MichaelMcNamaraTD

My response to Budget 2024 with a particular focus on agriculture, childcare, disability and education.

The destruction of the fabric of historical Limerick by local government has been shameful. The new, elected Mayor needs more than ceremonial powers to address the planning, housing, and commercial needs of the city. The Mid-West needs a thriving Limerick City. https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2023-09-20/speech/192/

An Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill that doesn't even mention processors isn't credible. A regulator without the power to probe the commercial relationship between processors or the impact of processor owned/controlled feedlots on prices cannot succeed no matter how well intentioned. Full video - https://youtu.be/nW5DYpkZHzQ

Quarries that made huge profits from selling defective concrete blocks will be let off the hook by the Government today. A law will be rammed through by Government party TDs transferring the remedial cost to taxpayers, without even considering amendments that will ensure those quarries that provided defective blocks are pursued.

I welcome the appointment of Conal Henry as the new Chair of the Shannon Group, and I particularly welcome his ambition for Shannon Airport to be promoted as a travel option to a much wider hinterland.

Restrictions on burning turf, coal and briquettes will only work if people have an affordable alternative, but the Government is not providing such an alternative.

The creation of a new professorship especially for Dr. Holohan is not a secondment within the public service when he is leaving the public sector for Trinity, a private, well-endowed institution. This abuse of taxpayers' money needs to be reconsidered. #zapponegate2

Imagine a budget that didn’t detail where spending was to be reduced or taxation increased. It wouldn’t constitute a budget. Similarly, a “Carbon Budget” that doesn’t set out which sectors will be impacted and by how much cannot be called a “budget.”

In Dáil Éireann tonight, I urged the Government to temporarily remove VAT on fuel as other EU states have done. Rising costs are fast becoming unsustainable for people.

In the space of ten years, we have gone from a place where anybody would be able to walk into their local authority office to renew their driving licence to a situation where people are not even able to book an appointment online. What ought to be a public service is no longer public because it's provided by Swiss logistics company SGS, and it’s no longer really a service if you have to spend in excess of an hour on the phone to book an appointment.

Failure to act on rising costs of food production will result in escalating food prices and contribute to food shortages in Europe.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar today has informed Clare Independent TD Michael McNamara that Moneypoint and Tarbert power stations may continue to operate “for many years to come” due to concerns over Ireland's energy security. The Government had previously announced that Moneypoint would close in 2025 while Tarbert would be required to close by the end of 2023 in line with EU emissions regulations. However, the Tánaiste said the power plants will not be decommissioned until the Government is confident that they can be replaced with secure supply and secure renewables. During Leader’s Questions, Deputy Michael McNamara asked why the Government was pursuing a policy of closing power stations during an energy crisis. “I agree with your vision of bringing offshore energy on to our western shores and storing in the form of hydrogen. But the technology to do that is not there now,” Deputy McNamara told Leo Varadkar. He continued, “I greatly look forward to when Moneypoint is not burning coal and vast amounts of wind energy are being turned into hydrogen and stored there. But that is all down the road. Are we going to decommission the biggest power station in the country (Moneypoint) before we have an alternative because that is what your government is currently planning?" The Tánaiste responded, "It is not our intention to close Moneypoint or Tarbert until we are ready to do so. I don’t like the fact that we are burning coal in Moneypoint. I don’t like the fact we are burning oil in Tarbert, but we do actually need to do so, and we may need to do so for many years to come. Those plants will not be decommissioned until we are confident that we are able to replace them with secure supply and secure renewables and that might take a bit of time. “ In recent weeks, Deputy McNamara has expressed his concern in the Dáil that Ireland’s energy security is being exacerbated by the closure of the country’s power stations and increasing reliance on imported energy. Speaking following Leader’s Questions today, the Clare TD said, “I welcome the Government’s confirmation that it will maintain operations at Moneypoint and Tarbert for the foreseeable future until alternative energy sources are put in place. While I look forward to that day, and the decarbonisation of our energy supply, that will not take place within the next three years.”

This is not a plan to tackle inflation. It's compensation for inflation in April, but the cost of living will continue to rise before and after then. We urgently need targeted measures by Government to tackle rising energy & housing costs, the main drivers of inflation in Ireland.

Clare TD Michael McNamara has called on the HSE and government to publish the findings of a review by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) into the ongoing trolley crisis at University Hospital Limerick (UHL). The Independent Deputy issued his request in Dáil Éireann today after Junior Health Minister Mary Butler confirmed to him that the health agency has written to the CEO of the UL Hospitals Group with its evaluation of the current factors influencing overcrowding in the Emergency Department at UHL. Deputy McNamara also called on the Government to confirm if an independent review, separate to HIQA's review, would be carried out after the Taoiseach confirmed to him last month that such a review would be considered. Minister of State Butler confirmed she would seek an answer to the request from Health Minister Stephen Donnelly. “A full review of operations within the UL Hospitals Group is required if we are to ultimately find lasting solutions to the overcrowding issues,” stated Deputy McNamara. He continued, “HIQA has a limited remit and would not be in a position to put forward such recommendations as the upgrading of Ennis, Nenagh or St. Johns to Model 3 Hospitals. Furthermore, analysis of the impact of population growth on the demand for services with the UL Hospitals Group is also not a consideration for HIQA.” Deputy McNamara jointly raised the issue of overcrowding at UHL alongside fellow Mid-West Independent TDs, Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick) and Mattie McGrath (Tipperary).

I have called for an independent investigation into ongoing overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick (UHL), where a record 111 patients were on trolleys this morning.

It's time for the Government to stop blaming the public, and instead start implementing measures to enable people to live more safely alongside Covid.

I spoke on Morning Ireland about the delay in publishing both the guidelines and regulations around indoor hospitality, and the difficulties this is creating for businesses and members of the public.

After an ambulance stationed in Connemara was sent from Galway to a road traffic collision in Kilkee at the weekend, I asked what is being doing to increase capacity and response times.

Speaking to Pat Kenny on Newstalk I again raised the issue of how little capacity has been increased in our healthcare system despite the billions spent on our pandemic response. FULL INTERVIEW - https://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/highlights-from-the-pat-kenny-show/will-nightclubs-be-full-capacity-when-they-reopen-later-this-month

Simply moving data centres abroad to countries where they have a bigger carbon footprint isn't a solution. I asked if the Government would engage with environmental NGOs & the tech giants based here to see how the growing demand for data storage can be slowed & sustainability met.

Only 19 additional critical care beds have been developed during the past 12 months (278 in Sep 2020, 297 in Aug 2021). Given the expected demand on our health system this winter, the failure to substantially increase capacity is worrying.

I asked the Tánaiste if ventilation will be improved in school buildings over the summer holidays.

I asked the Taoiseach when he thought civil disobedience became legitimate if democracy is reduced to a tyranny of a narrow majority.

The proposed legislation on indoor hospitality is being rammed through the Dáil without proper debate. It sets our country on a slippery slope towards similar discrimination being extended to other aspects of society.

I pointed out that there would continue to be transmission of Covid-19 regardless of vaccinations and asked what was done and would be done by the Government to improve air filtration in light of Expert Group reports to the Department of Health in February and March.