Results 1-20 of 574 for in 'Dáil debates' speaker:Matt Shanahan

Affordable Housing: Motion [Private Members] (8 May 2024)

Matt Shanahan: I congratulate the Minister of State also on his recent elevation and wish him the best of luck in his position. I will speak on affordable housing and housing in general. We have an affordability issue across the board. There is no doubt we have entered into a very different period in the past five to seven years, particularly post-pandemic, as regards the economic and regulatory...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 May 2024)

Matt Shanahan: Recently, there was recognition in this House of a 43-year-long struggle for social justice. We have another one now, which is the Waterford Crystal factory pensions issue, which has been going on for 32 years. It was visited by "Prime Time" last week, which brought up new information that showed there was understanding between the Irish Pensions Trust and the factory workers, where over...

Gambling Regulation Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (1 May 2024)

Matt Shanahan: The previous day I contributed on this, I said to the Minister of State that he had engaged, unwittingly, in the law of unintended consequences. I understand where the legislation is trying to go and what it is trying to achieve but I believe, as has been highlighted by others, there was not awareness of what exactly was being proposed and the impacts it was going to have, particularly with...

Gambling Regulation Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (1 May 2024)

Matt Shanahan: This issue was brought up with the Minister of State during a previous debate the other night in this Chamber. I was quite surprised how strident he was in sticking to his guns. I echo what my colleagues have said today. I made a point to the Minister of State the other day regarding the kinds of voluntary organisations that are involved in raising money. I specifically pointed out to him...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (1 May 2024)

Matt Shanahan: When this Government was formed in 2020 there was a post office, a GP practice and an active Garda station in Gaeltacht na nDéise. Despite all the ráméising in this House about protecting our Irish language, having it listed as an official EU working language, mandatory publishing and broadcasting as Gaeilge, the Government supports required to protect our teanga are not in...

Petrol and Diesel Excise Rate Increases: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (30 Apr 2024)

Matt Shanahan: This motion seeks that the Government would scrap plans to increase the price of petrol and diesel on 1 August and yet again on 9 October. It also seeks to reverse the price increase that took place on 1 April. The main rationale to the motion is to recognise fuel prices have risen by more than 30% in the past three years and to recognise the significant and pronounced negative effect this...

Petrol and Diesel Excise Rate Increases: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (30 Apr 2024)

Matt Shanahan: Pardon?

Petrol and Diesel Excise Rate Increases: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (30 Apr 2024)

Matt Shanahan: Even if the Government did do that I can tell the Minister of State, from people I am talking to that-----

Petrol and Diesel Excise Rate Increases: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (30 Apr 2024)

Matt Shanahan: I have been down in Waterford and I have seen very few houses that have been retrofitted.

Petrol and Diesel Excise Rate Increases: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (30 Apr 2024)

Matt Shanahan: I have seen very few people engaging in a retrofitting scheme and everybody who has looked at it tells me it is not affordable for them.

Petrol and Diesel Excise Rate Increases: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (30 Apr 2024)

Matt Shanahan: Regardless of whether the Minister of State might think it is affordable-----

Petrol and Diesel Excise Rate Increases: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (30 Apr 2024)

Matt Shanahan: -----I can tell him that for the people I am speaking about, it is not. That is one thing. Second, HVO deployment, which is not really happening around the country to any great extent, would be some way of mitigating the cost of fuels. Beyond that, many people have raised the issue of solar farms in this House. Every farm in this country has some kind of round top or flat top hay barn and...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 Apr 2024)

Matt Shanahan: On accepting high office, the Taoiseach said he would work every day to realise the hopes, dreams and aspirations of all our people. The people in the south east have seen €125 million of public money being put into regional airports that excluded Waterford. We have seen a €2 billion capital programme for Dublin Airport. That is before discussion of the metro boondoggle the...

Gambling Regulation Bill 2022: Report Stage (24 Apr 2024)

Matt Shanahan: How will the Government control ISPs that are outside the EU?

Gambling Regulation Bill 2022: Report Stage (24 Apr 2024)

Matt Shanahan: I note the Minister of State's frustration and I acknowledge that the Bill is on Report Stage, but I think he has conflated some of the issues and it is only right that he should reflect on them and maybe look to change them. A serious problem has been highlighted to him. As for problem gambling, as others and I have spoken about, fundraising for clubs is not where that is occurring. That...

Gambling Regulation Bill 2022: Report Stage (24 Apr 2024)

Matt Shanahan: We are into the realm of unintended consequences here, as other speakers have pointed out. In my own GAA club in Waterford we held a fundraiser last year. Tickets were €100 and the prize was a house in Dungarvan. The draw raised €600,000 and that money is going exclusively into underage sports development. I can guarantee that the people who were buying the €100...

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Matt Shanahan: I concur with the Ceann Comhairle’s remarks regarding Deputy Paul Murphy's contribution. I am not sure where in the country - never mind what part of the planet - what the Deputy had to say related to. Farming is heading fast to a crossroads and that intersection includes farm unviability, farm loss, future consolidated factory farming and economic loss to regional and rural...

Support for Carers: Motion [Private Members] (24 Apr 2024)

Matt Shanahan: I am sharing time with Deputy Naughten, who will be along shortly. It is often said that you can judge a society by how it treats its most vulnerable. That observation can also be applied to how a state treats those who provide care to its most vulnerable. One could say that we know the cost of everything and the value of very little. In her opening remarks, the Minister of State,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2024)

Matt Shanahan: I hope in the future, when the Tánaiste comes in and starts quoting statistics, that he will refer to money rather than percentages. I remind him that University Hospital Waterford, which has one of the largest patient catchments in the country, has the lowest funding and lowest numbers of staff and beds of all model 4 hospitals in the country. It is a case of taking a hospital that...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2024)

Matt Shanahan: The seven-day service is not there.