50. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the specific supports in place in his Department and in co-operation with other Government Departments to address the issue of dereliction in towns, villages and the rural countryside. [71612/26]
TDs / John Paul O'Shea
John Paul O'Shea
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1,111
questions asked
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16,549
words spoken in the chamber
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437
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234
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| Month | Questions | Contributions |
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Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Cork North-West 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fine Gael 29 November 2024 to now
I thank the Minister for his reply. Dereliction is one of the most visible problems in Ireland today. Every Deputy here can name a street in their constituency where a once-thriving shopfront is boarded up or a family home has stood empty for decades. In Cork North-West, it is the first thing people raise with me on the doorsteps. The cost of this problem is real. Dereliction drags down the look and feel of a place. …
I thank the Minister for his reply. I concur with him and agree that the measures currently in place are working well. We have one example in Cork North-West where the land acquisition measure from the town and village renewal scheme was successful. In my constituency, Cork County Council, in conjunction with the community, bought a vacant site in the village of Ballinagree to provide a community building into the fu…
Thanks, Deputy.
Thanks, Deputy. We are moving on.
The next speaker is Deputy Nash.
We will move to the Independent Technical Group now. The first speaker is Deputy O'Donoghue.
In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is deferred until next week's division time.
6. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will increase support for carers as part of budget 2027. [66996/26]
I agree with Deputy Wall on the domiciliary care allowance. We agreed at the committee yesterday to block off a bit of time to discuss that and prepare a report for the Minister.
I take this opportunity to recognise the extraordinary contribution made by family carers across the country. Every day, carers provide love, support and care to family members who depend on them. They allow people to remain at home and par…
I thank the Minister. The contribution carers make cannot be measured simply in financial terms but we should recognise the work of family carers also represents an enormous contribution to the State and to our public services. I also acknowledge the progress the Government has made in supporting carers. In particular I welcome the very significant increase in the income disregards for carer's allowance introduced la…
I recently met Family Carers Ireland at its regional meeting in Cork. I know that Members right across this House have met many family carers and associations associated with caring in recent weeks. We should recognise that caring in itself is a hugely valuable contribution to society. I commend the Minister and the Government on the progress they made last year but I do not want us to stop here. Let us use budget 20…
I rise to support the Social Welfare, Civil Registration and Charities (Amendment) Bill 2026. As the Chair of the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Rural and Community Development, I had the opportunity to see at first hand the detailed work that went into the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill. The committee considered the general scheme of the Bill on three separate occasions. We heard from officials in the r…
I am raising this issue tonight because I continue to hear from people across County Cork who are waiting far too long simply to be seen by an orthopaedic consultant at South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, SIVUH. The scale of this problem is extremely concerning. The most recent figures provided to me showed that 7,444 patients are waiting for an outpatient orthopaedic appointment at SIVUH. Let us pause for …
I thank the Minister of State for his response and for his engagement on this issue. I very much welcome the commitments made, particularly in relation to the additional theatre capacity, which will be available form this Friday and the opening of the Cork surgical hub in a number of weeks. I want to emphasise that for patients waiting for orthopaedic care in Cork, action is what is required now. We have almost 7,500…
I raise the ongoing dispute between the Department of Social Protection and the Branch Managers' Association, which represents the social welfare branch offices that continue to provide vital social services in communities across the country. In April 2018, former Labour Court chairman Kevin Duffy issued recommendations which were accepted as a full and final settlement of the issues between both parties. Those recom…
With the permission of the House the next question, which is in the name of Deputy Barry Ward, will be taken by Deputy Kyne.
The next available question is Question No. 18 in the name of Deputy Michael Murphy.
There are no more Members in the Chamber to put their questions. I might put my Question No. 46 if Deputy Murphy will take the Chair. The Deputy is agreeable.
46. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the measures being taken to address the high cost of energy for households and small businesses, particularly in rural areas; if he will consider further targeted supports in the upcoming budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42815/26]
What measures are being taken to address the crisis of high energy costs for householders and small businesses, particularly in rural areas? Will further targeted supports be considered in the upcoming budget?
I concur with the Minister on the uptake of the grants, particularly the windows and doors grant. There has been a significant uptake in that grant. Certainly, through our own constituency offices, we can see there is great interest in it. I commend the Minister, his Department and all the team on making that available. Having the smaller grants available is hugely important for people who can afford them and can do …
The Minister mentioned in previous contributions this morning the national energy affordability task force. Having that come out in quarter 3 of this year will be very important, particularly the four points addressed as part of that. These are the price of energy, sustainability in demand, enhancement of flexibility and addressing energy poverty for the consumer and customer protections. That is hugely important bec…
125. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht for an update on the publication of Our Rural Future 2026–2030; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37547/26]
Will the Minister give an update on the publication of Our Rural Future 2026–2030 and make a statement on the matter? As he knows, rural Ireland is at the heart of our country. It is where people live, work, raise families, run businesses and contribute enormously to our economy and society. Rural communities also face unique challenges, from access to housing and healthcare to transport, connectivity and sustaining …