Results 1,961-1,980 of 2,283 for speaker:Matt Shanahan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Budget 2021 Support Measures for Enterprise: Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (21 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: I thank the witnesses. I hope that, as the work of this committee progresses, we will get more opportunities to speak to the Department. We will not have time to get through very much this morning. I will highlight a couple of issues. The Department's submission is welcome, as is the funding mentioned within, but there is an obvious bias towards larger businesses in Ireland and foreign...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pensions Reform (20 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: 386. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the planning and timing schedules for the establishment of a commission on pensions; her views on ensuring the independence of those appointed to the commission; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30961/20]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospice Services (15 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: 283. To ask the Minister for Health if a notice has issued on the eTenders website in respect of the tender issued for the building of a second Waterford cath lab; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30811/20]

Financial Resolutions 2020 - Financial Resolution No. 7: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: I am sharing time with Deputy Fitzpatrick. I was in the House earlier this morning broadly welcoming many of the outlines of the budget but highlighting to the Taoiseach the need to make sure that we see fairness and equity in it. Before I go on to other parts of my contribution, I too will reference the Debenhams workers. I heard the Taoiseach's comments earlier this morning. We need to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: I thank the Taoiseach for his comments. I agree with the Taoiseach that it is probably more than a decade, when Mr. Cullen was a Minister, since Waterford could look at any kind of significant capital infrastructural spend from the Government. It is probably a testament to that being the case that I am standing here now. In Waterford and south east we are absolutely ready to play our...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: As a member of the Regional Group, I welcome the budget announced yesterday. The phrase "a wartime budget" is apt. I particularly welcome the increases in the health and education spend. I share some of my colleagues' reservations that an opportunity has possibly been lost to create social change in order to encourage migration to the regions, remote working, affordable housing and the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (14 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: 68. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she has reviewed the case of a student (details supplied) who was downgraded in four subjects from her teacher grades as opposed to all of her class peers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25942/20]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Cards (13 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: 482. To ask the Minister for Health the date on which the income limits for medical cards will be increased (details supplied); if there will be further delays; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29896/20]

Covid-19: Statements (8 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: Companies should engage with NPHET. That has been a problem. It will be proven that antigen testing should have been augmented 13 weeks ago when I brought the issue to members of NPHET. The validation could have been done in the meantime. We need it now. We need to get these things delivered and we need people to be able to engage with thought leaders in NPHET. They cannot be blind to...

Covid-19: Statements (8 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: Yes. Magnanimous, I know. The Minister and I, along with other colleagues in the House, have engaged in hearings of the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response. Unlike other Deputies here I am not interested in what happened last weekend. I am interested in our strategy and where we go from here. Without going back over where we were, the committee was very important and I am...

Bille na dTeangacha Oifigiúla (Leasú), 2019: An Dara Céim - Official Languages (Amendment) Bill 2019: Second Stage (8 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: B'fhearr liom caint as Béarla. I recently shared a post on social media not because this debate was coming up but, rather, because it struck a chord with me. The post in question was probably not written with Ireland in mind but it speaks to a hard truth and the responsibility on present and future Irish generations to act. The post I circulated states: Speak your native language to...

Brexit and Business: Statements (7 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: Since Britain first announced its intention to break away from the European Union, it has generally been acknowledged by all onlookers that the fortunes of the Republic of Ireland would suffer most from this event. Not alone do we share social, cultural, economic and political ties with the UK, we also share a common Border which, with the advent of the Good Friday Agreement, has become a...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (7 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: I have five short questions about the programme for Government in respect of education. The programme seeks to make further progress-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (7 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: Okay. The programme for Government makes a commitment to examine the pupil-teacher ratio. Ireland has one of the highest ratios in the OECD, with 20% of our pupils in class sizes of more than 30 pupils. Will the Taoiseach give a commitment to reduce further the pupil-teacher ratio as the Government continues over this year and in the coming years?

Winter Plan 2020: Statements (1 Oct 2020)

Matt Shanahan: Since the arrival of Covid into our country a clear and present danger has existed not just to the lives of our elderly and vulnerable, but also to the social and economic cohesion of our State. Covid-19 is largely a killer of the elderly and those with underlying medical vulnerabilities. Thankfully our knowledge of dealing with and treating this illness has advanced greatly over the past...

Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2020 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (30 Sep 2020)

Matt Shanahan: The south east is no stranger to the issues of forestry. It is a very important business sector for the south east. We have companies such as Medite in Clonmel and SmartPly in Waterford which provide MDF and cost-effective, environmentally friendly alternatives to tropical plywoods for use in structural and non-structural applications. Those two companies directly employ more than 320...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Business of Special Committee (30 Sep 2020)

Matt Shanahan: I want to touch on one subject and follow up with two questions on the hospitality sector. On testing, I have heard the analogy made that we are in a war or battle and in battle one uses all of one's weapons and resources. It is now generally accepted that 50% of Covid cases are asymptomatic and, therefore, will not be picked up until people develop symptoms. People may not have...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Business of Special Committee (30 Sep 2020)

Matt Shanahan: I am sorry to interrupt Dr. De Gascun, but I am tight on time. I get the point of what he is saying. Professor Nolan already outlined in terms of airport testing that we would have a lot of misses in the context of community testing. It can be accepted that PCR testing is not the gold standard in terms of one single test. I believe we should be looking at other testing regimes in tandem...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Tests (29 Sep 2020)

Matt Shanahan: 767. To ask the Minister for Health if he will address a matter (details supplied) regarding a refusal to be swabbed for Covid-19; the refusal rate at the centre; the legal powers of the HSE to demand that swabs be taken in circumstances in which disease risk is suspected but persons refuse permission; the rates of refusal at other centres nationally; and if he will make a statement on the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Equipment (29 Sep 2020)

Matt Shanahan: 972. To ask the Minister for Health the steps being taken by the University Hospital Waterford to provide insulin pump therapy as a treatment option to all eligible adults with type 1 diabetes; the plans of the hospital to provide type 1 diabetes self-management education to adults attending its clinic; if the hospital has included the specialist nursing staff and dieticians required to...