Results 61-80 of 195 for going forward speaker:Martin Conway

Seanad: Disability Day Services: Statements (11 Nov 2020)

Martin Conway: ...Minister of State for the past number of years I have seen her commitment to equality of opportunity for all people. The Minister of State's particular appointment to this role will be critical going forward because of her deep level of commitment, understanding and knowledge. I agree with a lot of what has been said so far about the reduction in day services. To be fair, looking back...

Seanad: Budget 2021: Statements (14 Oct 2020)

Martin Conway: ...and hopefully growing the business again. I also thank the Minister for providing additional support to Shannon Airport through the €5 million that has been announced. There is a long way to go in rebuilding the aviation industry which is critical to the west of Ireland and to the mid-west in particular but this is a welcome start. The Minister will closely observe how aviation...

Seanad: HSE Winter Plan: Statements (7 Oct 2020)

Martin Conway: ...We wish her well and will stand in solidarity with her in her efforts to achieve those. The winter plan is appropriate and proportionate. It has to be welcomed, but it also has to be implemented. I look forward to standing in the Chamber in six months' time to review how the winter plan worked and the impact I hope it will have had. I will conclude by referring again to the pandemic....

Seanad: Aviation Industry: Statements (1 Oct 2020)

Martin Conway: ...view at the time. I could not see how Shannon Airport could compete against Dublin Airport as an independent entity unless it received enormous support from central government, which was not going to be possible. My concerns have been proven correct. There could have been a sensible realignment of the airport's position within the DAA group.Cork did not decouple from the DAA, but it was...

Seanad: Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2020: Second Stage (23 Sep 2020)

Martin Conway: ...the pun. It has to be comprehensive and detailed and it has to reflect the industry in the modern world. The timber industry and the growing of trees will be part of our being and landscape going forward. It has to be done in an appropriate way, taking into consideration both the worries and aspirations of people. I look forward to that review and I have no doubt that this House will...

Seanad: Withdrawal Agreement Between the United Kingdom and the European Union: Motion (23 Sep 2020)

Martin Conway: I came in towards the end of Senator Currie's contribution. It was powerful and very much on the money.This is an appropriate and timely motion. Unfortunately, we are going through the worst pandemic in our lifetime or that of our parents. In terms of the public psyche, the problem is that there will be a loss of understanding of Brexit and of the stark reality of it because people are...

Seanad: Health (General Practitioner Service and Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2020: Second Stage (24 Jul 2020)

Martin Conway: ...with people who have applied for a medical card not because they are ill or may become ill, but because having the medical card will secure other benefits, such as bus tickets for their children going to school. We need to decouple that system. Let the medical card stand on its own. It has its own critically important purpose. Somebody should not need to have a medical card to qualify...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Jul 2020)

Martin Conway: I thank the Cathaoirleach and the Ceann Comhairle for dealing with the teething problems we are inevitably going to face over the coming period. The arrangements are working out very well. I call on the Leader to facilitate a debate with the Minister with responsibility for tourism at some stage very soon, because tourism will be one of the mechanisms we use to successfully reboot our...

Seanad: Microenterprise Loan Fund (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (9 Jul 2020)

Martin Conway: ....It was funny that this week last year Lahinch in County Clare hosted the Irish Open, which was a phenomenal success and generated worldwide coverage of the village and the entire west coast of Clare. Fast-forward 12 months, we see the situation we are in now. The purpose of this legislation is to deal with the new reality, or, as it is often called, the new normal. I welcome this Bill...

Seanad: Election of Cathaoirleach (29 Jun 2020)

Martin Conway: ...he campaigns. I know the work he does. I completely understand how and why he gets elected with a resounding vote in every election. It would be remiss at this stage not to pay tribute to the outgoing Cathaoirleach, Senator O'Donovan, and the outgoing Leader, Senator Buttimer, for the work they did in a difficult Seanad. There was no majority, and the absence of a majority created a...

Seanad: Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009: Motions (29 Jun 2020)

Martin Conway: ...transformation will be possible as a result of the implementation of the recommendations of the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. This is my seventh or eighth year as Government spokesperson on justice that we have had to, at this time of year, discuss putting this legislation through for another 12 months. Senator Bacik, who is here doing it as long as I am,...

Seanad: Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Bill 2020: Motion for Earlier Signature (27 Mar 2020)

Martin Conway: I thank the Minister. He is doing vital work for our country, not just now, but in how it will shape us going forward. It is still unknown. I have no doubt that the decisions that he is making now, under enormous pressure, will help our country and society. I thank the Cathaoirleach for his forbearance and wish him well next week. I offer best wishes to my good friends who are not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Latent Defects: Discussion (7 Nov 2019)

Martin Conway: ..., as the Chairman said. We need a solution that encompasses those 92,000 people, rather than a bespoke one. That has to happen. I am confident this will be included in the next programme for Government, regardless of which parties make up that Government. The witnesses are right in their approach of trying to influence the party manifestos. I believe the issue will be resolved, but...

Seanad: Parent's Leave and Benefit Bill 2019: Second Stage (9 Oct 2019)

Martin Conway: .... This Bill goes a long way towards achieving that. I thank the Minister of State for bringing this Bill before the House. I sincerely hope we can expedite it through the House today. I look forward to families in my constituency and throughout the whole country benefitting immediately from the provisions of this Bill at the start of next month. I am thinking particularly of people...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Oct 2019)

Martin Conway: ...Bill and the various other components of the justice portfolio, on which I have had the privilege to lead on behalf of the Fine Gael group in this House. It is good to see an extra almost €1 billion going into justice, to see the commitment to continue recruiting another 700 members of An Garda Síochána and to see the resources being made available to establish the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (11 Jul 2019)

Martin Conway: Like others here, I wish to speak about the passing of two great people. I got to know Noel Whelan after I was first elected to this House. He made contact with me in 2011 and we discussed many things. I subsequently met him on numerous occasions. I always admired him because he went into politics, he stood for Fianna Fáil and it did not work out but he was not afraid of expressing...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (10 Jul 2019)

Martin Conway: ...facilitate it. I was at a briefing in Buswells, hosted by a former colleague, Averil Power, who is now CEO of the Irish Cancer Society. If Members have not been there already, I encourage them to go there. While we have achieved much related to cancer care, especially with the centres of excellence and the fact that so many people survive cancer, there are still many challenges. Some...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Public Order) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Second Stage (26 Jun 2019)

Martin Conway: ...missions who deal with intricate, difficult and challenging terrain that can be extremely volatile as to people's health and safety, and lives. Where thugs exacerbate and compound these challenges by deliberately going out to harm these people and make their front-line job more difficult is totally reprehensible. Every citizen in this country with any kind of moral fibre within their...

Seanad: An Bille um an Ochtú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Scaoileadh ar Phósadh) 2016: An Dara Céim - Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Dissolution of Marriage) Bill 2016: Second Stage (9 Apr 2019)

Martin Conway: ...the requirement that couples have lived apart for four years was not appropriate and a two-year period was more appropriate. Much credit is due to her for putting that issue on the political and Government agenda. The proposed referendum is welcome. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, has demonstrated time and again that he is a reforming Minister. This is just one...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Rehabilitative Periods) Bill 2018: Second Stage (13 Feb 2019)

Martin Conway: I apologise for the confusion. We had the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, in the House an hour ago. I am delighted the Minister, Deputy Flanagan is in the House to take this legislation on behalf of the Government. I have spoken to the Minister about restorative justice, community courts and the principle of spent and expunged convictions. I have taken account of the work that has...