Results 721-740 of 3,519 for speaker:Michelle Mulherin

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Foresty Partnership Agreements: Discussion (27 Feb 2018)

Michelle Mulherin: Sorry.

Seanad: Flooding: Statements (21 Feb 2018)

Michelle Mulherin: The Minister of State is very welcome to the Chamber. I compliment him on his work in the area of flood defences and the gusto which he brings to the position. It is very welcome that the recent national development plan allocates €1 billion, increased from €430 million, to tackling this issue. Members will have to repeatedly visit the Minister of State or his Department as...

Seanad: Versatis Medicated Plasters: Statements (21 Feb 2018)

Michelle Mulherin: I thank my colleague, Senator Colm Burke, for sharing time with me. He has covered a lot of points. It is important to note that the Minister of State has come here because it is clear that the changes to the way Versatis patches are prescribed has upset a lot of people. It is important that the people who have been caught out by the changes are given reassurance and clearly told how they...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Climate Change Issues specific to the Agriculture, Food and Marine Sectors: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Feb 2018)

Michelle Mulherin: Yes, I am.

Seanad: Telecommunications Services (Ducting and Cables) Bill 2018: Second Stage (14 Feb 2018)

Michelle Mulherin: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I also welcome the Bill which will formalise the situation in respect of fibre optic cables running from Killala to Galway. This was a very sensible move on the part of the Government, which was facilitated through Gas Networks Ireland. While the gas pipeline was being laid, ducting was also laid so that fibre optic cable could be placed within...

Seanad: Telecommunications Services (Ducting and Cables) Bill 2018: Second Stage (14 Feb 2018)

Michelle Mulherin: Grid connection is already in place in Killala.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Climate Change Issues specific to the Agriculture, Food and Marine Sectors: Discussion (13 Feb 2018)

Michelle Mulherin: That is co-operation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Climate Change Issues specific to the Agriculture, Food and Marine Sectors: Discussion (13 Feb 2018)

Michelle Mulherin: I welcome the representatives of the farming organisations. This is one of the most critical issues facing us. We talk about the CAP and Mercosur. It was really brought home to me when I was part of a delegation from the joint committee to Brussels in early December to discuss the new Common Agricultureal Policy and Mercosur when there was also talk about Brexit. The delegation met the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Climate Change Issues specific to the Agriculture, Food and Marine Sectors: Discussion (13 Feb 2018)

Michelle Mulherin: I hope we will get on better than that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Climate Change Issues specific to the Agriculture, Food and Marine Sectors: Discussion (13 Feb 2018)

Michelle Mulherin: Like politics.

Seanad: National Broadband Plan: Statements (13 Feb 2018)

Michelle Mulherin: Since Eir has dropped out as a bidder there has been much wringing of hands, not in woe but in glee, by the Opposition. This is too serious to be a political football. I must also correct Senator Leyden on a point of fact, the great national broadband scheme that Fianna Fáil implemented was an absolute failure and a waste of money. That scheme was rolled out to many electoral...

Seanad: National Broadband Plan: Statements (13 Feb 2018)

Michelle Mulherin: Let us get back to the business.

Seanad: National Broadband Plan: Statements (13 Feb 2018)

Michelle Mulherin: This should not be made into a political football because we are talking about the most disadvantaged areas in the country. It is not just that people cannot get online and it is nice to get online, but that it affects people's households, families and businesses. If we are to fulfil our ambition to make rural Ireland sustainable, the beginning, middle and end of that is broadband. It...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Feb 2018)

Michelle Mulherin: I wish to voice my support for, and stand in solidarity with, section 39 health and social services workers who provide essential health and social services in our community. In particular, I support their call and case for pay restoration. Their circumstances have been highlighted. Basically, the situation is that they took cuts to their pay, the same as their counterparts working...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Aquaculture Licensing Process: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (6 Feb 2018)

Michelle Mulherin: I also want to ask about the process agreed with DG Environment to address the issues in the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union. In particular, I refer to the environmental impact of industrial-scale fish farms and how the concerns around that are addressed. Part of the process involves the National Parks and Wildlife Service setting conservation objectives. The area...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Aquaculture Licensing Process: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (6 Feb 2018)

Michelle Mulherin: Let me clarify a matter. The State set conservation objectives for salmon which were implemented when the State bought out the draft nets at sea. This was done to preserve the wild salmon stock. Are these measures taken into consideration now in the granting of licences that could adversely impact on wild salmon?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Aquaculture Licensing Process: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (6 Feb 2018)

Michelle Mulherin: I raised the concern because IFI has raised the concern and it knows more about salmon conservation than I do. Notwithstanding my respect for the Marine Institute and its wealth of scientific knowledge, I am concerned when the IFI has concerns because the salmon and trout stock and so on is its primary concern.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Aquaculture Licensing Process: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (6 Feb 2018)

Michelle Mulherin: What about onshore fish farms?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Aquaculture Licensing Process: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (6 Feb 2018)

Michelle Mulherin: Is the Department actively looking at the possibility of onshore and the pros and cons of doing it? We will always find people who have sometimes extreme environmental concerns who see everything going pear-shaped very quickly but it has been explained to me and I have seen footage of very problematic offshore fish farms in Canada where it seems to have caused environmental disaster. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Aquaculture Licensing Process: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (6 Feb 2018)

Michelle Mulherin: I presume if it was overwhelmingly environmentally preferable, or even quite preferable, to have it onshore, Government policy would incentivise onshore as opposed to offshore and it would then become more commercially attractive. We dealt with these types of issues with renewable energy. We have to support renewable energy at the moment. As it goes along and technology develops it becomes...