Results 1,521-1,540 of 8,245 for speaker:Bríd Smith

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of the Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services (Safe Access Zones)) Bill 2022: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: I am not a member of this committee, but I am stepping in for Deputy Gino Kenny. Thank you for letting me in, Chairman. I want to pick up on the last point first. In January, it will be four years since the legislation to allow women to procure abortion in Ireland was enacted. Straight away, when it was passed in 2019, there were pickets and protests outside GP surgeries and doctors'...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of the Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services (Safe Access Zones)) Bill 2022: Discussion (19 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: To conclude, I am glad that has been acknowledged but I am concerned about the repeated expression of the words "complex" and "difficult" in the discussion of and approach to this legislation. We are not reinventing the wheel. Many countries have safe access zones. The World Health Organization, WHO, has done research on this subject. It is not like we are taking something brand new and we...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Conservation (18 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: 204. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment in relation to Question 131 of October 6 2022, if he will provide the actual timeframe for work being completed / commenced and the number of applicants awaiting the work to be done, as distinct from the approval time for any work (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51573/22]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector (18 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: 281. To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the €1,000 cost-of-living payment being made by two banks (details supplied) to their staff; if he will make inquiries as to the reason that staff of other banks are not being included in such a payment scheme; if he will encourage these financial institutions to follow suit; and if he will make a statement on the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (18 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: 534. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 491 of 11 October 2022, if those in receipt of illness benefit will not be receiving the autumn bonus; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51949/22]

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: International Protection (18 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: 565. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will intervene in the case of a number of Ukrainian refugees who are currently accommodated in Killarney attending a college (details supplied) and are completing courses for progression to third level, who have received two days’ notice that they will be moved to another hotel in County Mayo; the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Staff (18 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: 719. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 391 of 6 October 2022, the reason that the Government is funding one cohort of trainees but not another, even though both are eligible for the same posts in child disability and psychology services post-qualification; the rationale behind this decision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51327/22]

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2022 (Supplementary)
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (18 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: I thank the Minister for all that he has explained to us. I have a couple of quick questions. The first relates to an issue he touched on. How will those without a meter point reference number, MPRN, get their electricity grant? It seems from reading his submission that he has not quite figured out how that will be dispensed. Will he comment on whether that will definitely go to the...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2022 (Supplementary)
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (18 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: Could the Minister comment on expenditure on research and why money is being taken back in that regard?

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2022 (Supplementary)
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (18 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: I thank the Minister.

Ceisteanna Eile (Atógáil) - Other Questions (Resumed): Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (13 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: 109. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if his attention has been drawn to the widespread anger at his recent decision not to engage an international legal expert to review testimonies given to the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50631/22]

Ceisteanna Eile (Atógáil) - Other Questions (Resumed): Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (13 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: I have just 30 seconds to ask the Minister an important question. His decision not to engage an international expert to review the report on mother and baby homes has been met with widespread anger across that community. Will he make a comment on the fact that this report will remain the official report of the State, despite its outrageous conclusion and misleading slant on the testimonies...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (13 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: I am looking back on the record of the debate around this and see it has been going on since 2015. When former Deputy Finian McGrath was Minister of State, he made the same commitment in 2018 that the Minister is making here today. That is four years ago. Four years might not seem a long time to a Deputy or a Minister, but it is a long time in the life of somebody who has to live with a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (13 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: 95. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the reason that the Government has not ratified the optional protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which would provide a mechanism for people to challenge when their rights are not being upheld; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51023/22]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (13 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: The other evening in the debate around disability services, the Minister said on the optional protocol under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that ratification of the protocol is being scoped out and considered. Some seven years after we signed this protocol we are scoping out and considering. I find that to be an incredible answer to that question and I ask him...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (13 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: Can I ask the Acting Chairman the arrangements for these questions as we are sharing time?

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (13 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: I thank the Acting Chairman. I do not know what the Minister of State’s view is on this and I am aware that she was not the Minister of State back in 2015 when the UN treaty was ratified, but I find it extraordinary that after seven years, we are still at the point of scoping and of looking at what else needs to be done. If the Minister of State finds it extraordinary or...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Budget 2023 (13 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: 43. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if applicants for the fuel allowance under the new threshold guidelines announced in Budget 2023, who will now qualify for the payment from 1 January 2023, will receive the additional grant support of €400 announced for fuel allowance recipients; if not, the additional supports which she intends to provide for such...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes (13 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: 75. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the current tendering out of a service (details supplied) will be subject to any review or oversight by her Department in terms of its effects on the unemployed and their access to services, or the effects in terms of those employed in providing these services; if the process has resulted in any deterioration in terms of...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Irish Sign Language (13 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: 165. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when he will publish the final report by the National Disability Authority on the operation of the Irish Sign Language Act 2017 that was provided to the Minister in July 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50632/22]