Results 21-40 of 116 for going forward speaker:Jim O'Callaghan

Recent Developments in Northern Ireland: Statements (25 May 2022)

Jim O'Callaghan: One of the great advantages of the Good Friday Agreement is that it changed the way people in Northern Ireland viewed national sovereignties. Prior to that, the majority of people in Northern Ireland viewed national sovereignties in a very binary way. They saw themselves as being either Irish or British. The Good Friday Agreement enabled that to be changed and with the passage of time,...

Garda Síochána (Compensation) Bill 2021 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (18 May 2022)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...garda initiating a compensation claim. The vast majority of assaults or violent attacks on members of An Garda Síochána are simply accepted by gardaí and they do nothing about it. They do not go down the route of seeking to secure compensation. We need to acknowledge that being a member of An Garda Síochána is a very dangerous job, particularly now. Members are...

Defamation Act 2009 Review: Statements (11 May 2022)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...in this area. In this legislation, the Oireachtas is trying to balance two conflicting Article 40 rights. On the one hand, we have the Article 40 right that each individual has to his or her good name. On the other hand, we are trying to balance the right people have to freedom of expression. It is always the case that where there are two conflicting rights, there is going to be...

Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (7 Apr 2022)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...our democracy. We need to really focus on that when we talk about the principles and the sections of the Bill today and on Committee Stage. When you think of democracy, it is a very young form of governance throughout the world. Some 150 years ago, very few places around the world had democracy. We assume that democracy will be prevalent throughout the world in years to come but that...

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Second Stage (23 Mar 2022)

Jim O'Callaghan: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important Bill and I commend the Minister of State and the Department on bringing it forward. This Bill is long overdue; it has been called for and required for more than two decades. We need to appreciate it is complex and complicated legislation. Notwithstanding the delay, I can understand why the Minister of State and the Department have had to...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Credit (Amendment) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (9 Mar 2022)

Jim O'Callaghan: I commend Deputy Doherty on bringing forward this legislation. It is important that the select committee appraises and considers legislation that comes from the Opposition. I remember when I was in the Opposition not long ago I managed to get many legislative measures to the justice committee but, unfortunately, I could not always get them through that committee because we did not get a...

Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (16 Feb 2022)

Jim O'Callaghan: I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on this important legislation. I commend the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, and the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smith, on bringing it forward. Back in 2014, the Houses of the Oireachtas decided to enact legislation that would provide a statutory protection to whistleblowers, and they were whistleblowers who came from within the public...

Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (20 Jan 2022)

Jim O'Callaghan: I welcome the introduction of this legislation to the Houses of the Oireachtas and commend the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, on bringing it forward. This legislation is extremely important because it engages with some of the fundamental rights enjoyed by Irish citizens under the Constitution. Bringing legislation that involves giving statutory effect to a constitutional right through the House...

Sex Offenders (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...of how there is recognition in this House that more needs to be done to protect victims of sexual offences. I refer the Minister and the Minister of State to an article that was published about ten days ago in The Irish Judicial Studies Journal. It is entitled "Towards a Presumption of Victimhood - Possibilities for Re-Balancing the Criminal Process". This article was written by Mr....

Firearms and Offensive Weapons (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members] (15 Jul 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...him on driving the issue in his Department. He has spoken to me, Deputy Devlin and many other Fianna Fáil Deputies about this issue. He has a significant concern in this regard and I very much look forward to the speech he is to give in due course. This Bill was introduced last March because of a number of very tragic killings of boys and young men with knives. Last January,...

Workplace Relations (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Second Stage (2 Jul 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank the Minister of State for bringing forward this legislation. We all know the reason we are here is because of the recent Supreme Court decision in the Zalewski case. It was probably one of the most important decisions given by the Supreme Court this century and has resulted in this legislation coming before the House. I am conscious that my colleagues in the House know the facts of...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (20 Apr 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...about the narrative developing in the public domain and in some elements of politics with regard to foreign direct investment and our corporation tax policy. We recognise that President Biden is going to be a very consequential president in the United States. The reason this issue is being discussed now is that he has put forward a $2 trillion infrastructure project and scheme, for which...

Covid-19 (Transport and Travel): Statements (10 Feb 2021)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...the Minister needs to consider is the possibility of giving free travel on our public transport system to healthcare workers. That is done in Northern Ireland to great effect. It would be a good indication of the support that we, as a society, wish to give to our front-line healthcare workers if we were able to afford them free travel on public transport as of now during the pandemic....

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Northern Ireland (9 Dec 2020)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...in Northern Ireland now operates. When we consider the 3,700 people who were killed during the Troubles, we can all recognise and accept that each of them deserves to be remembered. When we go further and state why they need to be remembered, we can get into difficulty. Were we to say that each one of them died needlessly, that becomes an issue of political dispute. I believe,...

Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020 [Seanad]: Second Stage (21 Oct 2020)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...to women, children and babies who were placed in, or born in, institutions that operated on this island in the 20th century. I regret to say, notwithstanding the efforts of this House and previous Governments, we have not succeeded in rectifying the terrible damage that was done to those people. We need to go back and look at 1999 because it was an important year in the start of the...

Brexit and Business: Statements (7 Oct 2020)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...is no agreement in place and the UK still does not know what the nature of its trading relationship with the EU will be after 1 January 2021. What we need to learn from this is that if we ever go down the route of having a significant referendum in this country, as we may in years to come, we have to be sure to do our homework in advance. Clearly, the British Government and people,...

Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2020: Second Stage (30 Jul 2020)

Jim O'Callaghan: Ar dtús, déanaim comhghairdeas arís leis an Aire, Teachta McEntee. Níl aon dabht agam ach go n-oibreoidh sí go crua agus go dícheallach sna blianta amach romhainn. I start by commending the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and wishing her well in the years ahead. I wish her every success as Minister for Justice and Equality. There are many provisions in the Bill...

Perjury and Related Offences Bill 2018 [Seanad]: Second Stage (11 Dec 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: I dtús báire, ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an Seanadóir Ó Céidigh. Gabhaim comhghairdeas leis freisin. Tá súil agam go mbeidh an Bille an-tábhachtach seo sna rialacháin tar éis cúpla lá. I wish to congratulate Senator Ó Céidigh on this very important Bill and to acknowledge the instrumental role...

Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Bill 2019 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (4 Dec 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: There is obviously a benefit in putting forward amendments in time to consider them. We have not had a huge amount of time to consider this. The only issue I can see is that we are dealing with conditions that will apply to a lottery licence granted by the District Court. These conditions will apply in cases where the prizes are between €5,000 and €30,000 a week. These are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...true figures in that respect, we as legislators have a responsibility to take legislative steps to improve those statistics and make it more comfortable for people who are victims of sexual assault to come forward and make complaints to An Garda Síochána. As I said, part of the reason for this is that many victims of these offences find the criminal justice system quite...