Results 13,381-13,400 of 32,547 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (25 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As part of Project Ireland 2040, Government allocated €2 billion to the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF), to support the compact growth and sustainable development of Ireland’s five cities, regional drivers and other large urban centres. Management of these resources falls to my colleague, the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, in the first...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am well aware of the concerns that commuters and, in particular, those who use their cars in rural Ireland have about changes in carbon pricing. I was involved in this debate this time last year and, as we approach budget day again, I am very much aware of the concerns commuters will have, as well as the concerns of people who do not have the kinds of public transport options that people...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: All of us are aware as family members and as public representatives of the great care and love that goes into supporting children such as Hannah at their points of great need but every Member will be aware of other families and children who have great health care needs. I know that the HSE, our doctors and nurses and all involved in giving care to those who need it most do their best to...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As a former Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I can say that Deputy Ross's role is to make sure he can secure the kind of resources needed to ensure that our public transport system can grow and that the capacity of public transport can grow. I take the Deputy's point that there are few things more frustrating than standing at a bus stop and seeing a bus go by that is full or not...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank all the Deputies for raising this issue. I am well aware of the effect not being able to access this type of support quickly has on families, patients and those who are ill and vulnerable. I am well aware of the anxiety and difficulty it can cause. As the Deputies may be aware, we have €445 million worth of funding in the HSE service plan to ensure we have the right level of...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As I am sure the Taoiseach and Minister for Health have contended, since 2017 a further 267 beds have been opened in our hospitals to respond to the type of issues the patients, nurses and doctors are dealing with at present. The HSE capital plan, published a number of weeks ago by the Minister for Health, the Taoiseach and I, outlined the plans now funded to increase the number of beds in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I agree that we need to look at how we can reform the operation of the equalisation fund. I also believe that over time, we should look to increase the amount of revenue raised in a particular area and local authority that is spent in the area in which it is raised. On the cost of doing that, based the work I did on the local property tax report a number of months ago, I can say that the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I recognise the considered views offered by the Deputy in regard to the local property tax, on which she and her office have been corresponding with me for some time. What the Deputy has identified is the issue we have in regard to the local equalisation fund, into which receipts from local property tax flow and are then distributed to local authorities, which without those funds, would have...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: One thing is for certain; if the people of west Cork are looking for a vision they are not going to get it from the Deputy. They are not going to get it from such a-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: All I heard Deputy Collins do was point out the list of the many difficulties and challenges that we know are there. I am aware, as he is, of the challenges faced by our towns, villages and communities in making progress on issues that are important to them, be that the kind of progress we all want to make in regard to local roads, healthcare facilities or, for example, community employment...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be well aware, I am not in a position to comment on the status of a particular road project in his constituency. He knows this is a decision that has to be made by the Minister in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, with his local authority. I know they are aware of the project referred to by the Deputy and it may come up in the engagement I will have with the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: -----a fund that over the years has seen 69 different applications, many of which we will be able to make progress on. The rural regeneration fund is in place to progress the issues to which the Deputy referred. The Department of Rural and Community Development is well resourced and well funded. Under its stewardship, the type of increased investment for which the Deputy is calling is...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Carbon pricing levels have been in place for many years. The Deputy claims that behaviour has not changed, but she fails to acknowledge that the price of carbon has not changed either. All we are considering is whether the pricing of carbon can play a role in the change people of all generations want to see happen. Sinn Féin needs to spell out clearly where it stands on the great...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Will Sinn Féin repeat its normal mantra of cynicism and hypocrisy and look to blame others? Instead, the party might perhaps reflect the potential consensus in the Dáil on the need for honesty about trade-offs and a commitment to protect the most vulnerable.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy made reference to international evidence and the opinions and views of experts. I will quote our expert in this area, namely, the chairman of the Climate Change Advisory Council, Professor John FitzGerald. He stated:A massive body of evidence from across the world shows that carbon taxes are essential. There are very few carbon tax deniers in the economics community. A recent...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Tokenism will not cut it, but hypocrisy will not cut it either. We have a plan. The climate action plan laid out by the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Bruton, and the Taoiseach lays out how in the years to come we will invest more in ensuring renewable energy will play a larger part in the economy, we will have more homes retrofitted across the country...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am well aware of the importance of clean air and the damaging effect air quality can have on public health, particularly the health of young infants. It is something on which we must and will make progress. I have since been informed that it is something the Minister, Deputy Bruton, wishes to make happen. As the Deputy said, there is the possibility of legal action being taken. I am...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I reject entirely the idea that the Government is looking to bring forward or overseeing any form of apartheid in having clean air. I do so because I agree with the opening points made by the Deputy about the importance of clean air and its significant impact on public health. I will raise with the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Bruton, the issue of why...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: VAT Rate Application (24 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I can confirm that my attention has been drawn to the document referred to by the Deputy as set out in my replies to previous PQs on the matter (35731/19 and 36296/19). I am advised by Revenue that the document was an internal document prepared in 2007 and that it was never published on the Revenue website. The document has no legal value or authority over VAT legislation in place on 1...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (24 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The majority of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s staff are either qualified accountants or are training to become qualified accountants (the exception being seven administration / corporate services staff members). The Trainee Auditor pay-scale ranges from €33,630 to €52,519 All other employees’ salaries and wages are in line with the general...