Results 81-100 of 369 for speaker:Ryan O'Meara

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Planning Issues (1 Jul 2025)

Ryan O'Meara: 458. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he is concerned about the level of access to training available to planners and associated staff in local authorities with regard to the standards and frameworks used in the assessment of biogas plant developments nationally, especially considering a national planning framework would be seen as the typical practice...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (1 Jul 2025)

Ryan O'Meara: 531. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the average processing times for domiciliary care allowance claim reviews and domiciliary care allowance claim appeals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35721/25]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (1 Jul 2025)

Ryan O'Meara: 532. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the average processing times for carer's allowance claim reviews and carer's allowance claim appeals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35722/25]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Strategies (1 Jul 2025)

Ryan O'Meara: 603. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a strategic environmental assessment was carried out prior to the development and publication of the National Biomethane Strategy; the way in which this assessment informed the strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35453/25]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Wildlife Conservation (1 Jul 2025)

Ryan O'Meara: 614. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for an update on the progress made by the deer management strategy group; the number of deer culled as a result of its work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35511/25]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (1 Jul 2025)

Ryan O'Meara: 867. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if financial support is available to Irish citizens who chose to complete a third level degree abroad; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35460/25]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (1 Jul 2025)

Ryan O'Meara: 868. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will consider enforcing a scheme for Irish citizens training abroad in medicine, where tuition relief would be provided while completing their degree, contingent on a contractual agreement to return and serve in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35461/25]

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 : Discussion (Resumed) (26 Jun 2025)

Ryan O'Meara: I thank the witnesses for their time this morning and for the genuinely informative submissions they have made. I will begin with Professor Tonra and the four points he set out, point No. 2 in particular - the "broadened range of potential deployment scenarios to include counter-narcotics, embassy security, hostage rescue" and so on. If the triple lock were to be retained, would we be able...

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 : Discussion (Resumed) (26 Jun 2025)

Ryan O'Meara: I thank Professor Tonra. I have a question for Mr. Murphy. A couple of times he mentioned the phrase, "to put trust back in this House". I think that was the phrase he used. This is a question I asked a couple of sessions ago of others who were before the committee. For me, the argument for retaining the triple lock at the moment is that we would rather trust the likes of warmongers like...

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 : Discussion (Resumed) (26 Jun 2025)

Ryan O'Meara: Absolutely. It was these Houses that established our neutrality and these Houses that, I believe, still firmly stand by it today. I will turn to Mr. Noonan about the points in his paper about Palestine and, essentially, the EU's failings in regard to that. I have said that in the Chamber myself and history will judge that, regardless of the fact that Ireland has been at the forefront of...

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 : Discussion (Resumed) (26 Jun 2025)

Ryan O'Meara: Some of the recommendations made by both witnesses and by Professor Tonra, in particular, are very welcome in regard to what else could be done. Following from Deputy Brabazon's questions about joining NATO, I guess the triple lock is seen as a safeguard. Is it Mr. Noonan's point about not being able to join NATO because of the constitutional requirements around that not a safeguard in...

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 : Discussion (Resumed) (26 Jun 2025)

Ryan O'Meara: Ireland could not join NATO without a referendum.

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 : Discussion (Resumed) (26 Jun 2025)

Ryan O'Meara: From Senator Craughwell's point about sovereignty, it was mentioned that Ireland perhaps lost some sovereignty or diminished our sovereignty when we joined the European Union but that was through a vote of the people. Is there not an argument that the creation of the triple lock to begin with should have been by a vote of the people also if that was going to diminish our sovereignty?

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 : Discussion (Resumed) (26 Jun 2025)

Ryan O'Meara: However, it was not a direct question in a referendum to the people.

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 : Discussion (Resumed) (26 Jun 2025)

Ryan O'Meara: I would like to come back to Professor Tonra for my next question. He made the point that some countries in recent times have reversed decades, if not centuries, of defence policy or points of neutrality. Finland and Sweden are two prime examples of this that were very dramatic in nature. Were Ireland to remove the triple lock, would our change in policy be any way compared to a move as...

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 : Discussion (Resumed) (26 Jun 2025)

Ryan O'Meara: I would probably have agreed with Professor Tonra before I asked that question, but particularly today with regard to Mr. Noonan's point that it seems we would need a referendum to join NATO, that makes that dramatic change even less severe.

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 : Discussion (Resumed) (26 Jun 2025)

Ryan O'Meara: In his opening statement, Mr. Murphy discussed the changes and amendments that have been made to legislation over the years and the number of times the Act has been amended. We are now looking at another amendment that is getting a lot of attention and controversy from some parts. At any point during discussion of those previous amendments, was there discussion of our neutrality and the...

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 : Discussion (Resumed) (26 Jun 2025)

Ryan O'Meara: Will we be less neutral if we remove the triple lock?

Select Committee on Education and Youth: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 26 - Education (Revised) (26 Jun 2025)

Ryan O'Meara: I welcome the Minister back. I have seen a lot of some of the witnesses recently. It is great to see the committee getting so much work done. I wish to start with the teacher fee refund scheme. A teacher contacted me recently having appealed a decision. This teacher is a guidance counsellor in a secondary school and has done a counselling course. They applied to the teacher fee refund...

Select Committee on Education and Youth: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 26 - Education (Revised) (26 Jun 2025)

Ryan O'Meara: I wish to return to the issue of school transport, about which there has been a bit of discussion. Last week, before my time ran out, I briefly raised with the Minister the mandatory retirement age of 70 for Bus Éireann drivers. This is something I have raised in the Dáil a number of times. I wish to address this issue in more detail. A lot of bus operators are in contact with...