Results 15,321-15,340 of 36,326 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Sep 2018)

Pearse Doherty: I will raise the issue of overcrowding. Last month, 8,000 sick and injured people were left without a bed, an increase on the previous year. Scandalously, 30 of them were children. Letterkenny University Hospital is top of the list in terms of the number of patients on trolleys and in wards. This morning as we speak there are 27 people on trolleys in that hospital. Every day last year...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2018)

Pearse Doherty: Homeless numbers are also going up.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2018)

Pearse Doherty: This morning, the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, published its quarterly rental index for quarter 2 of 2018, which shows that rents continue to spiral out of control. The average cost of renting a home across the State is now €1,094. This equates to an annual increase of 7.6%. In the greater Dublin area, the situation is even worse in that average rents are now a shocking...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2018)

Pearse Doherty: Existing rents are not in line with the RPZs. I am sure the Minister has read the report. The increase in rents was 4.9%, which is in excess of the 4% cap. The Minister's reference to the volatility of quarter-on-quarter reports is accurate but the problem is that the Government does not understand the pressures that renters are under at this point. According to the RTB report, rents in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2018)

Pearse Doherty: That will not stop rent increases.

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Community Services Programme Funding (27 Sep 2018)

Pearse Doherty: 204. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if additional supports, including funding, will be made available to community organisations which provide community services through the community services programme administered by Pobal; if his attention has been drawn to the financial difficulties being experienced by such organisations owing to minimum and living wage...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Pearse Doherty: The summer economic statement sets out the amount of discretionary spending that is available to the Minister in budget 2019. That was estimated at €800 million given that the Minister was not going to use €900 million and was going to put €500 million into the rainy day fund. Less than two weeks out from budget day, does he expect that figure to increase or decrease or...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Pearse Doherty: I want to discuss the health overrun. I am quite surprised the Minister did not mention this in his opening statement in light of the level of overrun at the moment and what is speculated. I want to focus on how we deal with this for 2019. We will use this for argument's sake but if there is a health overrun of €600 million or €500 million - it could be less or more - what...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Pearse Doherty: That is my understanding as well. When we are looking at a majority, we are looking at it in the range of it being close to 90% or thereabouts. Would that also be the Minister's understanding?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Pearse Doherty: If we are to believe what has been put out there in the media, namely, that the over spend projected for the end of the year is likely to be just in excess of €600 million with the vast majority of that recurring, this means that the health budget would need to increase by that amount plus the amount to deal with demographics and inflation just to stand still. Is that what the...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Pearse Doherty: Again, I want to tease it out using indicative figures. If we are looking at an overrun of €600 million and are saying that over 80% of it is recurring, this is about €500 million that would have to go into the base. How would that be dealt with? If only €800 million in discretionary spending is available in budget 2019, is there an automatic conclusion that this...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Pearse Doherty: Obviously, if there is no tax revenue then that has not already been identified, it has to come out of the €100 million discretionary funding.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Pearse Doherty: Discretionary revenue increases, I presume. Where is tax revenue at this point in time projected to come in at the end of the year? We know some of that buoyancy is coming from corporation tax. Does the Minister genuinely believe - it would be astonishing if he did - that we should be funding underspending in health by a buoyancy in corporation tax receipts where, everybody in this...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Pearse Doherty: I will put two small questions together.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister can tell me afterwards. We know that the health overrun is mostly due to recruitment. It is suggested time and again that this was predictable and demand-led. The HSE was here before the health and budgetary committees and presented all of this to us. How come the Department has got the health budget so wrong? This health overrun is again not a minor amount of money. The...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Pearse Doherty: The Secretary General wrote within weeks-----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Pearse Doherty: Just a small point. The Secretary General wrote within weeks saying that there was going to be an overrun.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Pearse Doherty: That was not the question.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (26 Sep 2018)

Pearse Doherty: As the Deputy said, a large group of people have travelled from different areas, including those who have been affected by Lyme disease, and their families and friends. The problem is multi-facetted. A comprehensive strategy is required to address the issues and the challenges posed by the disease. Such a strategy should involve education, awareness and greater research, but diagnosis and...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (26 Sep 2018)

Pearse Doherty: The Deputy should get the rate right first.