Results 1,881-1,900 of 3,648 for speaker:Michael Collins

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Mar 2021)

Michael Collins: I agree with my colleagues about the tourism and hospitality sector. West Cork is one of the top tourism spots in Ireland and it is particularly badly affected. The lead-in to Easter would have been a boom time for the hotel sector, restaurants, pubs and cafés. They need further supports. They are continuously in contact with me and they feel their voices are not being heard. Their...

Ceathrú Chultúir 1916 Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members] (24 Mar 2021)

Michael Collins: I support the Bill as well. The UK property group, Hammerson, owns a six-acre site stretching from O'Connell Street to Moore Street and Parnell Street. It is to seek planning permission next month that will involve knocking down buildings and changing the streets. I am in full agreement with the measure in the Bill to put a preservation order on the terrace and curtilage of the premises...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Projects (24 Mar 2021)

Michael Collins: 131. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if capital funding has been set aside in budget 2021 for road projects (details supplied) in County Cork. [39488/20]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Counselling Services (24 Mar 2021)

Michael Collins: 1476. To ask the Minister for Health if the various unplanned pregnancy counselling services recognised by the sexual health and crisis pregnancy programme and in receipt of State funding are seeing clients face-to-face during the Covid-19 pandemic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14362/21]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Common Fisheries Policy (24 Mar 2021)

Michael Collins: 2039. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there is a way of seeking additional unused non-national EU quota (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15758/21]

Young People and Access to Further and Higher Education: Motion [Private Members] (11 Mar 2021)

Michael Collins: I fully support the motion. There are so many issues of serious concern to students in higher education. Even last week I raised a matter with the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in the Dáil concerning motor mechanics apprenticeships with SOLAS. Although the students completed phase 2 of their apprenticeship in December 2020, they are still...

Criminal Procedure Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (11 Mar 2021)

Michael Collins: I will be brief. I fully support this amendment. We talk about careful pre-legislative scrutiny of proposals here in the Oireachtas and that is certainly the way it should be. I have seen some cases where that has not happened, and that is unfortunate and something which should not have been allowed. In general, we must change the way in which some criminal proceedings are carried out....

Criminal Procedure Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (11 Mar 2021)

Michael Collins: I will be very brief. I support the amendments because they are made in good faith to ensure that the Bill is strengthened. As Deputy Mattie McGrath stated, everybody is innocent until proven guilty. Young people are sometimes convicted for small-time crimes. Crime is bad and many great community groups such as Business Watch are trying to help to fight crime. In no way do I condone...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (11 Mar 2021)

Michael Collins: I fully agree with Deputy Duncan Smith. I raised this issue with the Taoiseach in the House three or four months ago with reference to facilities in County Cork and throughout the country. The number of special disability toilets in Northern Ireland is double if not quadruple the number in the Republic. The lack of provision is not fair. There are people travelling hours with a person...

Covid-19 Vaccination Programme: Statements (11 Mar 2021)

Michael Collins: I will concentrate my efforts on the Garda. I will be making statements and I would appreciate it if the Minister would give me a written reply. I have asked a lot of fair questions about the vaccines and I have never got a reply. Shop assistants are asking me when they will be considered. They have been on the front line for quite some time. Many people on islands off west Cork are...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (10 Mar 2021)

Michael Collins: It is quite evident to the people of this country that we have a vaccine supply issue. Every other Deputy is in the same position as me in having issues to raise in this regard. When are gardaí and shop workers going to be vaccinated? What about the people living on the islands off west Cork, including Bere Island, Cape Clear Island, Sherkin Island, Long Island and the many other...

Civil Registration (Right of Adoptees to Information) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members] (10 Mar 2021)

Michael Collins: I support this Bill. One issue officials are wrestling with is how to protect the privacy of birth parents who do not wish to be known or to be contacted by children who were given up for adoption many years ago. The change that is almost certainly coming is that their rights of privacy will no longer trump the rights of adopted people to know their birth identities. For people who were...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Industry (10 Mar 2021)

Michael Collins: 1004. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when point-to-point racing will resume; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12516/21]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Eradication of Bovine Tuberculosis: Discussion (9 Mar 2021)

Michael Collins: Much of what I wanted to say has already been mentioned. On my side of the country there are many beef farmers and there has been major difficulties in testing cattle. I am a farmer but I have helped many others through the years. We all do that with our neighbours, including older neighbours in difficulty. They often swore inside a yard what a bloody racket this whole process is. It has...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Eradication of Bovine Tuberculosis: Discussion (9 Mar 2021)

Michael Collins: I have a couple of questions for the Department official. TB testing was meant to eradicate TB and we have been testing for decades now. It has failed, and failed miserably. This has caused frustration and difficulties for farmers, especially those on their own or older farmers trying to test cattle. Can the Department officials explain why it has failed? Many farmers believe, and I said...

Impact of Covid-19 on Women for International Women’s Day: Statements (4 Mar 2021)

Michael Collins: I am delighted to get a chance to speak on the impact of Covid-19 on women for International Women's Day. I have been lucky to know some great and gifted women in my lifetime. We have seen in the past 12 months how our medical professionals, most of them women, have been to the fore in tackling the Covid-19 crisis. Some are doctors and others are nurses, carers and home helps. They have...

Covid-19 Vaccine Roll-out Programme: Statements (Resumed) (4 Mar 2021)

Michael Collins: I will be making statements. I would appreciate it if the Minister would come back to me with the answers. The vaccine roll-out did not get off to a good start. We all know that and I hope things are ironing themselves out. I raised with the Minister several times the issue of home helps being offered a vaccine throughout west Cork. This took some pleading but it seems that many got the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Mar 2021)

Michael Collins: There is a very serious issue with forestry felling. We have a crisis because an objector has held up the whole process. In some cases I know of, a licence cannot be got where forests have been blown due to storms. There is a very worrying situation at GP Wood in Cork, which employs 500 people, because it has a massive shortage of timber. Another growing worry is the Government's targets...

Banking Sector: Statements (3 Mar 2021)

Michael Collins: The decision made by Bank of Ireland to close 103 of its branches in Ireland, including 88 in the Republic, two of which, in Bantry and Dunmanway, are in my constituency, is a grave error of judgment. For several years, the bank has been dismantling the personal service which existed for generations and replacing it with banking machines in a bid to reduce staff and costs. However, the...

Reopening Schools and Leaving Certificate Examinations: Statements (3 Mar 2021)

Michael Collins: A calculated grades system was introduced in 2020, and while there were many teething problems, it showed us that there may be other ways to assess our students rather than cramming six years of learning into two weeks of final exams. Perhaps it is time to reform the leaving certificate, which might mean students being assessed on a staggered basis using a broader range of assessment methods...