Results 181-200 of 5,532 for speaker:Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Rail Network (23 Jan 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 192. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport whether he supports the provision of electric trains to Cork in early 2024 for the purposes of expansion of the Cork area commuter rail; and if he has had discussion with Iarnród Éireann in relation to this. [3018/24]

Social Welfare (Liable Relatives and Child Maintenance) Bill 2023: Second Stage (18 Jan 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Cuirim fáilte roimh an mBille seo. Tréaslaím leis an Aire agus leis an Teachta Kerrane in éineacht leis na hoifigigh sa Roinn. Is reachtaíocht fhíorthábhachtach é seo a dhéanfaidh an-difríocht do thuismitheoirí aonair agus do dhaoine atá ag comhoibriú ó thaobh tuismitheoireachta. Ní raibh na forálacha faoi mar...

Investment Funds Trading in the Residential Property Market: Motion [Private Members] (17 Jan 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I have heard more full-blooded defences of the Government’s housing policy. It is no wonder because the Government knows it is very much on the wrong side of this issue. Weekly, if not daily, I talk to people who are trying to buy their first home. I am sure the Minister of State does so too. When you talk to them, noting the sacrifices they have to make and the work they have to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Energy Poverty: Discussion (17 Jan 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I would also like to be associated with the expression of condolences to Paul. This is a very good session. It is very timely and important. When one is knocking on doors and seeing the different types of poverty that exist, often energy poverty is the most visible. We would be talking to people at the door and one could nearly feel the cold. They bring us inside and they point out the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Energy Poverty: Discussion (17 Jan 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Energy Poverty: Discussion (17 Jan 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I am sorry, but I did not get the upper range figure.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Energy Poverty: Discussion (17 Jan 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: The reason I asked, and it is the fault of nobody in this room, is that, increasingly, I have heard from more than one local authority that the money they get from the State does not pay and they have reduced the amount of retrofitting they are doing directly because of the increase in building costs and all the rest of it. It is much less achievable for them to reach the targets than it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Energy Poverty: Discussion (17 Jan 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Are there challenges generally with areas of architectural protection?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Energy Poverty: Discussion (17 Jan 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: That might be a conversation I will take up directly with the SEAI. There might be scope to have a conversation in the locality I am thinking of. On the fully funded scheme, according to the SEAI's website, fully funded energy upgrades are available to people who receive the following welfare payments: fuel allowance as part of the national fuel scheme; those on jobseeker's allowance for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Energy Poverty: Discussion (17 Jan 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Before I go to Dr. Keilthy, I get the sense that a conversation has happened a little on this, but it is not very far advanced.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Energy Poverty: Discussion (17 Jan 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Energy Poverty: Discussion (17 Jan 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Okay. The idea of a one-stop shop is good, although the SEAI might say there are already parts or iterations of that. Should the SEAI be running it? What is the best avenue for establishing one-stop shops of the kind Dr. Keilthy has in mind?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Energy Poverty: Discussion (17 Jan 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: That is a good point. I have noticed in the past couple of years the information on the SEAI website is easier to comprehend than it was three or four years ago but there is still a bit of road to go to make it simple and easy to understand. Some of the schemes are straightforward but they do not always look straightforward; others are more complex. On quality assurance, I encountered a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Energy Poverty: Discussion (17 Jan 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: That is a random selection of inspections, but does the SEAI do inspections in response to complaints?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Energy Poverty: Discussion (17 Jan 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: There may be an issue there. I have correspondence from the SEAI about contractors being registered with the SEAI to ensure tax and insurance compliance. Dr. Byrne mentioned they are compliant with the relevant trade requirements but that is not mentioned in the correspondence I received. I will give a general sense of a case I have come across. The person in question is an engineer. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Energy Poverty: Discussion (17 Jan 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I could do that afterwards but a few questions arise off the back of this. It had only been delivering a COP of 2.0. Subsequently, the person was in contact with the installer and the manufacturer but found, after five months of attempting, there was no way to compel the installer to bring it up to an adequate performance standard. They are not considered binding standards. It seems from...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Energy Poverty: Discussion (17 Jan 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I do not expect Dr. Byrne to do so. I am asking about general practice.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Energy Poverty: Discussion (17 Jan 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Okay. One part of solution to this problem is that in addition to random inspections, the SEAI should be able to pick up the ball where there is an individual complaint that is plausible and not vexatious or frivolous. The following is an issue that comes up and is probably not at the hardest edge of fuel poverty. It relates to general fuel efficiency in State housing and all housing in...