Results 41-60 of 327 for long speaker:Joan Collins

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (31 Jan 2023)

Joan Collins: ...of growth in people's pay packets. Our economy is in no way set up to reflect this growth in ordinary people's lives. We hear this every day in my constituency office. Those who have had it hard for a long time are being hit the worst. While the supports put in place by this Government have helped in some way, they are not targeted enough. Age Action has said time and again that...

Forestry Strategy: Statements (26 Jan 2023)

Joan Collins: ...trees. The Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss has said that this could lead to the sell-off of public lands and agreed that State-owned woodlands should be recognised and managed as a strategic long-term national asset for the benefit of the common good. This should also be reflected by keeping land and money in rural communities for their common good. This deal is a clear step...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Primary Care Services (24 Jan 2023)

Joan Collins: ...reaching 12 months, which is better than the 59% that pertained previously, but this is a crucial area of health for children and babies. They need these checks, which are very important for their long-term future. In the first 12 months, there is vitamin D, tests for babies, the BCG vaccine, pneumococcal conjugate vaccination, meningitis C vaccination, hearing tests and heel prick...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Jan 2023)

Joan Collins: ...upset the families. I welcome the work of Inclusion Ireland on supporting families and people with autism. The question is what can be done about it. We have been talking about this for so long. It was the same with the Joint Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community, of which I was a member. There are more reports, recommendations and situations that have been...

Taoiseach a Ainmniú - Nomination of Taoiseach (17 Dec 2022)

Joan Collins: This must be the longest game of musical chairs anyone could have imagined. Tweedledum replaces Tweedledee, or maybe Tweedledee replaces Tweedledum - who knows? Quite honestly, it will make very little difference to many people. Nothing will change and the record of failure will continue. It is hard to find a single area of policy where this Government has not failed. A Government...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Nov 2022)

Joan Collins: ...party claims to support a referendum, so it should prove it and ensure water and sanitation do not remain in public ownership in name only, with the majority of services outsourced to private companies on long-term contracts. I have seen many Ministers clamour to bring legislation to the Cabinet before the D-day of 17 December. Will the Taoiseach instruct his Minister for Housing, Local...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh – Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (24 Nov 2022)

Joan Collins: I welcome that. Does the Minister of State know how long the review will take? We will have a perfect storm with parents trying to find places in secondary schools in the time ahead unless we move very quickly to get special classes into secondary schools. There is also pressure on parents being out of pocket for €1,500 or more as they try to get an assessment of needs for their...

Social Welfare Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (23 Nov 2022)

Joan Collins: ...transport. The cumulative loss of annual spending power despite the recent increases of €5 in 2022 and €12 in 2023 means welfare is being cut in real terms. Once-off energy emergency payments will further reduce the gap but many of these payments will not reach all households on welfare and will not compensate for the long-term effect of losing weekly spending power. For...

Transport in Galway and Other Areas: Motion [Private Members] (23 Nov 2022)

Joan Collins: ...and rail was less than 1%. Public transport should be free to provide a real incentive to get people out of their cars. Free public transport is also needed for those who cannot afford a car. Alongside making public transport free, we need investment by the State on a serious scale to have a fully connected intermodal public transport system. Free public transport is not an incentive...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy in Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Joan Collins: ...outlined about PART 4 funding. It looks like it is being taken seriously and that the colleges are pre-empting and implementing the PART 4 funding and adhering to the policies in that regard. How long will it take to broaden that out to the 19 projects? Unless people with autism and disabilities reach their full potential as much as they can in primary and secondary school, they will...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Traveller Accommodation (17 Nov 2022)

Joan Collins: There are two issues here. The first is the long-term development of Spring Lane, and that seems to be moving along. What is not being addressed, however, is the maintenance of the halting site at the moment. The Cork Traveller Visibility Group wrote to us in that regard. The letter states: As you should know, [this family's] temporary, makeshift bay is one of the lowest points of the...

Long Covid Health Services: Motion [Private Members] (9 Nov 2022)

Joan Collins: A campaign on my.uplift.ieseeks to fund long Covid multidisciplinary clinics. It was initiated by Miriam Cullen, who is in the Public Gallery with other long Covid patients. I thank Deputy Naughten and the Regional Group for using Private Members' time to discuss this serious issue. The current HSE plan for long Covid medical support is inadequate. It proposes only eight post-acute Covid...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Employment Rights (20 Oct 2022)

Joan Collins: I am disappointed that no Minister or Minister of State from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is present. This is an important issue that has been going on for a long time. Bogus self-employment is an area in which I have a great deal of interest, and I was part of the social welfare committee's report into the matter. We now know that there is more bogus self-employment...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Disability Services (18 Oct 2022)

Joan Collins: ...that driver numbers are down by nearly one third. He would usually be able to get relief drivers but they are not available either. The whole situation has dried up. There is a short-term and long-term crisis. In the short term, they need to be able to get the service user to the centre over the next period of time. Service users have not been able to use the service since last...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Disability Services (18 Oct 2022)

Joan Collins: .... From my point of view, it is about the people who need the service and the transport. As I said, an older man who had been using the services for 20 years was told, all of a sudden, that he no longer had transport. He cannot physically get onto public transport. I welcome this response. It should be done in the next week or two to address the short-term and long-term issues....

Public Transport: Motion [Private Members] (5 Oct 2022)

Joan Collins: ...is required in many areas. In general, the reorganisation means reduced services in many working-class areas. An example is the replacement of the No. 79 bus route in my constituency. It is a long-established route serving Ballyfermot and goes right through the working-class community in the south inner city. That route has been replaced by a new service, the No. 60, which will no...

Housing for All Update: Statements (Resumed) (4 Oct 2022)

Joan Collins: ...as well. We had a young mother in our office the other day with her two-year-old child who is sofa surfing. She is on HAP and cannot find accommodation. She is very distressed. Notices to quit and long-term living without a home are causing major stress. Sam McGuinness from Simon Communities Ireland stated, "The picture is ominous as we face into the cold, dark winter months ahead and...

Financial Resolutions 2022 - Budget Statement 2023 (27 Sep 2022)

Joan Collins: .... It involves subsidising energy companies using fossil fuels such as gas. The most fundamental way is to nationalise them. The cost to France this year is an estimated at €7 billion. It would not cost our State anything like that - possibly €1.5 billion. In the long run, measures taken by the Government, such as the €600 credit for electricity bills, are also a...

Rent Reduction Bill 2022: Second Stage [Private Members] (13 Jul 2022)

Joan Collins: ...apartments, with the cost of buying a new apartment now ten times the average wage of €47,000 a year. The only people who can afford to buy or build are major international investment funds as long-term investments. When people cannot afford to buy, they are forced to rent in a market dominated increasingly by such big investment funds. I got an email just yesterday from a renter...

Raise the Roof: Motion [Private Members] (12 Jul 2022)

Joan Collins: ...2021. The rent caps are not working as new or refurbished properties are exempted. One could say the Government’s rent caps were designed not to work. Despite Government claims of progress on security of tenure, as long as landlords can evict on the basis of selling or refurbishing, or of a family member moving in, there will be no security of tenure for renters. We now have the...