Results 12,421-12,440 of 74,100 for speaker:Bernard Durkan

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (15 Jul 2021)

Bernard Durkan: Yes, tweaking.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (15 Jul 2021)

Bernard Durkan: My next question to both Ministers is on housing. Housing, I believe, is a fundamental issue in regard to our economic performance by virtue of house costs or the proportion of the family income devoted to mortgage repayments or rent payments. I note the five-year plan, and it is positive. Unfortunately, I have been hearing that for the past ten or 15 years. There has always been a plan...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (14 Jul 2021)

Bernard Durkan: 162. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the progress to date in processing a passport application for a person (details supplied); when the application will be brought to a conclusion and the passport issued; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38348/21]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (14 Jul 2021)

Bernard Durkan: 221. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the progress to date in the determination of an appeal for carer’s allowance in the case of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38137/21]

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Double Taxation Agreements: Minister for Finance (14 Jul 2021)

Bernard Durkan: To follow up on Deputy Barry's last point regarding the summer economic statement, as the Minister will well know, I have long promoted the view that we need a serious injection for delivery in the housing sector spanning a two to three-year period, the first year being the crucial one. The requirement is not 35,000 or 38,000 houses but in the region of 70,000 to 75,000 houses in the first...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Double Taxation Agreements: Minister for Finance (14 Jul 2021)

Bernard Durkan: I agree in general on the point that we are members of the European Union. Mind you, we do not always get the same benefits in terms of various issues as some of our colleagues across the European Union. That is why I raised the issue in the first place. In the 1980s the construction sector had what was called a certificate of reasonable value. That was dreaded by those in the construction...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Double Taxation Agreements: Minister for Finance (14 Jul 2021)

Bernard Durkan: I have a further question arising from the discussions between the Minister and his colleagues in Europe during the past week. In the context of all issues discussed, can the Minister deduce from what happened that the relative position of Ireland is as near as possible to what it was heretofore given that any disadvantage arising therefrom would have serious consequences for Ireland? Is it...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Double Taxation Agreements: Minister for Finance (14 Jul 2021)

Bernard Durkan: In the event of the revised thinking being agreed all around, will the level agreed be universally applied, that is, that there will not be issues around, say, writing off research and development, and we will not find ourselves at a disadvantage? Will the Minister comment on the benefits accruing from one or other method of collection of taxes, whether in the country of manufacture or the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Bernard Durkan: I welcome the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, to the meeting on this very important subject. I have a number of questions. Is the Minister satisfied that the Mulvey agreement encompasses and resolves all the concerns that were raised in relation to the independence of the new national maternity hospital? I have huge respect for Mr. Mulvey's conclusions. Normally he is not a man to leave...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Bernard Durkan: I disagree with that. This process has to come to an end at some stage. We have to address all the issues and determine when, and if, it is possible to proceed. There is not much sense having the Mulvey agreement, in having gone through a procedure and in having done so in great detail and after long and arduous debates and examination. There is not much sense having that if we are going...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Bernard Durkan: The obvious thing is to determine the status of independence of the maternity services and the State's right to govern in respect of policy and procedures at the maternity hospital and, at the same time, to meet the urgent need to provide those facilities. That is important.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Bernard Durkan: Is that not guaranteed?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Bernard Durkan: I am raising concerns here and now.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Bernard Durkan: Did Mr. Mulvey not deal with that? Did he not deal with those issues in great detail and to his satisfaction and that of the State? What has changed in the interim?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Bernard Durkan: I and others posed questions about the independence of the hospital and the difference in circumstances between now and the time of the Mulvey report. There is an urgent need to proceed because the project is going to take some time anyway. We must get out of the way but we need to know the extent to which the independence of the hospital is going to be guaranteed. We also need to know...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Bernard Durkan: When does the Minister expect to bring proposals to Cabinet? Is it deemed to be important to bring them to Cabinet and to eliminate delay as quickly as possible?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Facilities (13 Jul 2021)

Bernard Durkan: 39. To ask the Minister for Health the extent to which the Naas General Hospital extension project is being provided for in the capital budget in the current year; when the project will progress to the next developmental stages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37598/21]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Facilities (13 Jul 2021)

Bernard Durkan: This question relates to the urgently required extension at Naas General Hospital, which has been on the waiting list for some considerable time.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Facilities (13 Jul 2021)

Bernard Durkan: I thank the Minister for his welcome reply. I ask that particular attention be paid to ensuring that the project goes ahead in a co-ordinated fashion so that everything happens simultaneously, it broadens to include whatever the hospital requires, and we do not have to revisit it in one or two years' time. Will the Minister try to ensure that emphasis is placed on progressing the matter...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Facilities (13 Jul 2021)

Bernard Durkan: I agree with the Minister, in that as time goes on, changes are necessary. They are driven by requirements, society and demand. Particular emphasis must be placed on mental health in the aftermath of Covid. Indeed, there will be waiting lists and pressure on all hospitals' facilities, space and staff. I thank the Minister for the constructive line he is taking. I appreciate that there...