Results 141-160 of 4,372 for in 'Dáil debates' speaker:Fergus O'Dowd

Ceisteanna - Questions: Home Care Packages (16 Feb 2023)

Fergus O'Dowd: -----red-risks homes where there is a risk to the safety, health and welfare of people. It is right those homes are brought to account and, if necessary, made to account for what they are not doing.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Home Care Packages (16 Feb 2023)

Fergus O'Dowd: Hear, hear. No compromises.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Feb 2023)

Fergus O'Dowd: The vast majority of the 8,600 citizens who died from Covid were over 65 years of age. Very frequently their passing was a matter of great upset and trauma for everybody concerned, most of all the families, who could not be present because of the nature of the illness. We promised in our programme for Government to establish a commission on care to assess how we care and to examine...

Nursing Home Charges and Disability Allowance Payments: Statements (9 Feb 2023)

Fergus O'Dowd: This is a very important debate on which we must seize the opportunity to bring about change. The way older people are treated in our society is not great and has disimproved, not least as a result of what happened with Covid. We still await the announcement of the inquiry into the deaths of all those people, the majority of whom were aged over 65, who died of Covid, mostly in our nursing...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (1 Feb 2023)

Fergus O'Dowd: There have been 84 independent reviews and investigations carried out by the HSE into acute and community operations since January 2019. The HSE took over the running of Dealgan House during the Covid outbreak where 23 people died. Will the Taoiseach support them and insist and ensure that they get closure by having an independent investigation into why these deaths occurred and why the HSE...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Northern Ireland (31 Jan 2023)

Fergus O'Dowd: 69. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide an update on the latest information regarding the Northern Ireland protocol and related negotiations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4400/23]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Northern Ireland (31 Jan 2023)

Fergus O'Dowd: I congratulate the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs on his new appointment. I welcome the outcome of the negotiations by successive Ministers and our Government in ensuring there is no hard border on this island, that we protect the all-island economy, that there is unfettered access in Northern Ireland to European Union markets, that we protected the Single Market and we...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Northern Ireland (31 Jan 2023)

Fergus O'Dowd: I agree with everything the Minister said. Again, I compliment the way we are all working together in the South and in the EU. Like the Minister, however, I have met unionists and listened to them. They are exceptionally clear on the issue that there is a serious power vacuum in the North and it remains unfilled by people who support democratic politics at the moment because the DUP is not...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Northern Ireland (31 Jan 2023)

Fergus O'Dowd: IBEC's recent report was very clear about the huge success of the economies North and South since the Good Friday Agreement and the substantial benefit peace has brought to this island and the great growth. The report compared 18 different areas in Ireland, North and South and in the UK. It made a surprising point that the greatest benefit outside London has been to people living on this...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Sports Funding (26 Jan 2023)

Fergus O'Dowd: 75. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the expected timeline for the opening of the next round of the sports capital grant scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3507/23]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Inflation Rate (24 Jan 2023)

Fergus O'Dowd: 237. To ask the Minister for Finance what further measures his Department is considering in dealing with rising inflation in the year 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56473/22]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Inflation Rate (24 Jan 2023)

Fergus O'Dowd: While I welcome the significant increased supports in the budget, including the reduction in taxation, the increase in social welfare payments and expanding the fuel allowance and making it easier for people to access, there is a significant problem for what we call the “working poor”, such as people who are on tracker mortgages. I have a constituent whose mortgage has gone up...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 Dec 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: I also want to be associated with the mark of respect to the family of the late Seán Rooney who died serving the peace process in the Army. This is very sad day. I want to raise a point about the four schools in Ardee, three of which have DEIS status. One of them, Scoil Mhuire na Trócaire, had its appeal for DEIS status refused. This outcome means the 288 girls in this school...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Conservation (15 Dec 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: Deputy O'Rourke has mentioned families living in energy poverty. I have tabled another question, Question No. 96, on this issue. Families are living in caravans as permanent residents. On the coldest nights of the year, they cannot benefit from the €200 electricity payment. I have asked the Minister to look at this. Perhaps he can answer the question now. It is unacceptable that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Action Plan (15 Dec 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: A major transport capital project in my constituency, the Ardee bypass, has been held up for more than a year now because of a High Court action. The case does relate to environmental issues. It is important, though, that projects in the plan should be pushed forward. If there need to be special settings of courts or special courts to deal with issues concerning environmental and other...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Library Projects (15 Dec 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: The Minister has it exactly right. The Department's policy of using vacant buildings in small rural towns, such as Dunleer, a growing rural town, will make a significant difference and show increasing confidence in the community. They already have a library service in what was the old railway station. Hopefully, when they move out of there and into the new library, which I appreciate will...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Library Projects (15 Dec 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: Louth County Council confirmed in August that it is exploring that option, which is very important. It is through local authorities and Departments working together and bringing on board the community that they will restore vibrancy and dynamism to villages and towns that had lost it in the past. The Minister's Department has been particularly active in looking after smaller towns with a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Library Projects (15 Dec 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: Absolutely.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Library Projects (15 Dec 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: 6. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if further progress has been made with regard to the purchase and location of a new library for Dunleer, County Louth, given the large increase in local population and the welcome increase in the numbers attending the current facility over the past number of years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62718/22]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Library Projects (15 Dec 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: I very much welcome the decision by the Department to build a new library in Dunleer. I welcome the decision of the Minister working with the county council. The former Bank of Ireland branch will be occupied by a new and, I hope, expanded library for the community. It is badly needed. I ask the Minister to expand on this.