Results 61-80 of 1,741 for speaker:John Cummins

Seanad: Death of Former Taoiseach: Expressions of Sympathy (7 Feb 2024)

John Cummins: It is very difficult to follow some of the tributes paid by my colleagues in the Chamber and in the Lower House. Naturally, I too extend my deepest condolences to John's wife, Finola, his children, his brother and our colleague, Richard, especially, and his sister. The Fine Gael family has been mentioned quite a lot by my colleagues. It is true that we have lost a great of our party, but...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: General Practitioner Services (7 Feb 2024)

John Cummins: I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I am going to hone in on those two cases. There are other cases that I have but I specifically picked those ones because in my view, there are extenuating circumstances in both that have been assessed by the HSE.In both instances, there was an application to move and, in both cases, the application was refused. The wrong decision was made but...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2024)

John Cummins: I call for a debate with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage or the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, on housing adaptation grants. I tabled a Commencement matter on this issue last year and I was told that a review of the three grants, the housing adaptation grant for people with disabilities, the mobility aid grant and the housing aid for older people grant, was...

Seanad: Family Carers: Motion [Private Members] (31 Jan 2024)

John Cummins: I thank the Minister of State for taking the time to be in the House to listen to all of the contributions. All of those who took the time to speak on this very important motion did so in good faith on behalf of the near 500,000 carers we have in the country. The Government wants to continue to expand the supports we have in place for carers. It is very important for families that we ensure...

Seanad: Family Carers: Motion [Private Members] (31 Jan 2024)

John Cummins: Well said.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Proposed Changes to River Shannon, Grand and Royal Canals and River Barrow Navigation By-laws: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Jan 2024)

John Cummins: I thank everyone for being here and engaging in good faith with the committee. We appreciate that everyone has taken on board suggestions the committee made at the last hearing before Christmas. I acknowledge that Waterways Ireland extended the consultation process considerably as part of this process and took on board suggestions on the engagement. That is evidenced by the number of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Proposed Changes to River Shannon, Grand and Royal Canals and River Barrow Navigation By-laws: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Jan 2024)

John Cummins: But we have got past that impasse, so I am trying to be constructive.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Proposed Changes to River Shannon, Grand and Royal Canals and River Barrow Navigation By-laws: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Jan 2024)

John Cummins: Sorry, Mr. Gleeson gave three methods, method 1, method 2 and method 3. It comes down in terms of method 3, and the matrix at the end refers to €3,000, €1,500 and €750. Waterways Ireland refers to €4,000, €2,000 and €1,000.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Proposed Changes to River Shannon, Grand and Royal Canals and River Barrow Navigation By-laws: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Jan 2024)

John Cummins: Yes, but Mr. Gleeson is aware of the submission.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Proposed Changes to River Shannon, Grand and Royal Canals and River Barrow Navigation By-laws: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Jan 2024)

John Cummins: I will make a final point. On that sliding scale, particularly on the urban serviced, as far as I can see, there is a big challenge in that area. I appreciate the challenge that the witnesses want to increase and develop the services, but the increase there is significant. I would rather they land on a figure that would potentially increase only by the CPI or 2%, whichever is less, rather...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Business Supports (24 Jan 2024)

John Cummins: I feel this is an important and timely Commencement debate on the pressures being faced by small businesses right across the country. To be clear, I am talking about those that are predominantly high-labour, low-margin, food-based businesses, but also small retailers like the corner shop and newsagents. We all know that many elements of our economy are doing exceptionally well at the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Business Supports (24 Jan 2024)

John Cummins: I also hope they have an enjoyable day. To follow on from some of the Minister of State's points, the increased cost of business scheme must get to businesses quickly. I stress the need for immediate dialogue with local authorities to ensure it gets to businesses. It is not misinformation but more of a misunderstanding of what the scheme actually is. A communication campaign by the...

Seanad: Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2023: Second Stage (24 Jan 2024)

John Cummins: I welcome the Minister of State to the House to start our debate on what is a fundamental change in local government, namely, this Bill. The people of Limerick were brave in the decision they made in 2019 in going along with the proposal put to the people in a plebiscite. As the Minister of State knows, at the time the people of Waterford and Cork were also given the opportunity to vote and...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 Jan 2024)

John Cummins: We are all experiencing difficulties with HSE responses to queries at the moment, especially parliamentary question responses. One of those a colleague of mine submitted regarded the costs associated with reviews of medical cards for those over 70 years of age. The reason I am looking for the cost of doing those reviews for over-70s is that I estimate that more than 100,000 of those reviews...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Business of Joint Committee (23 Jan 2024)

John Cummins: The Chair has set out the situation pretty well. From memory, I am fairly sure, and I ask the Chair to clarify, the McVerry Trust wrote to this committee on two separate occasions over the past 12 to 18 months requesting to appear before this committee. Is that the case?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Business of Joint Committee (23 Jan 2024)

John Cummins: The reason for asking that is the McVerry Trust wanted to come in on its terms to discuss an issue of importance, but it is not willing now when it is experiencing difficulties. That is unacceptable. This is an organisation that is largely funded by the public purse. As a result of a Cabinet decision taken before Christmas, a bailout was put in place for it to allow it to continue to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Affordable Homes, Public Lands, Strategic Planning and Projects: Land Development Agency (23 Jan 2024)

John Cummins: I hope we will all get that leeway. I thank Mr. Coleman and his team for coming before the committee, albeit a bit later than we would have hoped. Certainly it is welcome they are here. That is not the case regarding the Peter McVerry Trust, which we were discussing prior to the arrival of our witnesses today. I welcome the fact that the LDA is here. I and my party fully support the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Affordable Homes, Public Lands, Strategic Planning and Projects: Land Development Agency (23 Jan 2024)

John Cummins: Is the LDA set up to sell houses? This is the question I will put to Mr. Coleman. The experience I have had would suggest the organisation is not yet set up adequately to sell houses. I will give the example of Summerfields, not to be parochial but because it is the scheme I know best. Many months have gone by and there is no signage on the site to say there are homes for sale under the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Affordable Homes, Public Lands, Strategic Planning and Projects: Land Development Agency (23 Jan 2024)

John Cummins: I will come back in during a later round of questioning. The 92 units in Kilbarry were split into five phases, from phase 2.1 through phase 2.5. All of the units were completed prior to Christmas. The main queries I am now getting are from people in phases 2.4 and 2.5. They are predominantly purchasers of the four-bedroom houses. They were the very first people to purchase houses in the...