Results 1,301-1,320 of 1,588 for speaker:Micheál Carrigy

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Accessibility for Individuals with Disabilities in Arts and Culture: Discussion (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Carrigy: I welcome all our guests. It is incumbent on us as public representatives, in conjunction with the Arts Council, to make art accessible to the entire public and allow those who have a disability to participate in the arts. The comment "nothing about us without us" was made earlier. A friend of mine from Longford whom some of our guests might know, James Cawley, who is a policy officer with...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Accessibility for Individuals with Disabilities in Arts and Culture: Discussion (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Carrigy: I am disappointed to hear that there are venues that are not accessible. Perhaps the Arts Council, which funds this, should audit these facilities. Maybe it has done so, but in 2022, there should not be venues that are inaccessible to those with a disability. It is not acceptable.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Carrigy: I wish to raise a couple of issues. Senator Byrne mentioned Tesco, but the Irish Farmers Association, IFA, and all involved in the horticultural sector have been looking to engage with Dunnes Stores with regard to prices, especially the price of vegetables. We have seen over the past 24 hours the IFA holding a dispute at two Dunnes Stores centres. I call on Dunnes Stores to engage with the...

Seanad: Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures Bill 2022: Second Stage (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Carrigy: The Minister is very welcome and I am delighted to get the opportunity to speak to the Bill at a time when people are facing real hardship in their lives with inflation and rising energy costs. These costs have led to many families spending a higher proportion of their income on food and fuel. Electricity prices have increased by 22%, gas prices have increased by 28% and the price of home...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (10 Feb 2022)

Micheál Carrigy: St. Patrick's Day parades will take place throughout the country in 2022. I have spoken to local parade organisers in Longford, including Ms Fiona Fenelon, the president of the local chamber of commerce, with regard to having a quiet street on the parade for those who cannot or have not been able to go to parades in recent years because of the noise, including sirens and music. I refer in...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Carrigy: I welcome the package that was announced by the Government to make it easier and more affordable for homeowners to undertake home energy upgrades for warmer, healthier and more comfortable homes with lower energy bills. The measures address barriers to undertaking retrofits that have been reported by homeowners and those in the industry and reflect the step change in pace and scale that will...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Feb 2022)

Micheál Carrigy: I, too, send my sympathies to Senator Buttimer and his family on their recent bereavement. It is apt that today is Safer Internet Day. I express my disappointment, as a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media which carried out pre-legislative scrutiny in this area for the best part of 2021, that this is not on the agenda, as it should be at the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Feb 2022)

Micheál Carrigy: I congratulate the Acting Leader on assuming the role. It is a great honour. A number of Senators mentioned the issue of credit unions and asked that the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, come into the House. We should encompass the post office in that debate as well. It was one of the financial institutions that stayed open fully through Covid and provided vital services to our...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Functions and Operational Areas) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (3 Feb 2022)

Micheál Carrigy: I echo the concerns of Senator Gallagher in respect of the Longford-Roscommon division, which has been expanded into counties Longford, Roscommon and Mayo. The concern we have on the ground relates to the districts where there are 24-hour stations, in both Longford town and Granard, where there is now one superintendent covering both areas. There is a fear that the service in one of those...

Seanad: Passport Office Service: Motion (2 Feb 2022)

Micheál Carrigy: I welcome the Minister to the Chamber and will start by acknowledging the good work he has done, especially in recent weeks, on behalf of this State. He has worked hard on behalf of this State since entering political life, but he has done a huge service to our country recently and it is important to put that on the record. I also acknowledge the work of the staff in the Passport Office in...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Feb 2022)

Micheál Carrigy: It is apt the Acting Leader is in the position she is in today on St. Brigid's Day. I will raise a couple of issues. First is the Covid bonus payment. I was at St. Christopher's Services yesterday week with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and met a number of staff, etc. It is an issue that needs to be looked at. It was welcome for our front-line staff but we have to look at such...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (27 Jan 2022)

Micheál Carrigy: I wish to raise the issue of the age threshold for parental leave. From September 2020 each parent is entitled to 26 weeks' unpaid parental leave. However, they must take that leave before the child is 12 years of age, or 16 if the child has a disability. I recently wrote to the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to ask if his Department would consider increasing the age limit to 14 or 15 years....

Seanad: Broadband Roll-out: Statements (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Carrigy: I welcome the Minister of State. It is important to point out that we cannot underestimate the decision that was taken by my party in government, Fine Gael, a number of years ago with regard to broadband. It was a very positive decision against much opposition at the time. It is clear through Covid-19, in particular, that it was the right decision to make. We are all delighted that was...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: RTÉ's Public Service Statement, Irish Language Services and RTÉ Board Appointments Process: Discussion (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Carrigy: That is fair enough and I thank Ms Doherty. I have some points on children's television. People were talking about this and it stirred some memories, and I can still remember watching Zig and Zag at lunchtime in the canteen at college. I have three young kids but when they turn on television they do not switch to RTÉ, to be quite honest. During Covid-19, however, there was a project...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: RTÉ's Public Service Statement, Irish Language Services and RTÉ Board Appointments Process: Discussion (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Carrigy: I concur with Ms Doherty's comments. It is without doubt that RTÉ news is the most trusted news source we have and is of the highest quality. I just wanted to concur with the comments she made. I wish Ciarán Mullooly, RTÉ's midlands correspondent, well in his new venture locally in County Roscommon. It was mentioned earlier that the position is to be filled soon.

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: RTÉ's Public Service Statement, Irish Language Services and RTÉ Board Appointments Process: Discussion (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Carrigy: I welcome our witnesses. As others have said, it is disappointing the Future of Media Commission report has not been published for us to speak about here today. The witnesses sent documentation on the appointment of board members, which is in the brief for today. To be honest, I was extremely frustrated and disappointed with what happened last year when there was a nomination by the...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: RTÉ's Public Service Statement, Irish Language Services and RTÉ Board Appointments Process: Discussion (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Carrigy: I am delighted to hear the comments that this is acceptable. The recommendation we put forward was that this would be a media charge on all households. I believe we would see significantly higher percentage payment through the An Post network if it were payable by every household. I am delighted Ms Forbes agrees this should be spread across all media, as that is an extremely important...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Investment Framework for Transport in Ireland: Discussion (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Carrigy: A couple of comments have been made on the national planning framework priority, access to the north west and balanced regional development. I will talk about roads and the recent announcement by TII that a number of projects have been pushed off funding for 2022, namely, the N4 from Mullingar to Roosky. This affects Longford, Westmeath, Leitrim, Roscommon, Sligo and south Donegal. Looking...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Investment Framework for Transport in Ireland: Discussion (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Carrigy: The priority should be balanced regional development. An entire region of the country will not be serviced and other projects are going ahead. I honestly do not think that is fair. It is very unfair and if we want to get investment into where I am from, Longford, and the entire north-west region, we need that accessibility to the capital. That should be prioritised over any other road...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Investment Framework for Transport in Ireland: Discussion (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Carrigy: I apologise. I do not mean to cut across the Minister, but someone driving from those brand-new investment, top-of-the-range roads then hits the section at Longford. People coming from Mayo will meet the N4 in Longford. They will have a brilliant road the whole way to Mullingar, but from there to Roosky that 50 km road is not fit for purpose. We are then spending hundreds of millions on...