Results 14,421-14,440 of 26,228 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Air Quality (8 Mar 2017)

Kieran O'Donnell: I thank the Minister. I would ask that Limerick city be prioritised for the erection of these permanent monitoring stations and that when the EPA is renewing its licence regimes for companies, such as Irish Cement, that it would await the outcome of this air monitoring as part of its review mechanism.

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Mar 2017)

Kieran O'Donnell: I wish to raise a matter in respect of Limerick. St. John's Hospital announced yesterday that it is closing 20 beds permanently on the ground floor. My understanding is that discussions were ongoing between the hospital and the university hospitals group. There appears to be a difference in the information being given by both sides. I urge that both sides would re-engage in talks and that...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Mar 2017)

Kieran O'Donnell: The Senator is swinging low.

Seanad: Tourism Industry: Motion (8 Mar 2017)

Kieran O'Donnell: I welcome the Minister, Deputy Ross, to the House. He is no stranger, but it is good to see him here. One can judge a man by the fact that he never forgets his roots and I commend him in that regard. Part of the reason for tabling the motion relates to Brexit. Any hotelier or person running a bed and breakfast to whom one speaks can point to a slight dip in tourism numbers from the UK...

Seanad: Tourism Industry: Motion (8 Mar 2017)

Kieran O'Donnell: Both.

Seanad: Tourism Industry: Motion (8 Mar 2017)

Kieran O'Donnell: No, I am speaking for the motion.

Seanad: Tourism Industry: Motion (8 Mar 2017)

Kieran O'Donnell: No, I am looking to-----

Seanad: Tourism Industry: Motion (8 Mar 2017)

Kieran O'Donnell: Let me give Senator Humphreys a complete answer. I want to support the 9% rate and I want to ensure that any competitiveness is passed back to the consumer, both the Irish person and the visitor. I want to ensure consumers are not being exploited. I think that is very clear. It is a normal, basic tenet. I want to thank Senator Humphreys for enabling me to articulate my point even...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Mar 2017)

Kieran O'Donnell: I feel a peerage coming on.

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Mar 2017)

Kieran O'Donnell: It is good to see that Senator Norris is ecumenical in how he regards all parties. I welcome the fact that the Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality, Deputy David Stanton, has brought legislation through recognising Travellers as an ethnic group. I represent many Travellers and it is a positive move. I hope it will be a catalyst for real change. Last night, there was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Mar 2017)

Kieran O'Donnell: I will be very quick. Does the Minister accept that the PSO model that is in place is broken and outdated and that on the Expressway routes, the losses to Bus Éireann, ironically, are artificially inflated. Take the Limerick to Dublin route, which I know. On that route there are private operators and there is Bus Éireann. Private operators do not take people with travel passes;...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Mar 2017)

Kieran O'Donnell: They do not.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Mar 2017)

Kieran O'Donnell: They are not required to.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Mar 2017)

Kieran O'Donnell: I am aware that on this particular route -----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Mar 2017)

Kieran O'Donnell: They are not required to do so.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Mar 2017)

Kieran O'Donnell: Would the Minister accept that the greater majority of passengers being carried by Bus Éireann on the Expressway routes are using a free travel pass?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Mar 2017)

Kieran O'Donnell: If I could just finish my very quick point, that the greater majority of passengers travelling on the Bus Éireann Expressway routes are people with free travel passes and by definition, then, Bus Éireann cannot make a profit on those routes. Its losses are artificially inflated. Does the Minister accept that point?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (1 Mar 2017)

Kieran O'Donnell: Are the Expressway routes being looked at as part of that review?

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Mar 2017)

Kieran O'Donnell: As we speak, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment is launching, in conjunction with the Irish Coalition 2030 group, a document on air pollution and cleaning our air. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister to debate this issue in the House as soon as possible. This is an issue of particular concern to me in the context of the Irish Cement plant in Castlemungret,...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Feb 2017)

Kieran O'Donnell: Like everyone else, I wish to pay my respects to the late Peter Mathews. I first got to know Peter before he became a politician. He was, to a certain extent, some would say, ploughing a lonely furrow back in 2008 and 2009 when he was saying the banks were in serious trouble. History has shown he was correct. Peter was a combination of a real gentleman, a decent man and a persistent man...