Results 61-80 of 164 for speaker:Johnny Guirke in 'Dáil debates'

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Emergency Departments (6 Dec 2022)

Johnny Guirke: Last Saturday there were chaotic scenes at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, which is one of Ireland's busiest hospitals. A total of 11 ambulances were parked outside the emergency department and could not leave because there were no beds or trolleys for the patients inside. At the same time the HSE wants to divert more ambulances from Navan to Drogheda. Some paramedics were left...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (23 Nov 2022)

Johnny Guirke: I refer to the savage attack on two gardaí in Ballyfermot the other night. Over recent years, more than 400 gardaí, between trainee and qualified, have quit the force. Why is this? Why are there 300 fewer gardaí in the force now compared to two years ago? The Garda Representative Association president, Brendan O'Connor, was on LMFM yesterday. He spoke about a lack of...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (23 Nov 2022)

Johnny Guirke: These figures are from the end of September.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (10 Nov 2022)

Johnny Guirke: I spent the last few weeks going around my constituency of Meath West talking to small businesses in towns and villages. The issue that kept coming up was energy costs. I was talking to butcher shops and convenience stores. These were essential workers during the pandemic. They have mostly between five and seven employees and their energy costs have gone up three to four times. The...

Water Policy: Statements (9 Nov 2022)

Johnny Guirke: I want to raise a few issues related to my constituency of Meath West. Thousands of residents in Trim and Rathmolyon have had their water restricted for the past 11 days and this looks set to continue throughout this week. This has caused huge distress to the people and businesses affected as they are left without running water for long periods. Irish Water communication seems to entail...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (27 Oct 2022)

Johnny Guirke: The review of the accident and emergency unit and acute care in Our Lady's Hospital, Navan is complete. The people in Meath are very concerned about a review that does not include protecting and enhancing existing services or looking at what it would cost to make Navan a fully functional model 3 hospital. We keep talking about patient safety but if we invested in Navan hospital, we would...

Public Transport: Motion [Private Members] (25 Oct 2022)

Johnny Guirke: I thank my colleague Deputy O'Rourke for bringing this very important motion to the Dáil floor. Our island's public transport system is staffed by tens of thousands of hard-working men and women and I acknowledge that. The 2016 census recorded 13.5% of the population as having a disability. People with a disability or those with mobility challenges all too often face barriers using...

Domestic Electricity and Gas Disconnections: Motion [Private Members] (18 Oct 2022)

Johnny Guirke: I thank my colleague, Deputy O'Rourke, for bringing this motion before the House. We have known for a long time of the struggles that some households are facing when it comes to energy costs. That situation is now worse than ever given the cost-of-living crisis and the particular crisis that families and households face as electricity and gas prices continue to rise. Since the pandemic,...

Defective Concrete Products Levy: Motion [Private Members] (4 Oct 2022)

Johnny Guirke: There is serious concern over this concrete block levy, with genuine fears of serious increases in house prices. Those building a home will be faced with increased costs. What the Government is doing is placing the cost of defective materials on the shoulders of people who are struggling to buy a home or who had no hand, act or part in this scandal. It was under the Government’s own...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 Oct 2022)

Johnny Guirke: Centralising community welfare officers across the country and in my own county, Meath, starting on 10 October is a shocking decision, as the community welfare officer is an emergency financial lifeline for many people awaiting other social welfare payments to be approved or having to cope with sudden urgent unexpected payments not covered by available income. This will represent a...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (22 Sep 2022)

Johnny Guirke: In early January, the Government announced plans for a special tax-free €1,000 pandemic bonus payment for front-line workers who worked in Covid-19 environments, risking their lives and those of their families to keep the rest of us safe. Nearly nine months later, thousands of workers who are not paid directly by the HSE, such as those working in the private sector, in nursing homes,...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Jul 2022)

Johnny Guirke: I seek an update on Enfield Community College. We have been told that the school project will go to tender later this year. Will the Tánaiste confirm that is the case? Has a framework of project management design team consultants been appointed yet? This framework would comprise architects and civil, structural, mechanical and electrical engineers. Has a contract notice to establish...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Jul 2022)

Johnny Guirke: I want to raise the issue of Our Lady's Hospital, Navan. Following recent developments, 17 consultants wrote to the Minister for Health to voice their concerns about the potential closure of the emergency department in Navan. The stated that they would not be able to cope. They said the hospital will not be able to provide the right care for patients at the right time or in the right...

Emergency Budget: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (28 Jun 2022)

Johnny Guirke: The hardship, anxiety and desperation being felt by households across the country need to be addressed today. The cost-of-living crisis is hitting people's pockets hard and families are struggling with rising costs. The prices of rent, childcare, groceries, petrol, diesel and heating oil, as well as back-to-school costs, are all shooting up, while people's wages stay the same. People are...

Our Lady's Hospital Navan Emergency Services: Motion [Private Members] (21 Jun 2022)

Johnny Guirke: It is very disappointing that the Government will not support our motion because by pausing it, all we are doing is kicking the can down the road. Instead of protecting and enhancing emergency and critical care services in Navan, uncertainty will hang over the people of Meath for months. The Minister could have put this to bed tonight by saying that he would protect and enhance services at...

Our Lady's Hospital Navan Emergency Services: Motion [Private Members] (21 Jun 2022)

Johnny Guirke: I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes: — the announcement on 13th June by senior members of the Health Service Executive (HSE) that the final stages of downgrading the 24-hour Emergency Department (ED) at Our Lady's Hospital, Navan (OLHN) would commence on 30th June, 2022; — that HSE officials have acknowledged that Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda will see...

Food Price Rises: Motion [Private Members] (31 May 2022)

Johnny Guirke: Sinn Féin is bringing forward this motion on the rising food prices as we recognise the plight every single worker and low-income family is going through at this moment in time. Food prices are continuing to rise, with groceries expected to cost almost €800 more over the next 12 months. New research has found that 62% of people feel they will have to cut back on food spending...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (25 May 2022)

Johnny Guirke: I raise Tabor House in Navan, County Meath. It has permission to build a 12-bedroom secondary addiction centre for women. The plan is in place. It has been gifted a site and the local authority is going to fund the building. Tabor House sent a letter to the HSE in 2019 and while there has been a response, it was not the letter that we want, namely, a letter of promise that the HSE will...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 May 2022)

Johnny Guirke: I raise the issue of Enfield Community College. We have been told the new school will go to tender later this year and will be delivered by the Department's design and build team. While this is promising news, has the school project been identified under one of the current project bundles in the National Development Finance Agency, NDFA, and, if so, which one? Following a review of the...

Living Wage Bill 2022: Second Stage [Private Members] (11 May 2022)

Johnny Guirke: A living wage makes possible a minimum acceptable standard of living. Work should provide an adequate income to enable individuals to afford a socially acceptable standard of living - a living wage that provides for needs, not wants. A living wage would help to provide employees with sufficient income to achieve a minimum standard of living. In other words, it would be an income floor or...