Results 5,261-5,280 of 7,789 for speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Local Authority Funding (27 Nov 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: In the peripheral areas and municipal districts in County Galway, which Deputies Ó Cuív and Eugene Murphy represent along with me, there is a great shortage of staff. Second, there is a shortage of funding. This has a knock-on effect. I thank the Minister of State for the meeting last week but there is fear in the rural areas on the periphery. Galway borders probably six...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Areas of Natural Constraint: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (27 Nov 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I thank Mr. Dillon for his presentation. On the face of it, the scheme looks pretty good. Where can we get the information on the townlands? There is some information about Shannonbridge and the Eyrcourt area in Galway. What criteria were used to include areas? I see some areas down south that I would have imagined was fairly good ground. What will the rates be and what will be the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Areas of Natural Constraint: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (27 Nov 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Is there anything to help small farms, say 20 or 30 acres, for whom schemes such as the areas of natural constraints, ANC, were very important?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Areas of Natural Constraint: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (27 Nov 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I am just doing the maths. The €25 million works out at something like €260 or €270 to everyone in the last batch. When the new people are brought in, by what I am looking at, the increase across the board will be about €100. Is that correct?

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (27 Nov 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 346. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 365 of 23 October 2018, if a date has been set for scoliosis surgery for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48859/18]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Appointments Status (27 Nov 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 395. To ask the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) will receive a hospital appointment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49043/18]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Appointments Status (27 Nov 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 405. To ask the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) will receive a hospital appointment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49101/18]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Herd Data (27 Nov 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 476. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of calves born in the suckler herd registered in the period 1 January to 30 June 2015 and 1 January to 30 June 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49111/18]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: GLAS Payments (27 Nov 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 481. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a person (details supplied) will have recalculations completed and receive a GLAS payment for 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49384/18]

Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages [Private Members] (22 Nov 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I thank the Minister for the clarification. I will forward him an email on what some local authorities are doing. The one thing that we have not addressed is the situation I referred to in middle Ireland. There is nothing available if one is above the threshold. The banks try to tick boxes but after that there is no solution for many of those people. Ironically, I got a text while we...

Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages [Private Members] (22 Nov 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I welcome the Bill and commend Deputy Michael McGrath. Vulture funds are a nightmare for many people. Those of us who have been representing people in mortgage difficulties have been going to middle men, with the issue then having to go on to the people who bought out the loans. In the past week, a report that the Government had mentioned claimed that the loans' owners had ticked all the...

Finance Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (22 Nov 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I support the amendment. I agree with Deputies Pearse Doherty, Michael McGrath and Boyd Barrett. In recent days I heard Mr. Tom Parlon had been in Lithuania where we are supposed to be getting workers. People from the west to whom I have spoken go to England to work rather than Dublin because they can jump on an aeroplane in Knock and get accommodation in England. That is the reality....

Finance Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (22 Nov 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: There is something that has not been addressed yet, namely, the new tax rules for self-employed people. More people will be pushed into being subbies. As I have mentioned, doing the paperwork under the new rules will cost employers €450 per employee from next January. That will put a small business in trouble. I will tell the previous speaker something about the building sector....

Finance Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (22 Nov 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I speak in support of the amendment. The hospitality sector in Ireland has two parts. While I am not saying it is has not picked up everywhere and it is doing well in the major cities, unfortunately, especially during the week, there is a problem filling beds and in the food sector in many parts of the country. The increase in the VAT rate for the sector will have an adverse effect and the...

Brexit: Motion (21 Nov 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion. There is no quick-fix solution to this as we have seen, even over the past week, what has happened. While it would be easier to criticise him, I have seen the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, over the past few months, especially with some journalists in England who would put one to the pin of one's collar...

Local Government (Water Pollution) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Second Stage [Private Members] (20 Nov 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I commend Deputy Martin Kenny on the Bill he has put forward. We, in rural areas, understand where he is coming from. We all see week in, week out, the problems that counties, especially in the west, incur. In considering the current regulation, to put it simply, I would say the law is an ass. If one has an old house in the west, especially in Leitrim, and one goes to do it up, and...

Local Government Bill 2018: Second Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I did not say that.

Local Government Bill 2018: Second Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. While I understand that most of the Bill is concerned with Cork, I see a small piece, perhaps an afterthought, put in for Galway. Galway should have its own identity. I heard people speak about Galway earlier. There is a huge problem with staffing in Galway. The Minister of State, Deputy Kyne, and Deputy Ó Cuív outlined it very...

Local Government Bill 2018: Second Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: The Minister of State is correct. Fair play to him. Tipperary also touches it. There are a lot of people on the periphery who are concerned. Near Creggs, the guys who go along cutting the hedge will not cut it on the right-hand side for about 100 yards because it is in Roscommon. It worries people because they think if there is a merger of city and council they will be forgotten about...

Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Second Stage (14 Nov 2018)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I thank the Acting Chairman. I will not hold the House too long. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. I welcome the increase that will apply to pensioners and others in receipt of social welfare. There are some worries, however. As every Deputy is aware, there are people in the State who might have worked for a few years and put up a few stamps or they may not have put up...