Results 8,461-8,480 of 28,162 for speaker:Catherine Murphy

Written Answers — Department of Health: Departmental Staff (1 Feb 2022)

Catherine Murphy: 754. To ask the Minister for Health if he will publish the salary scale in respect of the position of Secretary General of his Department; the point at which the Secretary General is on; and if the Secretary General of his Department is in receipt of the full amount regarding the position on the scale they are on. [4861/22]

National Broadband Plan: Statements (27 Jan 2022)

Catherine Murphy: There has been quite a bit of media coverage around the NBP in recent months, particularly before Christmas. It has mainly focused on missed targets, on how very little of the investors’ own money has gone into the NBP, on how it is funded, on the complicated corporate structure and so on. The big takeaway was about the expectation that €175 million in equity was to be put in...

National Broadband Plan: Statements (27 Jan 2022)

Catherine Murphy: On a point of order, there is no Minister on the other side of the House.

National Broadband Plan: Statements (27 Jan 2022)

Catherine Murphy: The point of the intervention area was that it was an area that was not commercial. Eir was one of the entities in the process and, from memory, it had spent about €7 million by the time it dropped out. The key issue is that we get everybody connected that needs to be and wants to be connected. However, within the plan, there is the encroachment area and compensation can be paid....

National Broadband Plan: Statements (27 Jan 2022)

Catherine Murphy: We are close to 5 February, where there would be the requirement to determine what numbers are to be delivered within the next year - in any case, it is in or around the beginning of February. Where is the Minister of State on that? When are we going to know the numbers that are going to be delivered? The Minister of State talked about negotiating. I get worried when I hear that. This is...

National Broadband Plan: Statements (27 Jan 2022)

Catherine Murphy: Will that be done within the next two weeks?

National Broadband Plan: Statements (27 Jan 2022)

Catherine Murphy: I am conscious of time and there are a few issues I want to get in. Terminology is very important. We were very conscious of that when we were debating for a very long period of time, backwards and forwards, the number of houses or premises passed and the number connected, which is very different. The number connected is actually very low in comparison to the numbers passed. We need to...

National Broadband Plan: Statements (27 Jan 2022)

Catherine Murphy: I ask the Minister of State to come back to me on that.

National Broadband Plan: Statements (27 Jan 2022)

Catherine Murphy: I welcome the debate and thank the Business Committee for acceding to it. Some of us have spent weeks of our lives on this issue over the years as members of both the line committee and the Committee of Public Accounts, forensically examining this and going through the process, which was flawed. Indeed, the Green Party was on this side of the House at the time. One bidder remained at the...

National Broadband Plan: Statements (27 Jan 2022)

Catherine Murphy: Will the Minister of State publish the contract in order that we can see it?

National Broadband Plan: Statements (27 Jan 2022)

Catherine Murphy: We also have a need for transparency and information, which I think the Minister of State will accept. The Currency produced the corporate structure, the names of which the Minister of State listed, and it has been described as Byzantine. It does not fill us with confidence, given we did not have any in the first instance, about the ability of the company to deliver broadband to the extent...

Public Accounts Committee: National Transport Authority: Financial Statements 2020 (27 Jan 2022)

Catherine Murphy: We all acknowledge that transport will be one of the three big areas we will have to deal with. We have to achieve a modal shift. That has got to be the objective, not least because of our climate obligations and the crisis the planet is in but also because there is a very strong economic reason. We need our public transport services to connect and work. I am a strong advocate of public...

Public Accounts Committee: National Transport Authority: Financial Statements 2020 (27 Jan 2022)

Catherine Murphy: Please do not give me that.

Public Accounts Committee: National Transport Authority: Financial Statements 2020 (27 Jan 2022)

Catherine Murphy: Nobody wants some of those services.

Public Accounts Committee: National Transport Authority: Financial Statements 2020 (27 Jan 2022)

Catherine Murphy: Is Ms Graham saying that those services will not change until after the pandemic and things have returned to normal?

Public Accounts Committee: National Transport Authority: Financial Statements 2020 (27 Jan 2022)

Catherine Murphy: Where people were using a service and BusConnects is introduced and services are taken off this is what happens. I am using my area as an example. I am sure this is going to be replicated. The authority needs to be listening to the feedback in those areas.

Public Accounts Committee: National Transport Authority: Financial Statements 2020 (27 Jan 2022)

Catherine Murphy: It is not listening to that feedback because there is no method for people to feed back.

Public Accounts Committee: National Transport Authority: Financial Statements 2020 (27 Jan 2022)

Catherine Murphy: Will the NTA look at where it is operating services and nobody is using them? The biggest complaint I am hearing is that buses are travelling around empty. People are complaining about the waste. At the same time, they are asking for services previously in place to be reinstated.

Public Accounts Committee: National Transport Authority: Financial Statements 2020 (27 Jan 2022)

Catherine Murphy: I presume the NTA carries out traffic surveys. If one listens to "AA Roadwatch", one will note that it is the areas on the periphery that dominate its reports. I have done some measurement around, for example, car numbers between one particular junction and the next, where I noted a considerable increase so it is not that people are not travelling. There is traffic chaos at some of the...

Public Accounts Committee: National Transport Authority: Financial Statements 2020 (27 Jan 2022)

Catherine Murphy: I cannot accept that. I will not allow that to stand on the record because that is not the experience.