Results 10,261-10,280 of 18,851 for speaker:Fergus O'Dowd

Health Care Committee Establishment: Motion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2016)

Fergus O'Dowd: This is a welcome and timely debate. I fully agree with the motion. If we can all sign up to changes and if we can sign up to a ten-year plan or a plan of whatever length in terms of the cycle of change, I do not have a problem but the changes I would like to see would not take ten years. They would not take ten days, if we attach the importance to them that we should. The HSE is an...

Health Care Committee Establishment: Motion (Resumed) (1 Jun 2016)

Fergus O'Dowd: I do not mind. I am happy that it happened. I welcome it. It is a positive, constructive appointment to the Seanad and it is essential in terms of informing our thinking. We need to articulate their needs on a national level. Returning to the wonderful HSE, it is more a hide and seek than a HSE. For two years, I have been trying to get at the facts regarding a death in County Louth and...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: National Treasury Management Agency and Department of Finance (31 May 2016)

Fergus O'Dowd: I apologise for being late. It has been a very interesting debate, the part of it that I have heard. Obviously, the crisis exists but we have the land, the capacity to build, we have people who want to move into the houses and different ways of finding the finance, some which will work and some which will not. It seems the best thing to do is to get all the heads and all the expertise...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: National Treasury Management Agency and Department of Finance (31 May 2016)

Fergus O'Dowd: How hard are we pushing it in terms of going after the international investment funds for housing? Is the ISIF following that up?

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: National Treasury Management Agency and Department of Finance (31 May 2016)

Fergus O'Dowd: Is there joined-up thinking between the ISIF and the aforementioned two Departments? Representatives from the relevant agencies have all been before this committee and they are very focused on the issue but is there a structured relationship between the ISIF and the Departments?

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: National Treasury Management Agency and Department of Finance (31 May 2016)

Fergus O'Dowd: Is there a common organisation? If not, would it make sense to have a cross-agency, cross-departmental committee meeting regularly to push the various ideas forward?

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Dr. Ronan Lyons, Trinity College Dublin (31 May 2016)

Fergus O'Dowd: I welcome Dr. Lyons’s thought-provoking analysis, much of which I agree with. What happened during the boom was that people in construction made a fortune and the system allowed it to happen. Everyone was happy, except the person who was paying a mortgage or who could not get a house. State-owned lands, as well as those owned by local authorities, semi-State companies such as Irish...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Sonas (31 May 2016)

Fergus O'Dowd: I apologise, as I was obliged to leave the meeting earlier. The witnesses have used powerful language because they have brought home to me and to all members how serious an issue this is. On the statistics provided, I believe Ms Fiona Ryan stated one in seven women in a relationship with experience physical violence. I find that to be absolutely shocking, as I did not think the figures...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Sonas (31 May 2016)

Fergus O'Dowd: This is not a laughing matter; it is a serious issue. Ms Ryan mentioned Tusla and so on and, in the past, I have been interested in the Tusla reports from the Louth-Meath area about family dysfunction and the huge complexity of problems that arise. Obviously, if a family or a relationship is in difficulty, it has a highly negative impact on everybody, but in particular on the children and...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Sonas (31 May 2016)

Fergus O'Dowd: It is enough.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: National Disability Strategy Implementation Plan (31 May 2016)

Fergus O'Dowd: 88. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will respond to issues raised by the Irish Deaf Society (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13505/16]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (31 May 2016)

Fergus O'Dowd: 263. To ask the Minister for Finance the position for retired PAYE workers who are recipients of a small foreign pension marginally in excess of €3,000 and who would prefer to opt for PAYE tax assessment, but must be assessed on self-assessment; if he will increase the limit for PAYE assessment for such persons to, for example, €4,000; and if he will make a statement on the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (31 May 2016)

Fergus O'Dowd: 342. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the proposed two-storey extension to a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13509/16]

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Waste Management (31 May 2016)

Fergus O'Dowd: 399. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if, in conjunction with the Minister for Social Protection, he will arrange for specific support for a waiver or other support system for larger families with low incomes who have been estimated as being part of the 5% of households who have five or more members who will be affected by the increased charges they will...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Tenant Purchase Scheme (31 May 2016)

Fergus O'Dowd: 426. To ask the Minister for Social Protection to extend the tenancy protection scheme to County Louth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12594/16]

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Funding (31 May 2016)

Fergus O'Dowd: 511. To ask the Minister for Social Protection to respond to issues concerning the WALK disability project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13510/16]

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Waiting Times (31 May 2016)

Fergus O'Dowd: 510. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the waiting times for the processing of individual applications for social protection payments; the way he will reduce these waiting times; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13499/16]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (31 May 2016)

Fergus O'Dowd: 525. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on issues raised by a person (details supplied) regarding the issuing of a passport. [12543/16]

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: National Monuments (31 May 2016)

Fergus O'Dowd: 565. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will ensure steps are taken to protect St. Laurence's Gate in Drogheda, County Louth, from being further damaged by vehicular traffic (details supplied); if he will consult with Drogheda Borough Council and have a proper traffic management system in place which will afford full protection to this national monument; and if he...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Cultural Policy (31 May 2016)

Fergus O'Dowd: 604. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will respond to representations from a person (details supplied) who is seeking an all-party approach to national cultural policy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13492/16]