Results 1-20 of 2,638 for speaker:Christopher O'Sullivan

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Register of Electors (17 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I thank the Senator for raising the general issue of fraudulent voting. He will understand and will not be surprised to hear that I cannot comment on individual cases, but I will make some general comments because I agree with him that fraudulent behaviour in the voting process strikes at the core of democracy. There are other issues as well. We all, as the Senator said, have put ourselves...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Register of Electors (17 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I agree with the Senator about the impact of fraudulent voting. It strikes to the core of our democracy, has a serious impact on the candidates who put themselves forward and adds to the stresses associated with election time. We all understand that. There has to be trust in the process, and there is. If there is not, it undermines everything. I disagree, however, in that I do not...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (10 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I am pleased to bring the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2025 before the House. The main purpose of the Bill is to provide for targeted measures on a temporary basis to address unactivated permissions that are due to expire shortly, to ensure that the updated housing requirements in the revised national planning framework, NPF, can be incorporated into the planning system as...

Student Fees: Motion [Private Members] (8 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I am happy to join with the Minister, Deputy Lawless, and the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, to speak to this from a housing perspective because, obviously, that is another cost that is incurred by students. I want to outline what we will do in that regard. I thank all contributors to this evening's debate. The Government is very much aware of the costs that students and families may...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (8 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: In addition to the provisions the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, has outlined, the Bill also provides for amendments to the Act 2024 to clarify transitional arrangements as the planning system moves from operating under the 2000 Act to the new Act. The following approval of the revised national planning framework 2025, which will facilitate the delivery of in excess of 50,000 additional...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: This is a great opportunity to raise this issue. Absolutely. As the Minister has constantly said, the answer to providing more units is a jigsaw that involves so many different pieces, and it will include historical structures and older buildings. In the past, we have seen very imaginative developments where historical structures have been turned into apartments or other types of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I thank Deputy McGrath for raising this issue. On the back of him raising it here today, I will speak to the water directorate within my Department, which has a very close working relationship with Uisce Éireann, to ensure any measures that are being taken to get rid of this water discolouration are prioritised and taken as fast as possible. The Deputy will be well aware that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Management of Hospital Waiting Lists and Insourcing and Outsourcing of Treatment: Discussion (2 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I apologise to the witnesses but I will have to be quick because the time is reducing. I welcome them to the committee. I have spoken to Mr. Gloster before. My wife is a senior medical scientist in CUH. My sister-in-law is a psychiatric nurse. My sister is a radiographer. I go to family dinners on occasions with dread because all we talk about is the HSE. That said, they love their...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (1 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: On the tenet of the Deputy's original question on assessment, I really believe that is the role of a county development plan. It assesses towns and villages with regard to the various infrastructural needs within them. The national development plan will be announced shortly. Funding for Uisce Éireann will be formed, modelled and moulded around this. This is very important also. ...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Wastewater Treatment (1 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 30 together. I thank Deputy Cooney for raising this issue. Clearly the need for investment in infrastructure, particularly wastewater services in our towns and villages, is a priority and a recurring theme that we hear. It is a priority of the Minister, Deputy Browne, of the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, and of mine, in terms of delivering...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Wastewater Treatment (1 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: The Deputy is absolutely right that there are two projects in Clare and it is very important that these projects in Broadford and Cooraclare are being considered. I was in Clare the other day and I have to commend the proactive nature of the local authority. It is important that it got these two schemes in for consideration for the €45 million funding. As I have said, there has been...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Wastewater Treatment (1 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I reassure the Deputy that there is absolutely no backtracking on the commitment to provide solutions for these rural villages. As I have said, the Minister, Deputy Browne, and the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, recently brought forward the national planning framework, which gives a clear commitment on regional growth and regional development and allowing people to live in rural parts of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Schemes (1 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: The Deputy supported it.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (1 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I thank Deputy Clendennen for raising this important issue. Unfortunately, it is still the case that some rural towns and villages across the country require investment in infrastructure, be it in my area of west Cork or the Deputy's area of Offaly. It is something that to which the Government is committed to addressing. Under section 10 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, it is a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (1 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I again thank the Deputy and appreciate him raising these concerns on behalf of the people of Offaly and specifically Edenderry. My understanding is that quite a bespoke approach is being taken in Edenderry. A wastewater treatment plant that would be sufficient to serve the population of Edenderry will be designed. In the meantime, consideration will be given to an interim solution through...

GPO and Moore Street Regeneration as a 1916 Cultural Quarter: Motion [Private Members] (1 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: It is about the fifth time it has been referred as being like a shopping centre.

GPO and Moore Street Regeneration as a 1916 Cultural Quarter: Motion [Private Members] (1 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: That is furthest from the truth of what it is.

GPO and Moore Street Regeneration as a 1916 Cultural Quarter: Motion [Private Members] (1 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: There are people whose family members participated through different periods of this revolutionary period. Sinn Féin does not own this narrative. We all have an invested role here. To hear things such as "betrayal" and to hear the Government being accused of the "wanton destruction" of this revolutionary period is completely outrageous and untoward. There was no mention of the...

GPO and Moore Street Regeneration as a 1916 Cultural Quarter: Motion [Private Members] (1 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: There was no mention of-----

GPO and Moore Street Regeneration as a 1916 Cultural Quarter: Motion [Private Members] (1 Jul 2025)

Christopher O'Sullivan: -----the €10 million spent on the exhibition that we already have in the GPO. There was no mention of the decade of centenaries. None of that was mentioned. It was completely wiped out for Sinn Féin's narrative. The Government is invested in this. With anything that happens to the GPO, there will be an absolute focus on the cultural importance of the GPO.