Results 1,861-1,880 of 3,777 for speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Sustainable Development Goals: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: It does make it a little difficult. It is a very valuable analysis, but the goalposts have moved a little. We need to be fully clear when we are looking at the report by Social Justice Ireland which, as I said, is a really useful report. Yet, we are not necessarily looking at the actual sub-targets that were in the SDGs; we are looking at a set of targets that have been modified to take...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Sustainable Development Goals: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: The CSO has done a fantastic job of filling in a lot of gaps. It is my hope, now that they have that initial framework in place, that they would be able to look at that disaggregated data piece and people through that a little more. I will come back to Ms Carmody. As she knows, this topic is another hobby-horse of mine. I see that she has included in her opening statement the idea of a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Office of Public Works (27 Jun 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: I thank the Minister of State. That was certainly an answer to a question, as they say, but not to this one as far as I can ascertain. I asked about gap analysis and whether the appointment of the biodiversity officer was at a sufficiently senior level that it could make a difference with the organisation. There is absolutely no doubt that the OPW, if it engages fully on this, stands to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Office of Public Works (27 Jun 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: Somebody is being appointed at the assistant principal followed by two ecologists and one clerical officer. That is within an organisation which as the Minister of State pointed out, deals with 780 national monuments, 300 plus hectares of parklands and 1,700 staff. It feels a little thin on the ground to me. I refer in the brief time I have to two recommendations in particular from the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Office of Public Works (27 Jun 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: 40. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the position regarding the recruitment of in-house expertise at the OPW to ensure a full complement of competencies in ecological, botanical, horticultural or biodiversity-related roles; whether a gap analysis has been completed across the organisation; whether a biodiversity officer has been appointed at a level which enables...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Office of Public Works (27 Jun 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: I might take the prize for longest question of the evening. I ask the Minister to outline the position regarding the recruitment of in-house expertise at the OPW to ensure a full complement of competencies in ecological, botanical, horticultural and biodiversity-related roles; whether a gap analysis has been completed across the organisation; whether a biodiversity officer has been appointed...

Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009: Motions (27 Jun 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: We return to Sinn Féin. I call Deputy Martin Kenny.

Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009: Motions (27 Jun 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: That amendment cannot be dealt with until the Sinn Féin amendment is dealt with.

Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009: Motions (27 Jun 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: Deputy Ó Ríordáin may speak to it. If the Sinn Féin amendment is unsuccessful, he will be asked to move his amendment.

Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009: Motions (27 Jun 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: Before I call on the Minister to open the debate, I remind Members that there are two separate motions being debated, namely, the motion regarding the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and the motion regarding the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009. The motions will be moved separately, but will be debated together and decided by separate questions. There is an amendment...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Strategies (27 Jun 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: 56. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the current status of the development of an evaluation approach for the carbon capture of OPW-managed peatlands, woodlands, wetlands and other semi-natural habitats compared with the carbon footprint of delivering OPW services in heritage, property and flooding, as outlined in action 4. 6 of the Biodiversity Action Strategy 2022-2026;...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Services Provision (27 Jun 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: 258. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will outline the legal obligations on the civil and public service to assist residents in Ireland to access State services through the provision of translation and interpretation assistance, where those seeking to access services do not have English or Irish as a first language; and if he will make a statement on the matter....

Apprenticeship and Further Education and Training: Statements (22 Jun 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: I welcome the opportunity. We have had a number of opportunities to speak about skills and further and higher education recently in the context of the European Year of Skills. It is really welcome and shows a renewed focus on this area. It actually vindicates the idea of having a stand-alone Ministry to deal with further and higher education. It has certainly brought an increased focus on...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Action Plan (22 Jun 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: There is no doubt that considerable headway has been made, particularly in terms of public transport. We see across Europe many countries struggling to get transport numbers back to pre-Covid levels whereas, here in Ireland, we have not only rebounded but exceeded that. Anybody who is using public transport these days can see the number of people travelling and I am always struck,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Action Plan (22 Jun 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: The Minister of State mentioned two key things, which are the public engagement piece and that piece around road space reallocation. Any of the representatives here know that reallocation of road space can be contentious and we can get a lot of pushback on it, so public engagement is critical. I wonder whether we are recruiting into the active travel teams across all of the local...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Network (22 Jun 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: I believe everybody across the House, probably including the Minister of State, shares the frustration with the delay in publishing this report. Just as all roads lead to Dublin, all rail tracks lead to Dublin as well. We have come to have a rail system that is hub-and-spoke and what we need is the outside of the wheel. In that context, the mothballed connection between Rosslare and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Action Plan (22 Jun 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: 9. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the outputs from the climate delivery transport task force since its establishment, as indicated in the Climate Action Plan 2023 Annex of Actions; the specific areas and initiatives of climate delivery that are currently under its focus; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30185/23]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Action Plan (22 Jun 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: The climate action plan has now set out the sectoral emissions targets reductions that we want to achieve. I am aware that across different sectors, we have put in place climate delivery task forces. The decarbonisation of our transport is probably one of the most difficult areas for us to tackle. What specific areas and initiatives of climate delivery are currently under the focus of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Safety (22 Jun 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: This is an extremely important issue. As I said, there are three elements involved, namely, road safety, climate implications and the implications for active travel. I do not know whether the Minister of State took physics for the leaving certificate but I apologise if I am giving him a flashback. The equation that governs kinetic energy is E = mv². It is the v² in particular...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Safety (22 Jun 2023)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: Before I continue, I will praise the great work that Mairéad Forsythe of the Love 30 campaign has done in bringing focus to this issue. This has been done elsewhere. Belfast and Edinburgh have both made a decision to reduce speed limits from 30 mph to 20 mph, which would be the equivalent of 30 km/h in "old money", as they say. Both cities have seen major positive effects. There has...