Results 1-20 of 378 for speaker:Joe Flaherty in 'Dáil debates'

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Community Employment Schemes (9 May 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I thank the Minister of State. I welcome the official response but he really cut to the chase in his closing comments. I have no issue with the welfare partners portal. Indeed, community employment scheme supervisors recognise it as a top-class piece of kit. The reality, however, is that a serious situation is evolving. There is an eminently sensible situation to the problem, which is...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Community Employment Schemes (9 May 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I appreciate the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, standing in for the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, who is unavoidably absent this evening but I ask that the senior Minister would respond to me directly in the fullness of time on the important points I will raise. She, like the Minister of State, is passionate about rural Ireland and appreciates more than most the huge...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Middle East (9 May 2024)

Joe Flaherty: 58. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade for a report on his recent visit to Jordan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20766/24]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Middle East (9 May 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I commend the Tánaiste on his recent and very successful trips to both Egypt and Jordan. He has personally taken a firm lead in shining a global light on the continuing horrors in the Middle East. News reports this morning regarding a formal recognition by a number of EU states on 19 May of Palestine as a state are a direct result of the Tánaiste's cast-iron efforts in this...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Policy (11 Apr 2024)

Joe Flaherty: We need to focus minds and attention on the issue of one-off housing in rural Ireland. Before the lights go out on the current Government, I would like to see some commitment and clarity on our plans and proposals for one-off rural housing. Will the Minister make a statement on this?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Policy (11 Apr 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I welcome the update on the draft guidelines for rural one-off housing. The landscape has changed significantly for rural housing because we have had fundamental issues with regard to construction costs, material costs and the cost of building in rural Ireland. It might be much more prohibitive to build a house in rural Ireland, particularly a one-off house, than what is in the guidelines....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Policy (11 Apr 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I thank the Minister of State. I look forward to the new guidelines. I appreciate there is no ban or cap as such on building in rural Ireland but there is a complicity of issues. Notwithstanding planning regulations, the issue of the cost of building a house in rural Ireland is something we do need to look at and address. Croí Cónaithe exempts people from some of the challenges...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Reports (11 Apr 2024)

Joe Flaherty: To clarify for Deputy Ó Broin on Croí Cónaithe, if he is familiar with the workings of his scheme and how it assists in his constituency-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Reports (11 Apr 2024)

Joe Flaherty: -----the average time is 13 months for the scheme. It would be extraordinary to have any more than four grants issued at this stage because, as the Minister rightly pointed out, there are checks and balances.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Reports (11 Apr 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I know Deputy Ó Broin is a master of the U-turn and will be doing a U-turn on this scheme.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Vacant Properties (11 Apr 2024)

Joe Flaherty: It is very evident that Housing for All is not a one-trick pony; it is multidimensional and will result in the building of new houses. Through Croí Cónaithe and the repair-and-lease schemes, we will bring derelict properties back into stock. Could the Minister of State comment on the initiatives under way to bring vacant properties back into stock?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Vacant Properties (11 Apr 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I thank the Minister of State. If I am not mistaken, that was his first reply to a parliamentary question. I hope there will be some windfall for Longford as a result. I will send through the representations straight away afterwards. It goes without saying that Croí Cónaithe is one of the genuine successes of the programme for Government. We are seeing its benefits right...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Vacant Properties (11 Apr 2024)

Joe Flaherty: The figures for Longford are very impressive. We have had 124 applications under the Croí Cónaithe scheme. In addition to that scheme, I would like to see a greater emphasis on the repair-and-lease scheme in rural areas. There is still significant low-hanging fruit if we can revisit that scheme and tweak it, specifically for provincial towns. We are seeing some improvements in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Provision (11 Apr 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, and wish him well in his role. I acknowledge the courtesy, time and effort given to us by the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, while he was in the role. Deputy Dillon has big shoes to fill. Is the Minister confident that all the key housing indicators are continuing on a positive trajectory? Will he refer specifically to the continuing...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Provision (11 Apr 2024)

Joe Flaherty: It is evident that Housing for All is working. I acknowledge the work of the Minister, Ministers of State and officials in the Department, as well as the hard-working teams in local authorities right across the country. It would be remiss of me not to mention the team in County Longford. In the first six months of this year, the council will successfully tenant 82 new properties and, in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Provision (11 Apr 2024)

Joe Flaherty: It is a truly extraordinary achievement, considering where we have come from, that we are on the cusp of breaching delivery of 34,000 houses this year. If we were to believe some in the Opposition, there is no building going on anywhere in the country. Yet, driving into Dublin, one sees cranes everywhere. In every provincial town in Ireland, there is large-scale house-building under way. ...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Medicinal Products (5 Mar 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I want to discuss a rare and uniquely Irish disease. Hereditary ATTR amyloidosis is a genetic condition. The disease was brought to my attention by a lady who lives in County Longford. There are several manifestations of this amyloidosis worldwide, but it includes a specific Irish variant that originates in north-west County Donegal. The condition is known locally as Donegal Amy. While...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Medicinal Products (5 Mar 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I think we will all agree that it was well worth waiting until 10.15 p.m. tonight for that good news. After that good news I almost feel I should move constituency to Donegal. There is at least 1% of the Donegal population who will probably view that as better news than Jim McGuinness returning as team manager. It is excellent news and I applaud the Minister of State for her work on this...

Recent Arson Attacks: Statements (27 Feb 2024)

Joe Flaherty: At the outset, I wish to state that the spate of burning buildings nationwide in response to plans to use these buildings for emergency accommodation, or even the mere suggestion or rumours suggesting that they will be used for emergency accommodation, is repulsive and reprehensible. I say this as a TD who grew up in a village where criminals attempted to burn one such building. There is no...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (22 Feb 2024)

Joe Flaherty: The Tánaiste will be aware that a verdict of medical misadventure was recorded at the inquest into the death of young Bryonny Sainsbury who suffered a catalogue of failures while being treated at Mullingar hospital. At the two-day inquest the family heard harrowing details of how their daughter died. A combination of failures and shortcomings in her care led to a death that was...