Results 501-520 of 1,301 for speaker:Pauline O'Reilly

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Prices: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Pauline O'Reilly: If he wanted to ask that question, he should have asked it first.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Prices: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Pauline O'Reilly: I thank the witnesses for coming before us. Several of my questions related to the standing charge. I would like to continue with the point Senator Dooley mentioned at the start of his contribution. It seems to me that the more the Government uses taxpayers' money to put money into reducing the overall use of electricity, the more the ESB is increasing its standing charge and therefore it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Prices: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Pauline O'Reilly: Over time, we are going to see a reduction in overall use. That is where all the Government funding is going. It looks a little bit like the ESB is protecting its base and protecting the profits in the long term by putting more into the standard charge than into the unit rate. With respect, that is the first point I would make. Our guests mentioned the ESB’s competitors a few times...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Prices: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Pauline O'Reilly: Is it appropriate that the companies would all have that ability to set standing charges when they have such a deep impact throughout society? Is there a better way to regulate the market?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Prices: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Pauline O'Reilly: Another point that has been raised by several colleagues during this meeting relates to the fact the companies are handing over much of the responsibility for people who are in financial difficulty at a vulnerable stage to advocate for themselves and to find out that information. We are seeing more and more that it is the most vulnerable who find it most difficult to access information on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Prices: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Pauline O'Reilly: I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee. It is safe to say that this area is quite complex. For customers, it is quite complex. We had several sessions and we have an understanding of who has responsibility for which area. Even if one is to look at the climate action framework, several agencies are involved in a lot of those particular areas. One of those is smart metering....

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Community Care (28 Sep 2022)

Pauline O'Reilly: I thank the Minister of State for joining us. I attended the meeting in Clifden on Sunday and it was heartbreaking to hear the stories of people, especially family members of older people or those close to the end of their lives, who were phoned on Friday and asked to remove their loved ones from Clifden District Hospital. We also heard from doctors who said they were given no notice. One...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Community Care (28 Sep 2022)

Pauline O'Reilly: We appreciate the Minister of State coming here. It is an urgent issue. While we have heard this response before, there is a lack of clarity, otherwise we would not have had a two-hour-long meeting with the HSE and still not have got any further on Monday. It needs to be addressed. As the Minister of State said, the nearest facility is 80 km away. It is not acceptable for the people of...

Seanad: Budget 2023 (Finance): Statements (27 Sep 2022)

Pauline O'Reilly: I am delighted to be here on budget day. The marks of the three parties in Government are on this budget. It shows that collaboration across parties is fundamentally a good thing.

Seanad: Budget 2023 (Finance): Statements (27 Sep 2022)

Pauline O'Reilly: There are areas of this budget where I wish more had been provided, specifically stay-at-home parents. This is an area I feel very passionately about and it one the Minister of State mentioned. I am astounded by the 25% cut in fees provided in the childcare package for people who avail of a crèche. This was one of the Green Party's core commitments when we went into Government. We...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Sep 2022)

Pauline O'Reilly: I welcome the witnesses who have expertise in this area. The committee is delighted to have them here to help us in our work. It is interesting that the citizens themselves, the citizens' assembly, put so much effort into this issue. Most of us, men and women, have been in the workplace and have seen what the flaws are that lead to us not having the flexibility that we need or our rights...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Sep 2022)

Pauline O'Reilly: I forgot to ask about something last time although I did have quite a lot of questions so I can be forgiven, namely the four-day working week and looking at flexibility for everyone. I ask because of the importance of caring. As I said at last week's meeting, children are often seen as hampering women in the workforce in circumstances where we have not organised our society to take account...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Sep 2022)

Pauline O'Reilly: It is a very important and interesting point about the over 55 cohort. To clarify, I am not talking about differentiating between one type of worker and another. I am saying that, at a macro level, less time needs to be spent overall to reach the output that we require to sustain ourselves and, therefore, spreading that out and having everyone, whether you work in digital services or...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Sep 2022)

Pauline O'Reilly: Except for us, Réada.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: School Transport Issues: Engagement with Minister for Education (21 Sep 2022)

Pauline O'Reilly: I very much welcome this opportunity to discuss school transport. As the Minister will appreciate, we are all aware of difficulties and I will bring those to light. Fundamentally, the waiving of school transport fees is a good thing for two reasons. It is a good thing because of the cost of living, and I appreciate that the Minister took that step. The second reason relates to climate...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: School Transport Issues: Engagement with Minister for Education (21 Sep 2022)

Pauline O'Reilly: I will also raise the matter of timing. That review has been under way for quite some time. When will it be completed?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: School Transport Issues: Engagement with Minister for Education (21 Sep 2022)

Pauline O'Reilly: Could we say by the end of 2022?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: School Transport Issues: Engagement with Minister for Education (21 Sep 2022)

Pauline O'Reilly: I know I have mentioned the eligibility criteria on numerous occasions which I have an issue with anyway. I have mentioned to the Minister that ethos is taken into consideration, even though it was not mentioned in her opening statement. However, the extent to which it is taken into consideration varies depending on the area and 4.8 km is simply too far for anyone to travel to a secondary...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: School Transport Issues: Engagement with Minister for Education (21 Sep 2022)

Pauline O'Reilly: If we are looking at one of the things in the programme for Government, it is about increasing multi-denominational schools and that is a serious issue for us in Galway, where people are travelling a distance to go to a school that is multi-denominational. They do not have a bus available because it is not their nearest school. I know of instances where that is happening. I would hope that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: School Transport Issues: Engagement with Minister for Education (21 Sep 2022)

Pauline O'Reilly: They did but then they had to reapply. That seems to be part of the problem.