Results 1-20 of 17,840 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (25 Nov 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: 98. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of and the position regarding the changes to the carer’s allowance and the domiciliary care allowance announced in budget 2022. [57830/21]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (25 Nov 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: I welcome the changes. Many of the questions I had intended to ask have already been answered by the Minister. We deal with carers as a group a great deal and they do phenomenal work, much of it hidden. I would love to see empirical work done on what they are saving the State in terms of healthcare. I do not know if that is being done, but it should be done. I welcome the increase in the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pensions Reform (25 Nov 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: 70. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans for the introduction of an auto-enrolment system [57831/21]

Covid-19: New Measures: Statements (24 Nov 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: In the time I have, I want to deal with a couple of items relating to Limerick. They come under the headings of testing and University Hospital Limerick, UHL. On the testing side, we have a testing centre in Ballysimon on the Ballysimon Road and RocDoc in Shannon is also being used. This morning you could not an appointment in Ballysimon. Later today you could not get an appointment...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Examinations (23 Nov 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Little did we think that two years after, we would still be very much living with and having to deal with Covid. We may have to do so for a number of years. Does the Minister believe the hybrid model that was adopted last year will be sustainable during any Covid period?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Examinations (23 Nov 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: 69. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she is considering arrangements for a hybrid leaving certificate for 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57335/21]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Examinations (23 Nov 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: This matter follows on from the issue of leaving certificate reform. I liked the hybrid model used for the 2021 examination. The Minister will be aware that I conducted an online survey of parents in Limerick prior to the leaving certificate. They were very much in favour of this model and I think it has worked. I know the State Examinations Commission is due to report but will the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Examinations (23 Nov 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: The Minister might just give us her view on the hybrid model that was in place for the 2021 leaving certificate examination. What did we learn from that? I believe in that combination of continuous assessment and written exam for those students. I like the aspect of anonymity in the latter, but we have to give certainty to students. What did the Minister and the Department learn from the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Examinations (23 Nov 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Does the Minister believe that the hybrid model for the leaving certificate in June of 2021, which involved calculated grades along with students being able to sit the examination, was a success and does she believe that is the type of future model that will be laid out when she issues her direction in respect of the advisory report she has received? When does the Minister expect to come...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Examinations (23 Nov 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: As a parent, and having put four through the leaving certificate in recent years, it is a hugely significant examination for students. In the past year, there was the hybrid model. While people may accept the point about memory retention, I believe there is scope for both. People have to be able to perform in an examination but, equally, they must be judged on their continuous...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Examinations (23 Nov 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: 61. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her priorities for the reform of the leaving certificate; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57336/21]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Examinations (23 Nov 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: I want to raise the issue of the leaving certificate and of having certainty about what the leaving certificate will be about going forward. I note that the Minister has received the advisory report from the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA. When does she expect to make a decision on it? We saw that the hybrid model worked in the last academic year but it had the...

Climate Action Plan 2021: Statements (23 Nov 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: How much time do I have?

Climate Action Plan 2021: Statements (23 Nov 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: I welcome this debate. l confine my comments to two areas, namely, agriculture and transport. On agriculture, I have a basic and simple principle. We encouraged farmers, particularly those on the dairy side, to be more productive and increase cattle numbers. We have to find a way to support the productive farmer. If there are other areas where people wish to scale back, we need to...

Climate Action Plan 2021: Statements (23 Nov 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: -----have to ensure we put charging infrastructure in place and address cost. We need to get to the point where people will choose an electric vehicle the next time they change their car.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 Nov 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: I raise the matter of University Hospital Limerick, UHL. It currently has the highest trolley count in Ireland, with 58 patients on trolleys. It has 56 Covid patients. Thirteen Covid patients are in ICU and 30 patients have been in ICU for a long time. That is above the number of ICU beds in the hospital, of which there are 12. There are also high-dependency unit beds too, bringing the...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 Nov 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: -----the resources to be able to employ staff and junior doctors and to make that submission for funding to get us through this winter period?

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Hospital Facilities (18 Nov 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: I acknowledge the 98 additional beds that have gone into UHL. Some 60 modular beds, for which I campaigned over a long period of time, are in place. However, that 60-bed ward is being used as a Covid unit. It is not being used for that which it was really intended, which was to relieve the existing pressures in UHL. We have 49 patients in UHL with Covid. That is in the top three in the...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Hospital Facilities (18 Nov 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: University Hospital Limerick, UHL, caters for the medical needs of the entire mid-west, including my constituency of Limerick City. The region also has St. John's, Ennis and Nenagh hospitals, as well as Croom Orthopaedic Hospital, but UHL is the large cog in the system. On Tuesday, 16 November, 95 people were on trolleys there, which was the highest number since the Irish Medical...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Nov 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: I will raise two related matters concerning Covid-19. There is a six-month interval between the second vaccination and the proposed booster. Has the Government considered asking the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, to see if the interval can be brought back to five months? It is officially six months but the committee indicated it will consider an interval of five months....