Results 1-20 of 3,893 for speaker:Michael Collins

Fisheries: Statements (22 Oct 2025)

Michael Collins: I thank the Chief Whip for making the statements possible today. Deputy Mac Lochlainn and I pushed hard for this debate, which is of huge importance at the present time. I would like this to be an honest debate. I do not want to stand here speaking and not getting answers. I would like to get answers to the questions I am putting to the Minister. I want us to work together to save our...

Fisheries: Statements (22 Oct 2025)

Michael Collins: Fourth, will the Minister commit to pushing for the application of the Hague preferences to ensure Irish fishers can legally fish in their own waters? Fifth, why is Ireland being denied a dedicated quota for bluefin tuna despite a clear recovery in stock levels and historical fishing effort? Sixth, does the Minister accept that the Common Fisheries Policy and the Brexit trade and...

Men's Health: Statements (22 Oct 2025)

Michael Collins: Today, for the first time in the history of the Dáil, we are giving men's health the attention it urgently deserves. Ireland led the world in 2009 with the first national men's health policy but the latest version of the report, The Real Face of Men's Health, shows we are at a crossroads. In 2022, 40.2% of all male deaths were premature. Men in the most deprived areas are 150% more...

Office of the President: Motion [Private Members] (22 Oct 2025)

Michael Collins: We in Independent Ireland welcome this motion. This is the kind of genuine, sensible proposal that speaks to ordinary Irish people, North and South. It is a motion about fairness, inclusion and democracy, which have been missing to date from too much of the operation of our political system. The presidential election has brought that into sharp focus in recent weeks. Independent...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Iarnród Éireann (22 Oct 2025)

Michael Collins: I welcome our guests. This is meant to be an all-island strategic rail review. Am I correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Iarnród Éireann (22 Oct 2025)

Michael Collins: How is it that in the context of the 130 km from Cork station to Ardgroom there is not one single railway line? How is it that there is no rail link to Mizen Head, which is 125 km from Cork, and no plans for such a link that I know of? I may stand to be corrected on that. It is an an-island review. If there are no plans, however, it is not an all-island review and the name needs to be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Iarnród Éireann (22 Oct 2025)

Michael Collins: The thing is that this is referred to as an all-island strategic rail review. That cannot be the case. The name has to be changed. It has to be called the "some of the island rail review". It certainly cannot be all-island when a whole area of west Cork is ignored and there is not one single sign of rail there. There is not an even a sign, signal or post telling people the way to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Iarnród Éireann (22 Oct 2025)

Michael Collins: Ms Considine is saying this is all-island and that it includes Northern Ireland. That is absolutely perfect, but if the whole of Northern Ireland, or the whole of Dublin or Galway, were exempted from it, there would be an outcry. From Cork, there are 135 km of roadway to Ardgroom and 125 km to Mizen Head, but there is no rail. There is no way we can wait until 2035. We may all be pushing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Iarnród Éireann (22 Oct 2025)

Michael Collins: Yes, I would appreciate that. I do not have much time left, but it is hugely important because these areas cannot be thrown to the wolves. Rail, when we do use it, is second to none. I do not want to be slating what it is but that is the problem. There needs to be some kind of connectivity and that is all I ask Iarnród Éireann to work on because it looks like rail will not...

Irish Unity: Motion [Private Members] (21 Oct 2025)

Michael Collins: I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this motion on Irish unity before us. I am not afraid of unity. The Independent Ireland party is not afraid of unity. However, I speak with both caution and conviction on this motion. The question of Irish unity is not just a constitutional matter; it is a deeply personal and emotional issue for many across this island. It deserves thoughtful,...

Finance Bill 2025: Second Stage (21 Oct 2025)

Michael Collins: The VAT reduction to 9% for hairdressers, cafés and restaurants is very welcome. I thank the Government for doing that and delivering for these people who were practically on their knees. I cannot understand that some parties in here are crying that the Government should not have done that. They obviously do not talk to the restaurant or café owners who are in a desperate...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Oct 2025)

Michael Collins: Last night, a ten-year-old Irish girl under Tusla care was allegedly sexually assaulted on the grounds of the Citywest Hotel, a facility housing asylum seekers. The suspect, an asylum applicant with a deportation order, had remained in the country despite being refused protection earlier this year, making the attacker here an illegal immigrant. The people are rightly alarmed. We need an...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Inquiries (21 Oct 2025)

Michael Collins: 619. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the total payments made to a company in a relation to a site (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57388/25]

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (16 Oct 2025)

Michael Collins: Today, I speak on behalf of Vera Twomey and her late daughter, Ava Barry. This is a story that embodies the courage of Irish families and the urgent need for compassionate healthcare reform. Ava suffered from Dravet syndrome and endured up to 500 seizures per month. When conventional treatments failed, Vera fought tirelessly for access to medicinal cannabis. She walked from Cork to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (16 Oct 2025)

Michael Collins: I welcome the recent announcement of funding of €339 million for craft apprenticeships for 2025. It is my understanding that this funding will be used to support the expansion of training places, the recruitment and retention of instructors, and the provision of more places, especially in trades needed for housing infrastructure, including, as the Minister of State said, plumbers and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (16 Oct 2025)

Michael Collins: We are depending on migrant workers to build these houses. These workers have come from Poland, Latvia, Moldova, Bolivia, South Africa and other places across the world. As I said, there are 300,000 new homes needed by 2030 and there are 170,000 people working in construction, but 30,000 to 40,000 is a lot of people to be found between now and 2030. All these workers need to be trained....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (16 Oct 2025)

Michael Collins: 5. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the further actions he intends to take to increase craft apprenticeship participation given the additional funding announced in budget 2026 and the urgent need to increase the number of people qualified in the trades; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56315/25]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (16 Oct 2025)

Michael Collins: 401. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when his department WILL publish a renewed strategy to replace the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56316/25]

Tillage Sector: Statements (15 Oct 2025)

Michael Collins: I have been requesting statements on tillage for the past few weeks. I acknowledge the Chief Whip for her help in making sure we got a chance to speak on behalf of Ireland's tillage farmers. It is an essential yet increasingly vulnerable part of our agricultural landscape. The tillage sector is in crisis. For the third consecutive year, farmers are facing financial losses. Despite their...

Confidence in the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade: Motion (15 Oct 2025)

Michael Collins: I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to Gillian and Stephen on the heartbreaking loss of their son Harvey. Harvey's story has touched the hearts of people throughout Ireland. He was a bright, brave young boy who endured immeasurable pain while waiting for care he desperately needed. No parent should have to fight for years to secure surgery for their child. No child should be...