Results 141-160 of 448 for at speaker:Christopher O'Sullivan

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Apr 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I wish to raise the urgent need to increase special school capacity right across Ireland. There are parents everywhere in Ireland at the moment who are looking for and fighting for places for their children in special schools. In west Cork we do not even have a special school. That needs to change urgently. I wish to raise the issue of a child who lives close to where we are in the centre...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Engagement with Chairperson to the Board of RTÉ (19 Apr 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I congratulate Ms Ní Raghallaigh on her new position. I wish her the best of luck with it. I also wish Mr. Kevin Bakhurst the best of luck in his new role. I congratulate Ms Dee Forbes as well, the outgoing director general. She spends a lot of time in Glandore in my constituency. I am sure she will now be spending much more time there, so I expect to see much more of her down...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Engagement with Chairperson to the Board of RTÉ (19 Apr 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: At those meetings, does the board ever discuss the proliferation of repeat shows on RTÉ 1 and RTÉ 2, the two main television stations? I ask this because since the number of repeat programmes on both channels has been pointed out to me, this issue has been driving me mad. There are quite a lot of these repeats. I am thinking of shows like "Killinaskully", as well as "The Late...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Engagement with Chairperson to the Board of RTÉ (19 Apr 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: "Home and Away" was what I grew up on in college. We could not get enough of it. At the same time, though, we are in a changing world and people can record programmes if they want to watch them back. In most instances, they have the devices to record them. There is only so much of one programme we can take. Has the level of repeats on RTÉ 1 and RTÉ 2 been discussed? Surely...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Engagement with Chairperson to the Board of RTÉ (19 Apr 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: ..., to drama and live music and all these different spheres of activity. There are opportunities here to provide new and fresh slots for these programme makers' output, as opposed to repeats. I do take the points made by Dr. Mathews, though. Equally, however, there does seem to be an increased proliferation of these repeats. I appreciate his response and that this issue will perhaps be...

Finance Bill 2023: Report Stage (18 Apr 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I welcome the amendment the Minister has made to the benefit-in-kind measure. The Fianna Fáil parliamentary party as a group met with the Minister to explain that while we believe any initiatives to move towards cleaner vehicles, whether electric or hybrid, are welcome, in some cases people would be put very much out of pocket by this measure. I really appreciate that the Minister...

Finance Bill 2023: Report Stage (18 Apr 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: We are going to have to allow for that transition. One will not be able to pull a trailer-load of cattle or silage but there is a place for EVs. Their range is improving massively. We all agree we need offshore renewable energy. I have even heard comments from Deputy Healy-Rae in relation to that. When we have offshore renewable energy and we are charging EVs, that is clean transport....

Post-European Council Meeting: Statements (18 Apr 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: ...not speak for the full nine minutes, as he was due to have four or five of these. I can waffle if my colleagues wish but I would prefer to get straight to the point. Was there any discussion at the EU Council meeting on state aid rules and EU funding and how this funding is spent, in particular, by local authorities? This relates not just to how it is spent but also to how it is...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Cancer Services (18 Apr 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: Exactly. We are into the following day. I appreciate the Minister of State sticking around to take this matter. It relates to Cancer Connect, which is an extraordinary cancer support service in Cork, west Cork and extending into County Kerry. It offers a transport service for people availing of chemotherapy and radiotherapy services in Cork University Hospital, CUH, and Cork city. At the...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Challenges Facing Providers of Tourist Accommodation in Ireland: Discussion (29 Mar 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I return to the issue of price spikes. Senator Cassells aimed much of his questioning on this issue at the representatives from ITIC. To give some balance, I will address my questions to the witnesses from the Irish Hotels Federation. Mr. Kelly mentioned the reputational damage caused by price spikes, price gouging or whatever one likes to call it. Many members of this committee have...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Challenges Facing Providers of Tourist Accommodation in Ireland: Discussion (29 Mar 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: That brings me to my next question. The last time we discussed this we asked the IHF to write to its Dublin-based members to ask them to desist from price gouging. Mr. Fenn mentioned at the time he could not intervene. Has he since written to Dublin-based members asking that this practice would stop?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Challenges Facing Providers of Tourist Accommodation in Ireland: Discussion (29 Mar 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: We have some people involved in short-term letting in the Gallery today. They are here because of an issue that has been touched on, namely, registration. Everybody welcomes the registration of short-term letting property but they want to outline the impact it will have on what they do, the important incomes they get and the important role it plays in rural parts of the economy, which we...

Finance Bill 2023: Second Stage (21 Mar 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I want to, and it is important for me to use this slot to discuss and outline the experience of a seventh-generation family-run hotel in Clonakilty. I want to outline the disgusting and despicable treatment that this family-run business experienced at the hands of one our pillar banks, AIB, and an unscrupulous vulture fund, Everyday Finance. Unfortunately, the experience that I will outline...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Meetings (21 Mar 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: The IPCC report is not about goals or ambition because the Government clearly has those. It is the rate of pace at which we are putting the items in our action plan into action. I will break that down in respect of how it can work in rural Ireland and urban areas, especially in the area of electric vehicle, EV, sales. The good news is EV sales increased by 50% in the first couple of months...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (9 Mar 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: At the risk of making the Minister for Health repeat himself, I also want to ask about community neurorehabilitation. The Neurological Alliance of Ireland, NAI, and a number of clinical leads in stroke, neurology, dementia care and neurorehabilitation have just spent the past hour and a half in the audiovisual room advocating for community neurorehabilitation. They did so does so because of...

International Women's Day: Statements (8 Mar 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: On this, International Women's Day, I will dedicate this contribution to the extraordinary women I am lucky enough to know, that is, my mum, sisters, fiancé and friends who, every day, have to work much harder for equal recognition. I make special mention of my amazing sister, Anne, who raised a family and got a degree in business, with her youngest baby in tow in a baby sling, when...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (2 Mar 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I welcome the Minister. The committee understands the challenges of reaching the 25% emissions reduction target. Originally, the understanding was that 18% was suggested as a target through the measures outlined in Ag Climatise and different roadmaps. The target is now 25%, which we know will be challenging. At least agriculture has a roadmap in place and something to work from. Not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Feb 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I join in the congratulations to the Minister on his new role. As I know him and have met him at various events around Cork city, metropolitan area and county, I know that his knowledge of businesses from micro-businesses to the larger ones will definitely suit the role. There is a lot of excitement in the Cork area because of that. I will pick up a point Deputy Farrell touched on. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Feb 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: As the Minister says to get that 45% it is going to be commutative, so every little will help. I appreciate the commitment and would love it if the matter was looked at. The Minister mentioned the SEAI grants and renewable and low-emissions heating systems, including wood pellets and so on. They have been quite successful for industry, especially in manufacturing and food production. We...