Results 521-540 of 951 for speaker:Garret Ahearn

Seanad: School Transport: Statements (26 Oct 2022)

Garret Ahearn: To pick up on that point, it is infuriating given there are obvious, simple solutions that do not seem to be listened to when we put them forward. This was well intended, but a lot of the problems we are talking about have been caused by us, the Government, and that is just a fact. Everyone who has been in that situation and who has been left without a seat on the bus is well aware that...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Oct 2022)

Garret Ahearn: Will the Leader arrange a debate with the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth regarding the reports over the past number of days about Ukrainian citizens who do not have accommodation? It is important to recognise that although it is a difficult situation for people who come into this country, 52,000 have come from Ukraine and they have been housed and...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2022)

Garret Ahearn: I ask for a debate on Irish Water to be arranged and for the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to be invited to attend. I do not think we have had a debate on Irish Water for quite some time. In Clonmel, which is in my own county of Tipperary, we have waited years for a new water treatment plant and expected that it would arrive at some point....

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Oct 2022)

Garret Ahearn: There has been a big increase in antisocial behaviour in Clonmel and the surrounding areas in recent weeks. This has been brewing for a number of years. Gardaí are doing their best but their resources are limited. We have now got to the stage where a young farmer was beaten so badly this week that he almost died. There is a fear within the community, across Clerihan, Lisronagh and...

Seanad: Passport Office: Motion (5 Oct 2022)

Garret Ahearn: I feel like it is almost obligatory now to say we need a passport office in Tipperary.

Seanad: Passport Office: Motion (5 Oct 2022)

Garret Ahearn: We are all one county - at the moment anyway. There are 167,000 people in Tipperary. There is a vacant office two doors down from my office in Clonmel, so it would be very easy to have a passport office right beside where I am located. Queries about passports are among the queries we get that are actually solvable for people. On a serious note, however, I thank Sinn Féin for tabling...

Seanad: Passport Office: Motion (5 Oct 2022)

Garret Ahearn: It was only 600,000-odd last year, so the turnaround has been incredible. The number of passports that have been delivered this year has been incredible. Senator Wilson said we need to get the awareness out that people should renew their passports at off-peak times, and I agree with him. He mentioned we will be in the same predicament next summer. We will not really because last summer...

Seanad: Passport Office: Motion (5 Oct 2022)

Garret Ahearn: "Do not send them" is definitely the advice to give. However, on first-time applications there is an estimated date, and people come to us worried about whether they will get the passport in time. There could be an estimated date, say, in the middle of October or the middle of November, and someone could be applying a week after the estimated date. We politicians cannot do anything about...

Seanad: Passport Office: Motion (5 Oct 2022)

Garret Ahearn: Tomorrow at 10.30 a.m.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Update on Quarters 1 and 2: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Garret Ahearn: I thank the Minister for being here and for his presentation. Last week's budget was clearly about protecting jobs, people, families and employment through a difficult time of uncertainty. He used a cake analogy. We cannot take it for granted it will always be there. It is sometimes accepted that we are in a position that other countries are not, which means we are able to give out...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Update on Quarters 1 and 2: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Garret Ahearn: I have a question in regard to employment permits but I first want to pick up on the discussion about the south east. I am from the south east but people sometimes forget that my area of south Tipperary is part of the south-east region. We saw in the census figures some months ago that the number of people who are now moving to the south east is much higher than the national average. Those...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Update on Quarters 1 and 2: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Garret Ahearn: Yes. It is a key priority for the Government and it is on the national development plan. It is not that it is doing nothing at the moment; it is progressing quite well.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Update on Quarters 1 and 2: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Garret Ahearn: With regard to work permits, the last time the Minister was at the committee, 70% or 80% of the conversation for the two hours was about work permits, whereas today one speaker referred to it briefly. The Minister might expand as to where we were and where we are now, and what measures he and the Department have put in place to improve the situation dramatically? Certainly, from the calls I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Update on Quarters 1 and 2: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Garret Ahearn: I have a local question. I am conscious this is the last time Deputy Varadkar will be before the committee as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I refer to the IDA Ireland site in Clonmel. The Minister met the chief executive of Tipperary County Council a year ago. The site is due to be developed between the county council and IDA Ireland. Due to Clonmel's success, phase 1 of...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Fire Safety (4 Oct 2022)

Garret Ahearn: I also welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, to the Chamber. It is my first opportunity to congratulate him on his new role and position. I thank him for taking this Commencement matter. I acknowledge the good work he and his Department did last week in regard to the budget and supporting business over what is going to be an uncertain time during the winter months. I had a...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Fire Safety (4 Oct 2022)

Garret Ahearn: There is an understandable fear when reviews are put in place that changes could be made when we recognise that Irish safety standards are more robust than those that apply in other EU states. What we want to do is maintain that. It is true that there have been changes in consumer expectations and furniture manufacturing practices. That has to be recognised and changes have to be made but...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (27 Sep 2022)

Garret Ahearn: Before I talk about a budgetary measure that was brought in today, I want to pick up on Senator Flynn's comments on refugees and remind Members of the question of comparing like with like. It is important to say that the 50,000 Ukrainian people coming into this country are not refugees. They are here under an EU temporary protection directive. Their position is nothing similar to being...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (27 Sep 2022)

Garret Ahearn: It is long overdue. This House has played a key role in advancing it, with a large number of Members having spoken here on the issue.The Cathaoirleach has given me three opportunities to table a Commencement matter on this issue over the two years that I have been a Senator and an awful lot of people of people have pushed the issue. Whatever we talk about in terms of the budget supporting...

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

Garret Ahearn: I am sharing with Senator Dolan, if she arrives, and Senator Burke in her place if she does not.