Results 1,241-1,260 of 8,976 for speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council Meeting: Discussion (7 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: It is a pity we could not have this meeting the other way round, that is, the fish producer organisations presenting first in order that the Minister could observe and respond. It is a pity the Minister's schedule did not permit that. It would have been a much more productive way of doing things. However, we have the submissions from the producer organisations and they make for sober...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council Meeting: Discussion (7 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I ask the Minister to take a look at the submission from the Irish Fish Producers Organisation. It is devastating. That is the only way to describe it. That is the context of our industry before we get to Brexit. Brexit is dealt with in this report and in the submission by Sean O'Donoghue from the Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation. Ireland took 40% of the EU's loss in fisheries...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council Meeting: Discussion (7 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: These statistics I quoted from are from the EUROSTAT data bank so the submission has been made on it. Can I clarify whether the Minister is saying that this information is wrong? Did the full value of fish processing indicators for Ireland not reduce from 627 to 325 in five years? The total value has halved in five years, according to these statistics. Is he disputing that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council Meeting: Discussion (7 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I might be in the Minister's shoes some day and then we will see how that goes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council Meeting: Discussion (7 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I had given way earlier because I had thought there would be more time. On fuel, all the submissions from the producer organisations made a particular point. It must be remembered that if you were an inshore fisher you could not avail of a tie-up scheme so they got no support at all. The tie-up scheme is funded from the Brexit adjustment reserve fund. There has been no contribution from...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council Meeting: Discussion (7 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I have talked about the profound concerns around the issue of mackerel within the waters of Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland. We have no relationship with ICES. This issue has dragged on. The Minister knows the concerns of our industry in that regard and in the context of blue whiting. I acknowledge that he has been engaging with the industry, but I am not exaggerating when I state...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fish Quotas and Decommissioning: Discussion (7 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Mr. Doherty's testimony was very damning. I have specific questions for each organisation. The first is for Mr. O'Donoghue and Mr. Doherty from the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation. On page 3 of their submission, they state, and rightly so: "The proposals disregard those other objectives of the CFP dealing with economic, social and employment benefits, and contributing to the...

Building Defects: Motion [Private Members] (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: As the Minister knows, I live in the epicentre of the defective block crisis in County Donegal. I live in Buncrana on the Inishowen Peninsula. People's lives have been utterly destroyed. Hardly anybody my age who has built or bought a home or was living in a council home has not been devastated by the crisis. No matter where people live in Ireland, whether in Dublin and north Leinster in...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Healthcare Infrastructure Provision (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 644. To ask the Minister for Health the status of plans to build a new community hospital at Lifford, County Donegal; and the services to be provided there. [60707/22]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 723. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the funding schemes that he plans to introduce in 2023 to support the Irish fishing fleet and the wider seafood sector and that have been developed in line with the recommendations of the “Report of the Seafood Task Force - Navigating Change”; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60709/22]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: There are two excerpts from the witnesses' submissions I want to draw attention to. They set the scene for the committee. Ms Larkin's submission includes the sentence "The cause of these problems are deleterious materials which are naturally occurring minerals found in rock deposits in Ireland". That is the core issue, pardon the pun, that has brought us to this. Only the banking scandal...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: It is for the NBCMSO.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: At a recent conference in Donegal, a range of international experts presented their findings. One was Dr. Andreas Leemann. I am sure the witnesses will accept that Dr. Leemann is an international expert in this area. He carried out tests on a number of blocks and found the amount of sulphates was seven to ten times the amount allowable under EN 12/620. I am certain the panel will agree...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: What were the specific findings on the quarry I am referring to? I will not name it but I think the officials know which one it is.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Mr. Butler is satisfied that in terms of deleterious materials that may be in that quarry-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: This is extremely alarming. What has led to this crisis, per Ms Larkin's submission, is the existence of deleterious materials. That has given rise to one of the biggest scandals in the history of this State. Deleterious materials were present and the levels were not in line with established European and Irish regulation. I am asking about the quarry that led to this audit. Has there...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I want to be clear. I am not going to name the quarry, but it has repeatedly been publicly identified. There is one quarry in Donegal that is primarily associated with the vast majority of defective blocks. We are talking about thousands of public and private homes in Donegal. Has the quarry been extensively examined from a geological point of view to try to understand what has led to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Anyone who has not seen the testimony of Andreas Leemann to the committee can watch it. Likewise, the testimony of other experts from Canada, Norway and the UK is available. I understand they will be assisting the GSI. Everybody accepts now the resource provided by international experts and people who we want to help us in Ireland. Dr. Leemann has said that the tests he has carried out...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The Chair uses the phrase "mica" and refers to a "mica crisis" but what we are starting to understand in Donegal anyway is that the chief offender is pyrrotite, based on the emerging evidence. This is a question for Ms Larkin. How can it be that the NSAI came forward with IS 465 but did not allow for pyrrotite to be considered in terms of forming a prognosis cure to what has emerged?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I have a brief supplementary question in that regard. People are very anxious that the current review being undertaken by the NSAI would lead to a conclusion and give people confidence that they can have a standard that can help them to rebuild their lives and homes. What sort of timeframe is the NSAI working on to conclude the review and to make strong recommendations to the Government?