Results 1-20 of 1,248 for at speaker:Verona Murphy

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Office of Minister for Education (16 May 2024)

Verona Murphy: They can drive for a private operator, as long as they are not on the school bus run, at 80 years of age and carrying 54 or 55 children.

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Office of Minister for Education (16 May 2024)

Verona Murphy: Ms McNally does not seem to understand that a 75-year-old driver who is driving a 52-seater can arrive at the school to take a tour to Dublin but cannot get the children from home to school.

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Office of Minister for Education (16 May 2024)

Verona Murphy: I want to come back to what I was addressing with Ms McNally with regard to the NDLS and the ridiculousness of the fact the medical requirement is at 75 years of age, but what she has put to me are the excuses the Department is being given, except in the case of Bus Éireann. I will read from the Department's own website. It quotes the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, as stating,...

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Office of Minister for Education (16 May 2024)

Verona Murphy: The Minister is now saying that, on top of the review, she is going to get the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to look at the over-70s rule.

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Office of Minister for Education (16 May 2024)

Verona Murphy: Grand. The point is that the people suffering are the children, because their parents are having to leave them waiting while they finish work, sometimes at 5 o'clock, to collect them from school. It is causing huge antisocial behavioural problems and worry for parents.

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Office of Minister for Education (16 May 2024)

Verona Murphy: That is because they were not eligible in the first instance. This is about why a bus was put on in Kilkenny for ineligible children at the drop of a hat because a party colleague of the Minister had asked for it. I have not got the answer from Ms Conduit today. Even though she knew I had made inquiries, she still does not know whether there are three buses on the route or two.

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Office of Minister for Education (16 May 2024)

Verona Murphy: That is included in the other expenses. What are the accrued expenses at a rate of €8.5 million?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: University of Limerick (9 May 2024)

Verona Murphy: I say to Mr. Wall that was a somewhat a concerning engagement. All I can say is that it brings to mind the expression, "A poor workman blames his tools." I will leave it at that. I want to deal with the Rhebogue acquisition. I am concerned on a number of fronts. I realise we do not have present all the actors we previously engaged with but I certainly remember robust engagement,...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: University of Limerick (9 May 2024)

Verona Murphy: At the point of time in question, what was the remit?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: University of Limerick (9 May 2024)

Verona Murphy: Again, I do not know. Could Professor Kilcommins tell us where the process, as outlined at the previous committee meeting and in all the reports, failed, thereby bringing us to this point?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: University of Limerick (9 May 2024)

Verona Murphy: Was that revisited at any point? It was framed in that regard and I understand it was passed to move to the next level. It was accepted as a proposal.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: University of Limerick (9 May 2024)

Verona Murphy: I would imagine that nothing was progressed in this way ever, never mind in UL, to be honest. I do not have much time, so I want to come back to the HEA on this. I understand what Dr. Wall has said about the approving authority being UL. At some level, the HEA must have been aware of this transaction.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: University of Limerick (9 May 2024)

Verona Murphy: That is fine and that is the answer I was expecting. I understand Professor Laffan was only appointed as chancellor in November 2023. I want to come back to what was said with regard to the previous PAC meeting. What did Professor Kilcommins hear at that meeting that he did not know before that gave rise to him becoming concerned?

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (2 May 2024)

Verona Murphy: This is about the fifth time I have brought this issue up. I am back to the passport and ID issue of members of the Garda identifying that they sign the passport application. I am back to the parent of a first-time applicant. The Passport Office is unable to get in touch with the garda who signed the application. The office has contacted the same Garda station four times. Surely at this...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: National Transport Authority (2 May 2024)

Verona Murphy: I have a quick question that may or may not be pertinent. Perhaps somebody could come back to me on it. A constituent made a complaint to me when it was announced on Monday, 29 April that the No. 370 Bus Éireann service from Rosslare Europort to Waterford is to be updated. The update leaves Bridgetown without a service. Is that relevant at all to anyone here?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: National Transport Authority (2 May 2024)

Verona Murphy: That is grand. I thank Mr. Doocey. I will have a look at that again and might come back to the committee. A proposal was presented to allow for a change to the train service with a stop in Wicklow on the Wexford to Dublin route. There would be a change in Wicklow, at which point the service would join the DART service. I did some analysis of my own. I was informed yesterday that the...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: National Transport Authority (2 May 2024)

Verona Murphy: Prior to my contribution, all my colleagues have said that the only way to get people out of cars and onto public transport is if it is faster. Usually, it just needs to be faster and not even cheaper. The quickest train from Wexford takes two hours and seven minutes. I live 30 miles from Wexford and can make it from my house to Dublin, via Wexford, in two hours. Most of the work the...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: National Transport Authority (2 May 2024)

Verona Murphy: I wish to go back to the proposal with regard to a stop on the Rosslare to Dublin line. My understanding is that Irish Rail is saying that the main constraint with the direct service is congestion on the commuter line from Bray to Connolly Station. The trains coming from the northern direction into Dublin also have to deal with the same challenge on the DART line from Malahide and Howth...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: National Transport Authority (2 May 2024)

Verona Murphy: ...do not know. The differential has been outlined and I have had it broken down. The service leaves six times a day and one of the journeys takes over four hours. It is crazy. It is not a service at all. As I said, it is currently not a service and the witnesses are telling me that the proposed change would not make it faster. I will ask Mr. Creegan some questions that have been put...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: National Transport Authority (2 May 2024)

Verona Murphy: If Ms Graham goes back to the report on the proposal for the changeover at Bray, the service has increased exponentially, although it is cat on the Wexford line. There has been an increase in passenger numbers. The NTA funded 41 carriages, or somebody has. I am not asking how much; I am asking how many will go on that line.