Results 241-260 of 3,337 for speaker:Michael Collins

Investment in Football: Motion [Private Members] (12 Jul 2023)

Michael Collins: I welcome David Hall and Michael Burgoyne from the west Cork schoolboys' and schoolgirls' leagues, who made the journey up from west Cork today to the Gallery for the debate. West Cork boasts an ever-increasing footballing population, with a current active player register of 3,000, from under eight to adulthood. In recent years, the league has gone from strength to strength in terms of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Jul 2023)

Michael Collins: I fully respect what Mr. Carroll is saying but I would like independent evidence regarding the prices. Factories are dictating the price of lamb. Some people feel there should be a full investigation into the whole processing business under Meat Industry Ireland. That is what the farmers on the ground are telling me. What is the monetary value of sheep offal? Where does it end up in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Jul 2023)

Michael Collins: I appreciate that. We have been listening to proposals from the Minister and the Department on how the sheep sector will improve and on what is needed to improve it from the perspective of farm organisations. In practical terms, when can sheep farmers expect to see an improvement in the whole sector, putting more money into their pockets for their product and with a working plan for the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Jul 2023)

Michael Collins: My final question, which is for the representatives of both organisations, is on when a processing plant takes in a delivery of lamb carcasses from abroad to be processed. Where does that lamb end up? Does it end up in Irish shops or is it exported again? Is the place of origin stamped on it? Is Bord Bia's stamp on any of these products? I am concerned that lamb imports, despite our...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Jul 2023)

Michael Collins: I have four questions, two for Meat Industry Ireland and two for both Meat Industry Ireland and Bord Bia. The first is a more serious question so I will ask it on a stand-alone basis. We have heard from sheep farmers and marts, and also on various media, about how the factories are raising or lowering the price of lamb. We are hearing rumblings and calls for a full investigation into the...

Housing and Homelessness: Motion [Private Members] (11 Jul 2023)

Michael Collins: There are many reasons we have a housing crisis and we have put forward many of those in motions recently at every opportunity available to us. Planning permissions are a very significant issue, as are sewerage issues, where housing developments are being objected to and where county development plan decisions are taken out of the hands of councillors. All of these decisions are feeding...

Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Second Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2023)

Michael Collins: When the Minister addressed the Seanad on 10 February 2022, he acknowledged that introducing a law to create exclusion zones outside abortion facilities would push up against civil liberties, yet he persisted in bringing forward this Bill before this House. In the same intervention in the Seanad he publicly admitted that he was rejecting the advice of An Garda Síochána that a Bill...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Jul 2023)

Michael Collins: We have been drip-fed information about the RTÉ scandal every day of the week for almost two weeks now. There are people in my constituency and all over the country who are rightly furious. We hear of wrong payments made to certain people RTÉ that have been going on for years. We hear of ticket purchases for bands at exorbitant prices and thousands of euro paid for flip-flop...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Jul 2023)

Michael Collins: It is no wonder that newly qualified GPs are emigrating as soon as they qualify. It is no wonder rural areas are suffering. It is no wonder GPs are closing their lists to new patients. What is the Taoiseach's solution to this crisis?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Jul 2023)

Michael Collins: It is not.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Jul 2023)

Michael Collins: Maybe if the Taoiseach had listened to my speech, he would know that they were extracts from Dr. Fiona Kelly’s social media. That is what I read out. It did not come from me. I say that to start with. Second, where are the GPs the Taoiseach is talking about? Obviously, the Taoiseach says that there might be more GPs, but we have a bigger population, too. That has to be taken...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Jul 2023)

Michael Collins: If this were the case, the Castletownbere clinic would not have been forced to close last Friday. These are just a few solutions to a huge crisis. Will the Taoiseach work with the likes of Dr. Fiona Kelly throughout the country, or will he let such doctors burn out and close their doors?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Jul 2023)

Michael Collins: I will move channel away from RTÉ for the time being to the issue of rural doctors and burnout. Dr. Fiona Kelly is one of the finest rural doctors in this country. She has been practising in the Beara Peninsula since 2009. She is dedicated to her job, is hardworking and almost always contactable outside working hours. She offers same-day appointments for anyone in need and still...

Nature Restoration Law: Motion [Private Members] (5 Jul 2023)

Michael Collins: We have very serious concerns about the Government's unwavering support for the EU nature restoration law, following a vote in favour of the drastic rewetting law at the June EU Environment Council in Luxembourg. The law, if implemented, includes legally binding targets that will have detrimental impacts on farmlands and the livelihoods of Irish farmers. The version of the EU nature...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Ireland's Water Quality: Discussion (5 Jul 2023)

Michael Collins: I thank the Chair. I agree with his opening statement. It clearly outlines the current position of Irish dairy farmers and Irish agriculture. I welcome the witnesses. I think I am correct when I say that the report is not defeatist. It states that Ireland can do more, and the witnesses are open on how progress can be made. Irish farmers have been trying to do their best. There needs...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Ireland's Water Quality: Discussion (5 Jul 2023)

Michael Collins: There is also Goleen and places like that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Ireland's Water Quality: Discussion (5 Jul 2023)

Michael Collins: I have been on the Community Council in Goleen since 1999. We are doing our best to provide a sewage system for Goleen. It has not happened since 1999. There is raw sewage being pumped into the tide, and the Department is chasing the poor farmer. I was at a public meeting in Shannonvale in Clonakilty recently. There is raw sewage bursting over the ground and pouring into the reservoir,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Ireland's Water Quality: Discussion (5 Jul 2023)

Michael Collins: I thank Mr. Flynn and sincerely hope he is right that by 2025, these changes will have been made. Some issues have been going on since 1993 and it is adding to the reports as they come out. I sometimes worry that the water is being muddied slightly and that farmers are being dragged into it and fingers are being pointed at them. Do the witnesses agree with me that the State is the biggest...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Abortion Services (5 Jul 2023)

Michael Collins: 208. To ask the Minister for Health to explain the discrepancy between the 8,876 combined termination procedure and aftercare claims under the primary care reimbursement scheme in 2022, whilst just 8,156 notifications of termination were officially received in 2022, which amounts to an unaccounted-for €324,000 being paid to abortion-performing doctors; and if he will make a statement...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Abortion Services (5 Jul 2023)

Michael Collins: 209. To ask the Minister for Health the reason for the discrepancy between the 6,683 combined termination procedure and aftercare claims under the primary care reimbursement scheme in 2021, whilst just 4,577 notifications of termination were officially received in 2021, which amounts to an unaccounted-for €947,700 being paid to abortion-performing doctors; and if he will make a...