Results 81-100 of 803 for in 'Dáil debates' speaker:Claire Kerrane

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Forestry Sector (14 Dec 2023)

Claire Kerrane: 1. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an update on his engagement with the forestry sector regarding concerns around the limitations the new forestry programme rules will have on afforestation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55423/23]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Forestry Sector (14 Dec 2023)

Claire Kerrane: I wish to ask the Minister about his engagement with the forestry sector in respect of the new forestry programme. There are significant concerns regarding the restrictions and limitations in that programme which the sector believes will greatly limit the amount of ground that can actually be afforested in the first place.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Forestry Sector (14 Dec 2023)

Claire Kerrane: I thank the Minister of State. I welcome the fact that she has met with representatives form SEEFA. In the context of the extensive engagement she had, I presume those she met raised with her the concerns that exist regarding the significant area of land that is ineligible, particularly when it comes to peat soils. The latter removes a large chunk of the west of Ireland from consideration....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Forestry Sector (14 Dec 2023)

Claire Kerrane: In regard to the maps and restrictions, the Minister of State previously indicated that a full map of Ireland showing the restrictions layered on it will be published. We need to see that map. The response to a parliamentary question I tabled on the matter indicated that it will be published. I do not see how that map can show the vast areas of land that include peat soils. Did the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Beef Sector (14 Dec 2023)

Claire Kerrane: I wish to ask the Minister about the recent changes that the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation, ICBF, has made to the beef index and, in particular, the impact this will have on the suckler carbon efficiency programme, SCEP, for suckler farmers. He will be aware that significant concerns have been raised in regard to the manner in which this has been done and what it will mean for farmers,...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Dec 2023)

Claire Kerrane: I again want to raise with the Taoiseach the legislation on lone parents and the treatment of child maintenance for social welfare payments. This is not complex legislation but it is now a year since the child maintenance review group reported. It is very short legislation. Given lone parents and lone-parent families are consistently at the top of the table when it comes to the highest...

Immigration: Motion [Private Members] (6 Dec 2023)

Claire Kerrane: I listened carefully to the Minister's speech and, unfortunately, she never once mentioned the Government's responsibility to provide additional practical supports and services to communities where populations have increased due to new arrivals. The first thing that most people in these communities will tell you is that the existing services and supports are already under pressure. They...

Renters: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (5 Dec 2023)

Claire Kerrane: It is so important when we talk about big rents that we remind ourselves that it is not just in urban centres and big towns, the rental crisis is right across every rural constituency, including my own of Roscommon-Galway. The increases are consistent and they are continuing to rise month on month. Although it comes as no surprise, the biggest disappointment here this evening is that both...

Renters: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (5 Dec 2023)

Claire Kerrane: The RTB report showed an increase of 9.5% in the last year for existing tenancies in County Roscommon, and 8.8% for new tenancies. In County Galway the increase for new tenancies is 13.5% and 4.3% for existing tenancies. As many colleagues have said, there is nowhere to rent. The worst thing is that when someone comes to us who has an eviction notice that there is literally nowhere for...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 Nov 2023)

Claire Kerrane: I again raise the need for additional practical supports for rural communities that are welcoming refugees and international protection persons. I have a public meeting in Ballinasloe tonight and another in Boyle tomorrow. The communities raise the same issues: the lack of services, particularly health and medical services. I have raised this many times and I cannot understand why, when...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 Nov 2023)

Claire Kerrane: Not GPs.

Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2023: Motion (29 Nov 2023)

Claire Kerrane: I acknowledge the horse and greyhound sectors and the positive impact they have in rural communities, particularly economic. Having said that, €95 million is an awful lot of money. It is an increase on last year. I put the point to the Minister last week in the committee that there is no rationale for €95 million. I do not understand how that figure was come to. We need...

Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2023: Second Stage (23 Nov 2023)

Claire Kerrane: I also welcome this year’s social welfare Bill. I will take the opportunity to raise a couple of issues. I understand the legislation around lone parents and the treatment of child maintenance and social welfare payments is to come. I ask that it be done as quickly as possible. I have made the point many times that child maintenance is for the upbringing of a child or children. It...

Palestine: Motion [Private Members] (22 Nov 2023)

Claire Kerrane: Hear, hear.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Nov 2023)

Claire Kerrane: It is now a year since the child maintenance review group published its report. It made a number of recommendations around child maintenance and social welfare, all of which we have called for for many years. The timelines for the legislation that is needed to remove the provision that child maintenance is counted as means for social welfare payments have come and gone. It is now said to...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Nov 2023)

Claire Kerrane: The Minister knows the importance of increasing apprenticeship capacity right around the State, especially in the context of housing need. He is well aware of the proposal made by Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board, ETB, to SOLAS in respect of an apprenticeship centre in Roscommon, really well located, bang in the centre of Roscommon town, with really good public transport...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Nov 2023)

Claire Kerrane: The suspension of beef exports to China is a real blow, especially when the market had only reopened recently and was building back slowly. What is more worrying is the last time we had this same situation the suspension lasted three years and that cannot happen again. While I appreciate this is a matter for the Chinese Government, what engagement has the Minister for Agriculture, Food and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (26 Oct 2023)

Claire Kerrane: I welcome the fact that the deadline for spreading has been pushed out to next year. I do not see why a farmer would buy lime now that they potentially will not be able to spread until next year, particularly when many of them do not have the money to do so. The BISS payments will make a big difference but they have just hit farmers' bank accounts. In some cases they have not hit accounts...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (26 Oct 2023)

Claire Kerrane: In light of all that, I ask the Minister to check with the Department how many of the more than 38,000 farmers who applied to the scheme have submitted receipts. Farmers are under pressure and input costs have never been higher. There were delays to the BISS, as the Minister acknowledged, due to this being the first year of the new CAP. It is fine for the Minister to say that but farmers...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Funding (26 Oct 2023)

Claire Kerrane: Again, I make the point that sending about €150 million back to Europe to a REPowerEU fund is really unforgivable in light of the challenges that farmers are facing. The Minister will have heard yesterday from the Irish Grain Growers of a once-in-a-generation wipeout for a lot of farmers in a sector that we want and need to grow and for which we have targets to meet. I understand...