Results 1-20 of 5,719 for speaker:Mairéad Farrell

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Sector Pensions (17 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: It is deeply concerning for most people that this is where it is. When does the Minister expect to have an outcome? Has he been able to identity exactly how this occurred? I do not mean any one person should be blamed for something like this but there must have been some system failures as well. Has the Minister got to the bottom of that? Does he expect that to come out of the report?...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Sector Pensions (17 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: 15. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide an update on his scoping exercise for the overpayment of civil servants and Ministers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39499/25]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Sector Pensions (17 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: My question relates to the scoping exercise the Minister and his Department are undertaking on the overpayment of pensions to civil servants and Ministers. What is the status of that, what has been identified to date and what can he tell us about it?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Sector Pensions (17 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: People are quite worried about this. We are seeing reports that one civil servant was apparently overpaid by €280,000. The 19 former and existing senior civil servants received overpayments worth €1.4 million. I hope measures are being put in place to make sure this does not happen again. The fact that it happened in the first place is shocking. When I raised it with the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Water Services (17 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: When we are talking about investment within Uisce Éireann and we know investment is desperately needed in terms of delivery of housing and so on across the State, we also need to look at the investment we are making in water infrastructure on the offshore islands. On Inis Oirr, for example, there are night-time restrictions every summer. We need to have a plan and we need to invest in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Water Services (17 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: Apologies. I did not realise.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Protected Disclosures (17 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: One thing I absolutely encourage and urge the Minister to do is listen to the voices of whistleblowers. That is essential. We have had an issue for far too long whereby whistleblowers highlight wrongdoing and feel that they are persecuted after doing so. Unfortunately, from listening to the real-life experiences of whistleblowers, I do not think the position in that regard has changed. We...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Expenditure Policy (17 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: I thank the Minister for that initial overview. It will not surprise him that I raise this, but one of the big things is the capital spend on infrastructure. Storm Éowyn put into sharp focus the creaking infrastructure we have across the west of Ireland, in particular. That is obviously an area I would like to see huge progress in. I am aware the Minister knows the west of Ireland...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Expenditure Policy (17 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: I look forward to seeing how that unfolds. It is incredibly important. It is interesting that on both the budgetary oversight and finance committees we have been dealing with the issue of tariffs. One of the big things is how we can protect ourselves. What may or may not happen nobody can predict. One of the longer term things is the investment in capital infrastructure, so we can build...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Expenditure Policy (17 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: Go raibh maith agat. Sometimes you are waiting a few minutes in between questions.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Protected Disclosures (17 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: 3. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if his Department’s submission to the EU review of the protected disclosures regime will refer to the views of whistleblowers from the Farrelly commission and Children's Health Ireland (children’s hip surgeries) about the reprisals they faced. [39487/25]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Protected Disclosures (17 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: The Minister might be aware that I have a particular interest in the issue of protected disclosures and protecting whistleblowers. I worked well with the previous Minister, Michael McGrath, in regard to the EU directive. I put forward my own legislation on this. There is obviously now going to be the review of that. There is the EU review of the protected disclosures regime, and I am...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Protected Disclosures (17 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: When the Government was transposing the EU directive on protected disclosures, I was clear at the time and I voiced significant concerns. I felt it was perhaps deliberately going to weaken the transposition. I said I felt the setting up of the protected disclosures office was a retrograde step and that it removed a protected disclosure as a political issue. Previously, an Opposition TD...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Expenditure Policy (17 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: 1. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform for an update on general budgetary expenditure measures. [39486/25]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Expenditure Policy (17 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: Is dócha gurb é seo an uair dheireanach a bheimid ag suí roimh an samhradh. An cheist is mó atá i mbéal an phobail faoi láthair ná céard go díreach a bheidh ag tarlú leis an gcáinaisnéis. I ask the Minister for an update on general budgetary expenditure measures. There had been an expectation that the summer economic...

Dental Treatment Services: Motion [Private Members] (16 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: This is an issue we have been discussing for many years. In my home county, Galway, not a single dental practice is taking on new patients with medical cards. This is an issue I have been raising for some time. Consistently over recent years, people in dire straits have come to me, whether for themselves or their children, to try to gain access to medical care. A child in absolute agony...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (16 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: 190. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide clarity for a person (details supplied) on the steps they can take to apply for citizenship; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40145/25]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medicinal Products (16 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: 305. To ask the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) can expect a decision on a recent discretionary hardship application for the purposes of ozempic injections; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40149/25]

Endometriosis Care in Ireland: Motion [Private Members] (15 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: I am sure the Minister would agree that for too long women's health was not discussed and was seen as something secretive or embarrassing. As a result, for decades, women's healthcare has been utterly neglected. This is not exclusive to women with endometriosis; it concerns a whole range of things. This needs to end. Especially as the Minister is a woman, I appeal to her to see what this...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (10 Jul 2025)

Mairéad Farrell: We know the application system for driving tests can be a disaster. An issue not raised as much is motorcyclists applying for tests. There is a major waiting list and people are told to monitor the site for a cancellation. There is a new practice where third-party sites and apps, for a fee, use bots and book up the cancellations. This places normal applicants at a disadvantage. It means...