificates (21 Sep 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: 404. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when the relevant section of the Civil Registration Act 2014 will commence whereby it becomes obligatory for a father’s name to be on a birth certificate when the birth is being registered; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44689/21]