Results 21-38 of 38 for drugs speaker:Gerry Horkan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Safety: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Gerry Horkan: ...% in this year. The points about education, enforcement and so on are very valid. How many of the 186 actions have been implemented and how many are on the way? I very much welcome the mandatory drug testing. It is surprising it was not there before. Equally, it is very welcome. That people who committed multiple offences were not being penalised for them is almost like they were...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Safety: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Gerry Horkan: ..., the fine can be doubled but the penalty points cannot. It is giving the ability to change penalty points without primary legislation and secondary legislation. It is providing for mandatory drug testing, which I think we all welcome.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Safety: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Gerry Horkan: Correct, yes. I think we all approve of mandatory drug testing. Multiple offences will be caught which are not at the moment. It is not as big a piece of legislation as perhaps some think. The speed limit part is the bit about which I think we all have concerns. I think the Minister of State addressed a lot of them.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Safety: Discussion (27 Sep 2023)

Gerry Horkan: ...to say it is not happening everywhere else, but they are the biggest factors. The biggest risk factors are night-time, in the dark, weekends from Friday to Sunday, speeding, intoxication by both drugs and alcohol and the simple things like wearing seat-belts and not using your mobile phone. These are all the evidence based fatalities, as the witnesses have said. We must all pay a little...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Delays Affecting Car Tests and Driver Tests: Discussion (1 Feb 2023)

Gerry Horkan: Seat belts account for 40% of the fatalities referred to. What are the other main issues? Is it speed, drugs, drink-----

Seanad: Public Order and Safe Streets: Statements (23 Nov 2022)

Gerry Horkan: ...authorities, business organisations, community groups and residents association must also be involved. All of these various organisations must come together to address the problems and point out where there are issues with drug dealing or illegal dumping, for example. Streets that are clean tend to stay clean. Streets that are dirty tend to get worse because people think it is fine and...

Seanad: European Arrest Warrant (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (25 Oct 2022)

Gerry Horkan: ...was caught in Belgium, an attacker of the Brussels Jewish museum who was arrested in France, a failed London bomber who was caught in Italy, a German serial killer tracked down in Spain, a suspected drug smuggler from Malta who was surrendered by the UK, and a gang of armed robbers sought by Italy whose members were arrested in six different EU countries. Therefore, it is a very effective...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Safety Strategy 2021-30: Discussion (30 Jun 2022)

Gerry Horkan: ...attending. I appreciate the work they are doing. While there is science behind it, we all know the problems. If I am right, and I picked it up from all of them, those problems stem from alcohol, drugs, speeding, tiredness, losing attention and forgetting that one is driving a large dangerous piece of equipment. One of my questions is about Vision Zero, which is fantastic. It is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Safety Strategy 2021-30: Discussion (30 Jun 2022)

Gerry Horkan: I do not want to target anywhere but is drink-driving and drug-driving more prevalent in urban or rural areas? Does it occur on small country lanes where people think they will not get caught or in urban areas where the volume of traffic is higher? Where does it tend to occur?

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: ...its equipment. It is important that we keep an eye on how the HSE is spending its money. It is important that it be funded adequately to provide the services required. The availability of Spinraza, a drug to treat the condition of spinal muscular atrophy, has been raised in the House many times. It is welcome that the NHS has approved it for use in England and Wales, leaving Ireland...

Seanad: Gambling Legislation: Motion (27 Feb 2019)

Gerry Horkan: ...he disappeared. I hope that the individual in question is discovered safe and well but gambling is an enormous problem for some people. It is very invidious and is a silent addiction in some ways. When people drink too much or take too many drugs, that becomes apparent but gambling has cost people their jobs, their houses and caused untold horror and terror for their families. As...

Seanad: Budget 2019: Statements (9 Oct 2018)

Gerry Horkan: ...allocated for disability assessments, while personal assistant hours, home help hours and home care packages have been increased significantly. Prescription costs are to be cut by 50 cent for those aged over 70 years, while the threshold for the drug payment scheme is to reduced by €10. Fianna Fáil has again secured an increase in social welfare payments of €5 this...

Seanad: Summer Economic Statement: Statements (27 Jun 2018)

Gerry Horkan: ...rate, which is very important. In 2018, the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, was allocated €55 million to tackle hospital waiting lists. We secured a 50 cents reduction in prescription charges for those aged under 70 and a reduction in the drug payment scheme threshold from €144 to €134. We also secured increases in personal assistance hours, home help hours...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Engagement with AILG and LAMA (21 Nov 2017)

Gerry Horkan: ...of the AILG, a regional authority or assembly and a health forum, one has to declare the meetings one attends, even those for which one is not paid. A councillor cannot claim for theatre boards or drug task forces, but he or she still has to recuse himself or herself. The minute a councillor leaves something out, he or she could be caught. It might not be done deliberately. It might...

Seanad: Budget 2018: Statements (10 Oct 2017)

Gerry Horkan: ...It is acknowledged that we are spending a lot of money, but we are not seeing as much of a return as I would like to see for that money. For working families and those with long-term and chronic conditions, the reduction in the drugs payment scheme threshold is welcome. The reduction in prescription charges is also welcome in terms of alleviating daily and weekly health costs. Boosting...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Apr 2017)

Gerry Horkan: I will start with a bit of good news. I welcome the long-awaited deal struck between the Department of Health and Vertex to provide the life-saving drug, Orkambi, to cystic fibrosis patients. Campaigners have been appealing to the Minister for Health for well over 18 months for this drug, which will radically change the lives of more than 1,000 people who suffer from cystic fibrosis. There...

Seanad: Health (Amendment) Bill 2017: Second Stage (28 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: ...of patients face a severe drop in income while at the same time running up extra bills on a range of items such as home heating, parking, child care, travel, prescription charges, hospital stays, over-the-counter drugs, consultant visits, dental care, physiotherapy and clothing and personal care. A medical card is designed to be available for those who are suffering financial hardship as...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Report on Cost of Motor Insurance: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Feb 2017)

Gerry Horkan: ...on the roads would acknowledge that we do not see huge amounts of Garda vehicles or checkpoints that are able to check for whatever bad driving is going on, whether it is speeding, drink-driving or drug-driving. Is there any emphasis within this report on people feeling that they are more likely to get caught? It seems that people do not think they are going to get caught and therefore...