Results 41-60 of 6,614 for speaker:Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Wastewater Treatment (24 Sep 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I thank the Minister of State. It is important that representations are made from the offices of the Minister of State and-or the Minister to Uisce Éireann in relation to this issue. I say this because the response seems to offer two potential causes for the malodour without necessarily nailing the company's colours to the mast as to whether it is the low water levels and the summer,...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Wastewater Treatment (24 Sep 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: This matter relates to issues that the communities in Mahon and Blackrock in the south-east of Cork city are experiencing. Fundamentally, the answers people are looking for is how and when the problem that exists is going to be fixed. They have not received such answers. When a resolution will be found is not something the communities in question have a sense of at this point. The main...

Education (Affordable School Uniforms) Bill 2025: First Stage (23 Sep 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: The summer months should be a time of respite and enjoyment for families. However, for far too many families it is a time of stress and worry as they try to figure out how to get on top of back-to-school costs. The costs are absolutely enormous, as the research by the Irish League of Credit Unions and others have identified. Many families are getting into debt or struggling with their...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 Sep 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: The Minister will be aware that in April there was a lot of concern in the Cork city area about the amalgamation of units across four Garda stations into two units, in Carrigaline and Douglas, and Bishopstown and Ballincollig. Subsequently, and after many years of campaigning on behalf of the people of Cork, with public representatives and Cork Chamber of Commerce and so on, I am glad to see...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Engagement with UNRWA Deputy Director John Whyte (23 Sep 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I apologise for being late to the meeting, but I had a question in the Chamber. I thank UNRWA for the incredible work that is being done. Mr. Whyte has detailed in his statement the number of UNRWA staff who have been killed or injured and the circumstances under which they must be working. It is very important work. I might ask some questions about the situation on the ground, but I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Engagement with UNRWA Deputy Director John Whyte (23 Sep 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Yes. I have two further questions for this round. I hope to come in with some other matters if we have a further round. UNRWA operates on the basis of a mandate that is renewable. In recent months, unfortunately, another UN-mandated deployment or mission, albeit a very different one, namely UNIFIL, has not had its mandate renewed for post 2027. Is there any fear on Mr. Whyte's part about...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Engagement with UNRWA Deputy Director John Whyte (23 Sep 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: One of the things I suppose I find hard to get my head around is the day-to-day existence of the typical staff of UNRWA. Maybe Mr. Whyte can clarify this. It is something I suppose I probably struggle to understand, but I imagine the vast majority of the staff are from Gaza. What proportion of them would be, either originally or currently, from outside of the Gaza area? I suppose travel...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Engagement with UNRWA Deputy Director John Whyte (23 Sep 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Since the dawn of human conflict, ever since there has been conflict and destruction, disease has almost always followed. On top of the direct injuries from bombings, the lack of food, the breakdown in water systems, sewage systems, etc., and the situations people are living in, it seems that the risk of the spread of disease is greatly heightened. I wonder if there is something Mr. Whyte...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (18 Sep 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Some of what exists on the various campuses dates from a different time in the context of what is expected in terms of accommodation, but also with respect to family arrangements and so on. It is nonetheless the case there is a housing crisis so it is easy to understand why people feel frustrated. We have members of the Defence Forces who are struggling to find accommodation, especially...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (18 Sep 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Related to a previous question, one of the considerations should be former Defence Forces personnel who, for various reasons, have low incomes and find it difficult to find accommodation. Obviously it should have the same standards the Minister has in mind. That should also be a consideration when we are looking at residential blocks. I am aware there will be a detailed assessment of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (18 Sep 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 15. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of residential Defence Forces buildings that are currently not habitable, and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49304/25]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (18 Sep 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Our Defence Forces camps have a large number of residential buildings, many of which are either not in use or uninhabitable. About 85% of the buildings in Cork are uninhabitable, while the number across the State is 153, with 71 buildings unoccupied and 79 uninhabitable. I appreciate that the circumstances are a bit different from those when they were first built, but there is still scope...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Military Neutrality (18 Sep 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I will raise three points. I have made most of my primary arguments but I have three matters to clarify. I am not specifically addressing Deputy Clendennen, but there has been talk of misinformation. Some Government Deputies have tried to say that the issue of the triple lock has nothing to do with neutrality. The idea that the legislation that references how Irish troops are deployed...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (18 Sep 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Fianna Fáil was not.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (18 Sep 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: The Tánaiste's party was not either.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (18 Sep 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I will return to some of the things that we discussed in the committee but I might first respond on the issue of UNIFIL and what this means in terms of the UN. I wish to say clearly that I regret very much the decisions that have been taken in relation to UNIFIL. A lot of work would have gone on behind the scenes to ensure there was not a cliff edge. This was important so that the least...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (18 Sep 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: The Swiss and the Austrians have constitutional protections in terms of neutrality so perhaps that is a conversation the Tánaiste wants to have. Instead of legislation governing the triple lock then perhaps the Tánaiste wants to have a conversation about us looking at constitutional protection for neutrality. Let us have that conversation. I suspect that is not what is in the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Maritime Jurisdiction (18 Sep 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 3. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence to provide an update on the national maritime security strategy; and the level of funding that has been committed for 2026 and 2027. [49299/25]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Maritime Jurisdiction (18 Sep 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: The area of maritime security is one of the most salient to us as an island nation. If we are talking about increasing defence expenditure, we must surely ensure that our seas are safeguarded against traditional threats but also against new and expanding threats such as threats to undersea cables, hybrid threats and so on. A maritime security strategy is obviously something that is very...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Maritime Jurisdiction (18 Sep 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Addressing this in a way that is sustainable will require some current spending as well as capital spending and I might come back to that in my last contribution. The threats that are potentially faced are multiple. There are obviously the traditional issues that the Defence Forces faced in ensuring the protection of Irish waters in a fishing and general sort of sense but also as regards...