Results 10,001-10,020 of 26,394 for speaker:David Cullinane

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Impact of Covid-19: SME Recovery (30 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I have given Mr. Moran a fair wind to respond because I wanted to hear his response. There seems to be agreement here that liquidity is the key issue and that small businesses need it very quickly. We have proposed 0% interest loans and cash-for-equity initiatives. There are lots of ideas out there. The real issue is that money needs to get to SMEs very quickly to pay fixed costs, keep...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Impact of Covid-19: SME Recovery (30 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I agree. I come from the south east and know the importance of these things. I speak to the chamber of commerce members and owners of small and medium-sized businesses all the time. Big infrastructure and capital investment are important. Some big projects need to be funded. Having money in people's pockets is also important, as is footfall on our streets. My final question is about the...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Impact of Covid-19: Hospitality Sector (30 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I welcome all of our guests. Many of the points that have been made in the submissions are similar to those we heard this morning from Mr. John Moran and his colleagues from SME Recovery Ireland. Businesses need liquidity, urgent grants and supports. More loans are not the solution and cash to support fixed costs is required. Mr. Cribben made the obvious point that Covid-19 has had a...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Impact of Covid-19: Hospitality Sector (30 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: That is what I am trying to get at. I think we can agree that things will not return to normal this year or next year. It will take a number of years, perhaps three or four, to get back to 2019 levels for all sorts of reasons. It may happen more quickly but some of that will depend on the external issues that Mr. Cribben mentioned about a vaccine and so on. It is going to take some time...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Impact of Covid-19: Hospitality Sector (30 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: If Mr. Cribben could be specific, he is coming with an ask. Specifically, if he was going to the Minister and Government, what are the practical solutions for his industry?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Impact of Covid-19: Hospitality Sector (30 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: Just to add to that, Deputy Butler spoke about tourism in Waterford. After the last economic crash, some regions in the south east had to look at rebuilding, specifically Waterford but also working with Wexford and Kilkenny. It was done on the back of tourism as one of the key economic drivers. Unfortunately, the south east had a very difficult time following the last recession. We are...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Impact of Covid-19: Hospitality Sector (30 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: If I may interrupt for a moment, we can bring all the stakeholder groups we want back in again. Mr. Cummins may have seen during the previous Dáil term that the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach brought in representatives of all the insurance companies, one after the other, and chastised and tried to get information from them. The committee got...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Impact of Covid-19: Hospitality Sector (30 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: The point is that there would have to be a quid pro quo. I want to see massive supports coming into the tourism sector.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I welcome our guests in committee room 1. They are: Ms Teresa Griffin, CEO, Ms Madeline Hickey, acting head of special education, and Ms Mary McGrath, head of operations, National Council for Special Education. We are joined, from the Department of Education and Skills, by Mr. Dalton Tattan, Assistant Secretary, inclusion division, Mr. Eddie Ward, principal officer, special education...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I thank Ms Griffin and now I invite Mr. Tattan to make his opening statement and ask that he do so within five minutes.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: That was right on time. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire has ten minutes.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I call Teachta McNamara. Does he too suffer from hay fever?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I call Teachta Kathleen Funchion and she has ten minutes.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: Is Deputy Colm Burke taking five or ten minutes?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: There are seven minutes left so I will take them myself. I will put seven on the clock and we will finish then. I want to bookend a number of issues raised. The first one is the issue of the special classes, which I will come back to Ms Griffin on. She stated earlier there was a problem with some schools rolling out special classes and mentioned south County Dublin and Cork. She said...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I heard that earlier. My question was more specific. Regarding the schools where it was identified that there was a problem with a lack of space and outdoor areas, was that only identified this year or has this been known for a long number of years?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: Sorry, Ms-----

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: Yes. Have those schools made applications for additional space, for example, buildings or increased capacity in outdoor areas? Is there joined-up thinking there where a problem is identified such as a lack of space or outdoor areas and the problem has to be resolved? Have those schools identified those problems in the past and made applications for funding to resolve them or is it a new...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I want to move to Mr. Tattan and the issue of the summer provision programme. A number of the speakers earlier mentioned this. Did he read the submission the committee received from Down Syndrome Ireland?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: What screams from almost every line in this submission is frustration from that group. I do not get a sense of acceptance of that frustration from Mr. Tattan. He talked about process and putting a plan in place. I want to go back to some of the comments made. I can sense the anger not just from the organisation but from many parents also. The organisation refers to “up to 1,000...