Results 1-20 of 2,605 for speaker:Christopher O'Sullivan

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Fire Service (1 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I thank Senator Duffy for raising this matter. He is correct to say it is nuanced. I can see why he is taking the approach he is taking because, first, it is about firefighters, who put their lives at risk to keep us safe. The Senator quite rightly pointed out that the work of a councillor is full time. In many ways, all a person in this situation is trying to do is to do better. Then...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Fire Service (1 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: As I said, I will certainly bring it back to the Minister, but that said, I would take into account what I have said about how there is no plan as it stands. There are employees within the council set out under section 161(1)(b). Retained firefighters are one such group, considering the pay scale, but there.is a reason that legislation is there in terms of separation of powers and there is...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Water Supply (1 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I thank Senator Collins for raising that issue on behalf of the people of Limerick and specifically the people of Newcastle West, which is a fantastic town. Unfortunately, it is another one of these towns and villages that have been stymied or where development has been stopped because of a lack of infrastructure.Especially from an Uisce Éireann point of view, wastewater in particular...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Water Supply (1 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: The Senator pointed out the funding to Uisce Éireann. The funding to Uisce Éireann has significantly been bolstered over the last number of years, and that includes the fresh money that has come in from the Apple windfall.The Senator is absolutely right that we, as a Government, need to start seeing results from that, not just in Dublin but outside Dublin as well. The rural water...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Water Supply (1 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: It is always a pleasure to be here.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Water Supply (1 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: Do not say that too loudly.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Fire Safety (24 Jun 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I thank Senator Wilson. The last gentleman he spoke about reminded me of my father. Anytime he fries a sausage, the alarm goes off. We jest, but the Senator is bringing up a very serious matter. I thank him also for his bravery in sharing his own personal story and circumstances. That must have been a harrowing experience for him and his family. We can still hear a bit of emotion there...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Fire Safety (24 Jun 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I thank the Senator for the passion he brings to the topic. The Department has a community smoke alarm scheme which funds approximately 12,000 smoke alarms annually. It was further extended to include more vulnerable and high risk households through the introduction of alarms for the hard of hearing in 2023-24. So far in 2024-25, the scheme has seen 15,000 standard alarms and 240 alarms...

Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (18 Jun 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am grateful to all Deputies and to everybody behind the scenes for facilitating the debate today on this urgent legislation in Dáil Éireann. I will be sharing Government time with Minister of State, Deputy Cummins. The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2025 will amend the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2024 to...

Criminal Law (Prohibition of the Disclosure of Counselling Records) Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members] (12 Jun 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I thank Deputy Coppinger once again for raising this important issue and all Members of the House who contributed to the discussion. I assure Deputies that I have listened very carefully to their contributions and will convey their views to the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan. Violence against women is an epidemic in our society. We are all aware of the chilling statistics. One in every...

Criminal Law (Prohibition of the Disclosure of Counselling Records) Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members] (12 Jun 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "That" and substitute the following: "Dáil Éireann resolves that the Criminal Law (Prohibition of the Disclosure of Counselling Records) Bill 2025, be deemed to be read a second time this day twelve months, to allow for consideration by the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to consider and bring forward...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Energy Infrastructure (12 Jun 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: As Deputy Farrell rightly points out, I was just getting into the relevant section on Storm Éowyn so I will come back to that. As I was saying, the major cause of service outages in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn was the result of cascading impacts mainly emanating from the lack of electricity supply to power the network communication networks. Communication networks themselves...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs (12 Jun 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I thank the Deputy for raising the question and for giving me the opportunity to reassure the House that the Department of Education and Youth and the NCSE are committed to ensuring all children can access an education suitable to their needs. The Department of Education and Youth continues to engage intensely with the NCSE on forward planning for new special provision to ensure every child...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Energy Infrastructure (12 Jun 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: The Deputy raised some specifics regarding the generator, phone outages, etc. I will endeavour to get the Department to come back to her on those points. The written response I have is quite lengthy. I hope it will set out the plan and answer the Deputy's questions. I hope she has time to get to it. With regard to the national development plan, in early April the Government agreed to...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Transport (12 Jun 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I spoke in jest about the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, taking on the brief of school transport. He is very experienced in this. He has been around the block, was a backbencher for a while and battled in similar situations to the one the Deputy has presented. He understands the need for that but there are parameters and guidelines he has to work within. The requirement is for ten...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs (12 Jun 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I thank the Deputy. Her description of the special school in Bray mirrors my experience of visiting special schools in Cork and elsewhere. I have seen the improvements in these children's education, ability to cope and mental health. What they are able to do is incredible, especially when they have access to additional therapies. That is another part of what we are trying to do. I take...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Schools Refurbishment (12 Jun 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: Yes, I will press this. There is also an opportunity for schools to apply for the climate action summer works scheme, although perhaps it does not apply to Coolmine. The emergency works scheme is obviously the right one. I take the Deputy's point about buckets. All we have to do is look at the number of buckets that are gathering water at the moment to discover that there are leaks there....

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Transport (12 Jun 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I am responding on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, who has the privilege of taking over the issue of school transport, which he is absolutely delighted about. He is very reasonable and I know that he will give this consideration. On the Minister of State's behalf, I welcome the opportunity to respond on this matter. The school transport scheme is a significant...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Schools Refurbishment (12 Jun 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I thank Deputy O'Gorman for raising this issue. He has painted a pretty bleak picture of the conditions at Coolmine school, which, as he stated, is quite a large school of 1,000 pupils. It is very concerning and disappointing in this day and age, when we have seen the level of investment in education and in capital works in particular, that a secondary school is experiencing that level of...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Hospital Overcrowding (12 Jun 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I thank the Senator for raising this issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. I know how important University Hospital Limerick is to the people of the region. Clearly, it is a matter the Senator is passionate about and acutely aware of. She has presented her case well, especially her analysis of why there is a higher number of presentations...