Results 141-160 of 717 for speaker:Garret Ahearn

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Sep 2021)

Garret Ahearn: I also pass on my condolences to Senator Hoey and her family on their sad loss. A large number of people from the campaign to save St. Brigid's Hospital in Carrick-on-Suir are today travelling to Dáil Éireann. They are coming to deliver 11,000 signatures requesting the reopening of the hospital. I ask the Acting Leader to make sure that the Minister for Health or the Minister of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Sep 2021)

Garret Ahearn: I thank the Minister for his opening statement and his replies so far. Listening to the contributions, one would think that this is a bad thing that is happening for Ireland, but it is important to stress that this is about supporting and, importantly, protecting Irish businesses. What type of impact does the delay in ratifying CETA have on businesses the more we delay? Other members...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Sep 2021)

Garret Ahearn: Has the Minister an expectation of when the Dáil motion on this will be taken following the committee meeting? What are the downsides of not ratifying soon? Are there costs to the State associated with delaying its ratification? Have those been estimated? The further we delay, how much more cost is there to the State?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Sep 2021)

Garret Ahearn: I thank the Minister. Finally, sometimes we forget the benefits that this trade agreement with Canada brings to Ireland. Can he elaborate on that, and on the fact that small businesses in regional areas outside of Dublin and Cork will all benefit from this? These trade agreements are not only city-based. They have a significant impact on small and medium-sized businesses throughout...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Sep 2021)

Garret Ahearn: I thank the Minister.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Sep 2021)

Garret Ahearn: Have other EU leaders raised the issue with the Minister? Have there been conversations between countries regarding when they hope to ratify it? Have there been any discussions or concerns among EU leaders on it? Has the Minister spoken to or is he expecting to speak with our counterparts in Canada? I note a new government will be formed in Canada as well. Will there also be...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Fuel Poverty (28 Sep 2021)

Garret Ahearn: This week the national fuel allowance scheme starts. It is a means-assessed payment. It will be paid for 28 weeks to an estimated 370,000 households across the country. Last winter a total of 16,284 households across Tipperary received fuel allowance through the scheme and they will automatically receive payments again this year, beginning yesterday. The scheme plays a vital role in...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Fuel Poverty (28 Sep 2021)

Garret Ahearn: I thank the Minister, Deputy Smyth, for his response. From the negotiations and conversations the Government has had with the CRU, is the CRU confident in the briefings it has given Government that the power outages will not happen during the winter months? Is the Government absolutely sure? The Minister, Deputy Ryan, has spoken a number of times on this and has been very cautious in what...

Seanad: Air Navigation and Transport Bill 2020: Second Stage (28 Sep 2021)

Garret Ahearn: I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber and thank her, her officials and all of those in the Department for the work they have put in over the past year or more. It has been a very difficult time for people who work in the aviation industry, but the Government has been very supportive and has worked with them to try to get them through the most difficult period they have ever...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (29 Sep 2021)

Garret Ahearn: I ask the Leader to request an urgent debate with the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, on energy costs and the capacity of the national grid. While I accept and appreciate that we had the opportunity to speak on these issues yesterday, it was the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, who came in and gave a reply. It is important that the...

Seanad: Housing For All - a New Housing Plan for Ireland: Statements (29 Sep 2021)

Garret Ahearn: I am delighted to be able to speak on and welcome the Housing for All policy. I have to pick up on one point from the start of the debate. There was a mention of a lost decade in housing. I do not want to go over a history lesson on the decade previous to that, for two reasons, in that it is a long time ago and we are in government together now, but if the Minister responds, can he...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 Sep 2021)

Garret Ahearn: The review of the national development plan, NDP, is expected to be announced in Cork next week after agreement by the Cabinet. The NDP contains a lot of road projects of which the N20 from Cork to Limerick is one. In my view and that of a lot of people, the most important road project is the N24 that links Limerick to Waterford. Once that road is completed every single city in this...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Oct 2021)

Garret Ahearn: I welcome the announcement this morning by the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, that the community employment scheme and Tús participants who were due to leave their schemes in November will now have their contracts funded until 4 February 2022. There are approximately 13,500 people working on those schemes across the country, including many good people working in Tipperary who support Tidy...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Oct 2021)

Garret Ahearn: When one talks about common sense, I ask Members to wait until they hear this one.Funeral directors in Cashel, County Tipperary, received a letter from Tipperary County Council last week, stating that the payment for funerals must be made before the burial takes place. I do not know if everyone in this House has experienced going to a funeral director and the interaction involved. There are...

Seanad: Registration of Wills Bill 2021: Second Stage (6 Oct 2021)

Garret Ahearn: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "That" and substitute the following: - "the Bill be read a second time this day 9 months to allow for comprehensive consideration of the implications of the Bill." I note the comments of Senator Boyhan. In fairness, this amendment is not about opposing the Bill. Rather, it is about ensuring it is given full consideration, as is expected...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Care Services (7 Oct 2021)

Garret Ahearn: I, too, welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. I appreciate his presence. I welcome the announcement yesterday by the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, of €308,000 to fund digital training for carers to assist them in gaining employment, the appointment of a new well-being manager and investment under the Dormant Accounts Fund to make European carers day. In...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Care Services (7 Oct 2021)

Garret Ahearn: I thank the Minister of State for what he stated regarding the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan. In fairness, Deputy Feighan was in County Tipperary only a couple of weeks ago and he met a dementia group regarding the work it does and the support it needs. He is well aware of it. Most of the requests I am talking about are essentially in the programme for Government and all I ask is that...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Oct 2021)

Garret Ahearn: Senator Ward named four or five people from Dublin in the context of National Women's Enterprise Day. I would like to mention my sister-in-law, Jennifer, who runs a business at home in County Tipperary.She runs a whiskey business at Tipperary Distillery. She just had a baby a couple of weeks ago.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Oct 2021)

Garret Ahearn: Like a lot of women who are self-employed and who run a business, she is back at work already, bottling whiskey. I ask the Leader to organise a debate in regard to the roll-out of broadband. Broadband is being rolled out at the moment and, obviously, it was the previous Government which put this through, essentially. The speed of it needs to increase. There are people in Tipperary at...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Oct 2021)

Garret Ahearn: I would like to speak on an announcement in the budget as well and I welcome the significant €898 million funding towards the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in particular. There is a €91 million increase in capital funding in that Department, which represents a 21% increase. I want to focus on decisions that were made on the employment wage subsidy scheme,...