Results 61-80 of 238 for speaker:Joe Cooney

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: TB Eradication Programme: Discussion (18 Jun 2025)

Joe Cooney: Is the Department more concerned about deer than about badgers?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: TB Eradication Programme: Discussion (18 Jun 2025)

Joe Cooney: I really feel the deer are not helping the situation. What is the Department doing as regards culling deer?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: TB Eradication Programme: Discussion (18 Jun 2025)

Joe Cooney: I have one final question. When a farmer's animals go down, how long does it take for him to get a payment from the Department? That concern has been raised with me a good bit.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: TB Eradication Programme: Discussion (18 Jun 2025)

Joe Cooney: I am hearing differently. The poor farmers are going through enough. The Department should get the payments out as quickly as possible.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: TB Eradication Programme: Discussion (18 Jun 2025)

Joe Cooney: I really appreciate the witnesses coming in here to give us their views because TB is an issue of serious concern. The most frightening thing is that, instead of the percentages going down, they are unfortunately getting worse. The committee, the officials and farmers should work together to curb it.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (17 Jun 2025)

Joe Cooney: 80. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth regarding Tusla services in County Clare, the number of social workers employed; the number of vacancies for social workers; the length of time those positions have been vacant, the number of children with no allocated social worker; the number of children in need of either foster or residential care who are not...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (17 Jun 2025)

Joe Cooney: Recently, I had discussions with a number of people who have engaged with Tusla's alternative services in Clare. What I heard about the type and level of care being provided for some of the most vulnerable children in our society caused me great concern. I am here to get some answers as to the number of social workers, the number of vacancies, the turnover rate for social workers in Clare...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (17 Jun 2025)

Joe Cooney: I have heard about a very low number of social workers and extremely high rates of staff burnout and staff turnover in Clare. This has resulted in severely traumatised children being handed from one social worker to another, with little or no continuity of care. I have heard of children with a foster family or residential placement being put into special emergency arrangements, through the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (17 Jun 2025)

Joe Cooney: I thank the Minister, but everything I have heard on the ground tells me that the system is broken. A review of the issues I have highlighted is needed to make a start on improving things. Good people across the county are holding on by their fingertips and will leave unless a real attempt is made to address their concerns. These children need consistency in social worker staff in order...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (17 Jun 2025)

Joe Cooney: Having spoken to several childcare providers, the main concern for the viability of sector is staff retention. I am not surprised, given the information I have received. I understand an SNA can be applied to a primary school having completed a 12-week certificate course, while a childcare educator must have a minimum FETAC level 5 qualification, which is a one to two year process. A...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (17 Jun 2025)

Joe Cooney: I thank the Minister for her positive reply. I wish to raise one final point with the Minister regarding extra capacity that may be within the system without any extra facilities, highlighted by this direct quote from the manager of one facility: Allocation of a blanket of 45 hours childcare per week to a family without full consideration of their circumstances is completely clogging up...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (17 Jun 2025)

Joe Cooney: 78. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of new childcare providers who have entered the sector in each of the past five years; the number of childcare providers who have left the sector in each of the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32214/25]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (17 Jun 2025)

Joe Cooney: One issue that always arises during my weekly clinics in County Clare is the lack of childcare places. This is such an enormous stress for almost all working parents. An adequate level of such facilities is important from an educational perspective, but also as critical enablers for parents to join the workforce. Will the Minister provide a breakdown of the number of childcare providers...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Challenges Relating to the Delivery of Housing: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Jun 2025)

Joe Cooney: I thank both organisations for their presentations. It is good to see the impact they have had and will have in the future. Infrastructure is a major concern of mine and it is my honest belief that it is holding up housing development in a major way in certain areas. The lack of public wastewater systems in many communities is strangling them, and getting them is a pipe dream. Communities...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Challenges Relating to the Delivery of Housing: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Jun 2025)

Joe Cooney: It is a serious concern. We are aware of where land is zoned and capacity is not in the infrastructure, particularly wastewater. I would welcome if something could be moved forward to see if it is was possible, with all sides working together, to get this land made useful for development. We are all looking for the development of houses. If we do not get this land up and running, more so...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Challenges Relating to the Delivery of Housing: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Jun 2025)

Joe Cooney: That is welcome news. I hope this means we could see more housing developments going ahead in rural parts of the country. The other issue is the shortage of skilled construction workers. I want to touch on apprenticeships. I do not know whether this is part of the agencies' work but it is important to highlight it here today. There is a shortage of skilled construction workers. Some...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Challenges Relating to the Delivery of Housing: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Jun 2025)

Joe Cooney: Mr. Whelan and I discussed social and affordable houses as I was finishing up in the first round. The failure to deliver more social houses over the previous years has unfortunately led us into the housing crisis we are in now. My concern is that the delivery of affordable houses is exclusively focused on the large urban areas, unfortunately, and coastal communities are completely...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Departmental Contracts (17 Jun 2025)

Joe Cooney: 245. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the names of external auditors that the Department have used to carry out works on behalf of the Department in 2024 and to date in 2025, in tabular form. [32602/25]

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: State Bodies (17 Jun 2025)

Joe Cooney: 367. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of vacant WTE staff currently at the Health and Safety Authority, by job title; the expected timeframe for filling each of those vacancies, in tabular form. [32600/25]

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Industrial Development (17 Jun 2025)

Joe Cooney: 368. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to outline all capital investment made by the IDA in County Clare since 2022, in tabular form. [32601/25]