Results 121-140 of 3,253 for speaker:Brendan Griffin in 'Dáil debates'

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Programmes (26 Sep 2023)

Brendan Griffin: One of the really important features of the programme is that it is relatively small money in the overall scheme of things. However, the fundraising capacity of the communities to which this funding is delivered is quite limited. For example, Camp Community Council, which is not far from where I live, was in contact with me. It built a fabulous playground many years ago. It needs an...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rural Schemes (26 Sep 2023)

Brendan Griffin: I thank the Minister for her response. I commend her on all the work she is doing. I welcome the €7.7 million allocated to my county, Kerry, over the past six years. It involved 173 roads that previously were not done, which is important to the residents and farmers using those roads. For those people, they are the most important road there are. There are hundreds more roads that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rural Schemes (26 Sep 2023)

Brendan Griffin: I know people in County Kerry who are No. 300 or 400 on the list. At the current rate of 25 per annum, which is a good year, it will still take so many years to get it done. I am under enormous pressure, as are other Deputies and councillors. If the council says it only has so much capacity to do X number of roads in the year, which is what I understand has been happening in recent years,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rural Schemes (26 Sep 2023)

Brendan Griffin: 83. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development her plans to reduce the LIS list in County Kerry; if she appreciates how long it will take to clear the overall list in Kerry at the current rate of works; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41328/23]

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Sep 2023)

Brendan Griffin: Last Thursday, I raised the issue of cocaine use in our communities, and the normalisation of the use of cocaine that we have seen creep in in recent years. The reaction that I got over the weekend was one I did not expect. There was an enormous reaction. I received many very difficult phone calls from the heartbroken parents, spouses and siblings of people who have fallen into addiction...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (21 Sep 2023)

Brendan Griffin: Annagh Banks is a 14-unit development on the Inch-Dingle road out of Castlemaine. Anyone familiar with my part of the country would see it on the right-hand side as they are leaving Castlemaine. It has been unfinished for well over a decade. These houses would take very little work to get them over the line and become homes for people. Kerry County Council is preparing a turnkey...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Education (21 Sep 2023)

Brendan Griffin: 76. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the up-to-date position regarding plans to redevelop the former Pretty Polly plant and site in Killarney, County Kerry, into a further education centre of excellence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40647/23]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Education (21 Sep 2023)

Brendan Griffin: The Minister has been a very regular visitor to County Kerry since he came into his role, more than any other Minister. One of the very important visits he paid took place last November when he announced that the former Pretty Polly site in Killarney would be redeveloped as a centre of excellence for further education. Will he update the House on the progress on that project? What are the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Education (21 Sep 2023)

Brendan Griffin: I thank the Minister for his response, which is very encouraging. It is one of the most exciting projects there has been in the county for a long time. It symbolises rejuvenation and a form of renaissance for what was maybe a symbol of decline and failure, and a new era for Kerry and Killarney in particular. I thank the Minister for the effort he has put in to date and for his commitment...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Education (21 Sep 2023)

Brendan Griffin: That is great. Of course these things take time. I remember when a bus leaving my parish took predominantly women to work in that Pretty Polly factory in the 1980s and 1990s. A week is a long time in politics but, at the same time, time goes pretty quickly too. It will take time. We have to be realistic but I have no doubt that when this project is completed, it will serve future...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Misuse of Drugs (21 Sep 2023)

Brendan Griffin: 15. To ask the Minister for Health if a public health awareness campaign around cocaine use and its adverse effects will be considered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40650/23]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Misuse of Drugs (21 Sep 2023)

Brendan Griffin: My question is about the availability of cocaine, the habit of the consumption of cocaine that has almost been normalised in recent years and creating awareness of its health implications. Quite frankly, I do not think the current policy is working because of the popularity of cocaine and how common cocaine use is. We need to do things differently.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Misuse of Drugs (21 Sep 2023)

Brendan Griffin: The question is perhaps timely as we are running into the budgetary cycle. I do not see in mainstream media and across the board the type of awareness campaigns this problem needs. I acknowledge the figures the Minister of State has quoted. Certainly among some demographics, I think the figures are far worse than those she has quoted. Among our younger population, this is something that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Misuse of Drugs (21 Sep 2023)

Brendan Griffin: All forms of substance abuse, whether it is the top shelf I referred to earlier or drugs, must be called out. What worries me most is the normalisation of cocaine use we have seen in recent years. Speaking to young people in my constituency, it is accepted among some people that this is what is done at the weekend on a Friday or Saturday night. That is bonkers to me as someone who is only...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Facilities (21 Sep 2023)

Brendan Griffin: I appreciate the Minister of State's response and the efforts being made. In recent years, we had the appalling images of a very elderly lady being moved out of a hospital far away from home, a place with which she had become familiar and was comfortable, because of a shortage of beds. This is the type of thing we do not want to see repeated. I raised it here at the time. I have been in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Facilities (21 Sep 2023)

Brendan Griffin: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. Tá níos mó leapacha ag teastáil anonn. Caithfimid rudaí nua a dhéanamh chun banaltraí a fháil sa Daingean agus beidh na leapacha ag teastáil sa todhchaí. We will need those beds in the future. It is as simple as that. If the current recruitment processes are not working, we need to consider...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Facilities (21 Sep 2023)

Brendan Griffin: 10. To ask the Minister for Health if more beds will be opened at West Kerry Community Hospital; the current bed and staffing breakdown; how this compares with each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40649/23]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Facilities (21 Sep 2023)

Brendan Griffin: My question concerns West Kerry Community Hospital and efforts to get more beds for the hospital. It has been a long-running saga to try to get more beds opened in the hospital. Given the current number of bed versus what was originally envisaged, there is quite a difference between the numbers. We need assistance in getting more beds open.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (5 Jul 2023)

Brendan Griffin: In 2018, a man wrote down the abuse, the bullying and the cover-up that he alleges he endured at RTÉ when he was working there in the 1990s. He sent the information to Dee Forbes and he did not receive a response. He sent it to Moya Doherty, the then chair of the board, and did not receive a response. He also sent it to a HR executive board member and received a very unsatisfactory...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (29 Jun 2023)

Brendan Griffin: I ask the Minister for Justice what efforts are being made to improve Garda recruitment. In my constituency, for example, the number of gardaí has reduced from 351 in June 2021 to 339 last month. This is a worrying trend. I understand there are pressures throughout the country. Meanwhile the population, as the Minister will be aware, is growing rapidly. I ask for an update on what...