Results 981-1,000 of 3,241 for speaker:Brian Ó Domhnaill

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Medical Card Eligibility (11 Feb 2014)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: This matter relates to the medical card eligibility for individuals aged between 18 and 26 years who, due to changes made, will have their social welfare entitlement reduced to as low as €100 per week if they are not undergoing a course of study. One would presume anyone in receipt of a social welfare payment of €100 a week would receive a medical card but this is not the...

Seanad: Homelessness Strategy: Motion (5 Feb 2014)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: It is 816 in Sligo.

Seanad: Homelessness Strategy: Motion (5 Feb 2014)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Seanad Éireann" and substitute the following: "notes-- with deep concern the rising numbers of homeless across Dublin; - the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive's confirmation that rough sleeping in the city has increased by "a shocking 200% in the past 12 months"; - that Focus Ireland had reported an 18% increase in demand for its...

Seanad: Homelessness Strategy: Motion (5 Feb 2014)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: When the Government is praising itself for providing houses for 0.6% of those on the waiting list, it is acknowledging that no homes will be available for the vast majority of people who need them. It makes absolutely no sense to bring forward a motion like this.

Seanad: Homelessness Strategy: Motion (5 Feb 2014)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: We have tabled an amendment to the motion because accepting the Government proposition would signal our approval of a situation whereby only 0.6% of those in need will be assisted.

Seanad: Homelessness Strategy: Motion (5 Feb 2014)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: The Government is supposed to represent and act for all the people. There is an obligation on the Government to provide houses for the 98,000 people who need them. I agree with some of what Senator Landy said in this regard. Even if we do not get a single new house, the situation could be significantly improved by enabling local authorities to rent out their existing stock. As it stands,...

Seanad: Homelessness Strategy: Motion (5 Feb 2014)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Yes, I am. However, most of that funding will go towards work that had to be carried out in 2012 and 2013. That is what I have been told by the director of services in Donegal. The fundamental problem is that the capital allocation is entirely inadequate. There is no cause for the Government to congratulate itself on the provision of €100 million, which is only enough to address the...

Seanad: Homelessness Strategy: Motion (5 Feb 2014)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Since this Government came to power, it has given the banks unquestionable powers. It is up to the banks to decide whether a customer has co-operated. I came across a case during the week where a customer was deemed not to be co-operating because he was unable to meet his full mortgage payment, even though he had sought to enter into a partial payment arrangement. It is disgraceful. I...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Feb 2014)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I accept the ruling that my Adjournment matter for this evening on the role of An Post and the Minister in the closure of post offices, has been ruled out of order. I ask the Leader to ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, to come to the House to discuss the closure of rural post offices such as the post office in Bunbeg in my constituency. I will ask the...

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy and Rural Development Programme: Statements (22 Jan 2014)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I am going by the figures that have been presented to me by the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on agriculture in the Dáil.

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy and Rural Development Programme: Statements (22 Jan 2014)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: The figures were compiled in replies to parliamentary questions.

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy and Rural Development Programme: Statements (22 Jan 2014)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I have two final points. I plead with the Minister to consider the position on the genomics scheme. Funding of €80 per head is available. Perhaps the Minister could clarify the position, but it is my understanding that the charge is €50 per animal tested. Therefore, the farmer will only gain €30.

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy and Rural Development Programme: Statements (22 Jan 2014)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: My final point is on the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS. Is it a condition of the GLAS that 80% of the commonage farmers will have to agree before the scheme can be drawn down on the commonages? If that is the case, it is unworkable. Perhaps the Minister will clarify that.

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy and Rural Development Programme: Statements (22 Jan 2014)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I welcome the Minister, Deputy Coveney, to the House and I thank him for his comprehensive overview of what has been achieved with the new Common Agricultural Policy. I acknowledge the work particularly over the past six months the Minister and his officials put into providing a new CAP, both Pillar 1 and Pillar 2, for the period up to 2020. Before coming to the CAP, I wish to touch on...

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy and Rural Development Programme: Statements (22 Jan 2014)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Sorry, it is €700 per hectare so that the redistribution would occur there and between the average and the €700 and there would be a cut-off above €700. Deputy Ó Cuív has raised this in the Dáil and at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and Marine. There is a question over whether productivity increases over a certain hectarage. The...

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy and Rural Development Programme: Statements (22 Jan 2014)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I am about to come to that.

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy and Rural Development Programme: Statements (22 Jan 2014)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: The Minister is quite correct. The figures up to the end of November show that there is an underspend on Pillar 2 of approximately €800 million. I can point to many of the schemes that-----

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy and Rural Development Programme: Statements (22 Jan 2014)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I have a copy of a reply to a parliamentary question that gave the figures up to the end of November. There was an underspend of €800 million. In one particular scheme where approximately 75% of the funding was coming from EU sources, not one cent of the moneys was drawn down. It was a scheme that came under Pillar 2 for rural broadband. Some schemes that could have been used were...

Seanad: Irish Water: Statements (22 Jan 2014)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: It is a shame. I asked one question of the Minister of State during the debate, and I recall dwelling on it to the point where I felt I was being over repetitive. However, that question remains today. Have any of the staff coming into Irish Water having received lump sum payments and bonuses from either councils, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, or any...

Seanad: Irish Water: Statements (22 Jan 2014)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: It is my understanding that there was approximately €2 million in bonus payments. If it is the case that people received lump sum payments, are now employed by Irish Water and are in receipt of €2 million of bonus payments, it is must be the only organisation in the world where staff are receiving bonus payments before a single cent is transacted. I have never heard of an...