Results 121-140 of 33,883 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (25 Sep 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: They devalue the commitment-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (25 Sep 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: -----the Tánaiste and the current Minister for Health have to making a difference to those who need support.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (25 Sep 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: In relation to the points the Deputy made, the Government has made available - because we know it needs to be done - additional operating capacity in Ireland to support families who need that healthcare and we have put in place the surgeons and support to do it. I will certainly follow up on the status of the need for children to travel abroad to get that healthcare, but in many cases it can...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (25 Sep 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for reminding the House of the nature and detail of the motion. He was calling for the consideration of ideas in this area. We should all be able to participate in that. The Government is certainly happy to do so. Regarding the specific proposal around a Bill, I will have to consult the Minister, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. I take care around putting really important...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (25 Sep 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: They do make the odd appearance over Phibsborough, but for many who live very close to the airport, it is an important matter. As Deputy Ó Muirí said, changing the airport cap at Dublin Airport is really important, not just for the airport, but for broader aviation and growth within our economy. Regarding how we are going to respond to the matters raised, it will first be by...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (25 Sep 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The last thing we are looking for in preparing the budget is plaudits, particularly from Sinn Féin. I do not hold out any hope of us ever getting them from Sinn Féin. If we were to, I would be convinced we were doing the wrong thing. Regarding what we are looking to do, the Government's track record on trying to help students is pretty clear by this point. For example, the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (25 Sep 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: -----the current Minister, Deputy Lawless, is clearly building on that. Efforts have been made to look at eligibility for SUSI grants to ensure they can play a role in the cost of living for students going to college. The Government is well aware of the sensitivity of the decision we will make about registration fees for students. No decisions have yet been made, but all of the...

Ceisteanna ó na Comhaltaí Eile - Other Members’ Questions (25 Sep 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy. Of course, the sustainability of our social insurance scheme is an important concern of Government. What are we doing in relation to it? First, it is important to acknowledge the Social Insurance Fund is in healthy surplus and is a big part of our overall healthy public finances at the moment. Second, this is the very reason we are going ahead with the auto-enrolment...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (25 Sep 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: I have seen at first hand the important role our SNAs play in classrooms all over the country, giving that little bit of additional support and help to young girls and boys who need it as they begin their school life and throughout their educational journey. There are 23,000 SNAs in our country. Compare that with where we were a number of years ago. In 2011, we had just over 10,000. There...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (25 Sep 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy. I was not aware of the matter until he raised it. I can only imagine it is really difficult for somebody to live in a partially repaired home in which work has been going on for so long. I know the Deputy would not raise it if he did not think it was serious. I will make sure the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, is aware of this. My office will contact him after this...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (25 Sep 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: I have to say that in most cases I find the line between antisocial behaviour and criminal activity is very thin. For those who experience antisocial behaviour, which I am sure the Deputy has to deal with in his constituency, it can be very intimidating and difficult but I accept some activity may well be outside the parameters of criminality. We allowed a motion to be passed here for...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (25 Sep 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not need to be lectured by the Deputy on points of procedure and how this Parliament works. I was making the point that just because a motion was passed in the Dáil does not mean the Government was bound to implement every element of it. The Deputy knows that. Regarding Housing for All, the Government, with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: When we speak of children who are left on the side of the road, acknowledging there are issues we need to address, I emphasise to the Dáil that nearly 180,000 families and their children get support and the service they need through this scheme. This is at an overall cost to the taxpayer of more than €0.5 billion in recognition of the issues raised by Deputy Collins today and...

Ceisteanna ó na Comhaltaí Eile - Other Members’ Questions (25 Sep 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. We are now very much in a phase where not only is the number of people living in our country growing, which is a great gift to the ability of our economy to grow and our society to grow and flourish, we are also seeing more people who are older and have the level of care need to which the Deputy referred. Growing life expectancy in our country -...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: For a country with our long-standing tradition in the context of respect for human rights and our neutrality, diplomacy is the way conduct our affairs. It is also the way we seek to influence the world and protect the rights of our citizens. Words are not powerless. Words are not an absence of action. Words are do not represent a lack of effort. Words and diplomacy are the way we seek to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy Collins for raising this important matter. Before I respond to the important and specific questions he raised in respect of the school transport scheme, it is important to put the matter in the context. In that regard, this is the scheme that, in 2024, the taxpayer funded at a cost of €512 million. In 2019, the cost was €219 million. The cost of this...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: Deputy Nash knows I have the height of respect for him and the points he raises. He is correct in saying that the Labour Party is a rare exception on the Opposition benches in being willing to support, at times, sensible policies to broaden the tax base. He asked me my views on broadening the tax base. I will talk about what we have already done and what we are yet to do. There are: the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for raising, as Deputy Doherty did, a really important issue regarding the protection of citizens on international seas and the rule of law with regard to them. The Government, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste are keenly aware of this. What are we doing with regard to it? We are taking diplomatic action. We are raising this matter with other governments within the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: I gave Deputy Doherty the opportunity to confirm or at least explain to the House whether Sinn Féin is still making the case for an energy price cap, which it did in the last Dáil. I notice that he did not answer that question.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: Indeed. In relation to the matters that Deputy Doherty has just raised, we are well aware of the challenge that the cost of living is posing for so many. I would make the point that for every budget I have brought into this House, he has always criticised me for not spending enough. He has always criticised us for running budget surpluses. If we had taken his approach in recent years, we...