Results 41-60 of 9,893 for speaker:Thomas Byrne

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: I do not want to go into too much detail but there have been competitions cancelled and competitions held that have had to be cancelled after the exams took place. That is not satisfactory. I engage with EPSO regularly. Next week, I am meeting the budget commissioner, Commissioner Serafin, primarily about the budget but I will also mention the jobs situation as he is also the...

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: Yes.

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: Yes. That is what I am thinking about.

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: If the Deputy sees me talking while he is asking a question, it is simply because I am trying to formulate the correct answer on a particular issue.

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: There is a tricky issue around Article 7 and Hungary, and I just want to get it exactly right. In the context of Hungary, we have been a very strong voice on various laws it has brought in. For example, on a child protection law and a lot of stuff that is really just anti-LGBT. We do not approve of it. We do not support it. We think it is inconsistent with Hungary's membership of the...

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: A large amount of funding has not gone to Hungary. I say that bluntly. If I met the Hungarian minister now, I would say that we will not pay for this. Why should we pay for it? We have to be clear about that. The rule of law is very much a part of our work in the budget negotiations. We have to work with other countries on that as well. It was a major achievement to get this through...

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: Yes. There are others as well. It is not just them. It is not that they are against the rule of law or support Hungary, but they may not want this to happen for various reasons. It is not clear to us. We have insisted on the highest standards from Hungary, but is not clear looking around the table. No one will put down a proposal on this unless they are sure they have the four fifths,...

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: No, we are in favour of the Article 7 process moving ahead. However, we also do not want to hold a vote that does not succeed. Other countries that may not want this to go ahead may not have any rule-of-law issues whatsoever but they may just not like the process and see that someone could use it against them for other reasons. I have never had a substantive discussion about getting the...

Committee on European Union Affairs: EU General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Jun 2025)

Thomas Byrne: I will come in on some of that. If the EU-Israel association agreement comes up at the Foreign Affairs Council again, I am happy to talk about it. It does not come up at the meetings I sit at. The Tánaiste looks after that one. I have no doubt that I or the Tánaiste will be happy to talk about it anytime. I think the committee should be meeting other committees in parliaments...

Competition and Consumer Protection (Unfair Prices) Bill 2023: Second Stage [Private Members] (29 May 2025)

Thomas Byrne: As much as anybody, I appreciate the need for really strong competition law, policy and legislation. The Deputy brought me back to my college days when he spoke about defining the market because that was one of the big questions we got in the exam every year. It is also one of the big challenges the competition authority has.

Competition and Consumer Protection (Unfair Prices) Bill 2023: Second Stage [Private Members] (29 May 2025)

Thomas Byrne: No, she was on the criminal law side, although it is criminal law - it is as simple as that - because you can be jailed or fined and the EU has very significant powers as well for bigger businesses. We all want to see, because if prices go up, and I know tariffs were mentioned being used as an excuse and all of that and some of these are issues, but the reality is, as Deputy Donnelly said,...

Competition and Consumer Protection (Unfair Prices) Bill 2023: Second Stage [Private Members] (29 May 2025)

Thomas Byrne: -----of abuse of market dominance. We support this Bill in the sense of letting it pass to the next Stage and wish it success for the future.

Competition and Consumer Protection (Unfair Prices) Bill 2023: Second Stage [Private Members] (29 May 2025)

Thomas Byrne: I thank the Labour Party and Deputies Nash and Bacik for bringing forward this Bill. Before I was ever a politician, competition law was my thing when I qualified as a solicitor so I am very interested in it and generally support what the Deputies are trying to do. The Government is not opposing this. The purpose of the Bill is to confer additional powers on the Competition and Consumer...

Competition and Consumer Protection (Unfair Prices) Bill 2023: Second Stage [Private Members] (29 May 2025)

Thomas Byrne: I think they are totally separate functions but we are all responsible for that. We may have proposed it, and it may have happened then after 2011. I cannot quite remember but consumer protection law is one thing. Competition law, of course, is related to it but they are very different roles. I would love to hear more on the competition law side, to be honest. The mandate of the CCPC...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Water Quality (29 May 2025)

Thomas Byrne: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and appreciate his concerns regarding this process. The water framework directive establishes the general objective that water bodies be restored to at least good ecological status by 2027. It also makes provision that a more realistic objective for water bodies that have been heavily modified may be set. This applies where restoration would not be...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Water Quality (29 May 2025)

Thomas Byrne: The Deputy says it is in breach of the citizens' assembly, but it is in compliance with EU law and guidance. This is not an exemption. It is defined in the EU guidance as an alternative target that is designed to get the best possible environmental outcome while continuing to provide societal benefits. This is a cyclical process. Water bodies currently proposed for designation are unable...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Transport Policy (29 May 2025)

Thomas Byrne: I thank the Deputy for bringing the focus to Galway and congestion and for being a strong voice for the city, for the wider constituency of Galway West and for Connemara. It is good he has raised the report in the Dáil because it outlines what congestion costs every man, woman and child in Galway. Galway citizens are likely to experience a much higher cost per capita than citizens of...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Transport Policy (29 May 2025)

Thomas Byrne: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta os rud é gur chuir sé an t-ábhar tábhachtach seo os comhair na Dála. Tá mise ag tógaint an ábhair seo thar ceann an Aire Iompair. I am aware of the Department’s recent report, The Economic Cost of Congestion in the Regional Cities 2022-2040, and the results pertaining to Galway. The report builds on an...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate (29 May 2025)

Thomas Byrne: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. As he will understand, the supply of public water and the provision of water services are matters for Uisce Éireann. Uisce Éireann has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local level. The scope, prioritisation and progression of individual...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate (29 May 2025)

Thomas Byrne: Our water and wastewater infrastructure requires substantial and sustained investment over a number of investment cycles to bring the systems up to the standards required of a modern service that provides for population growth and to build resilience in the face of climate change. Uisce Éireann has ramped up capital delivery for water services and infrastructure and we as an Oireachtas...