Results 101-120 of 5,537 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (21 Mar 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: I am not sure that the Ombudsman is an appropriate authority either to inspect. I have an issue with these agencies, organisations, Departments, etc. They should ultimately be answerable to a committee of the Oireachtas and they should be overseen by a committee of the Oireachtas. That is what we should be doing. There is a tendency to try to off-load our responsibilities to other...

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (21 Mar 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: That would be the recommendation that I would like to put forward. I am not sure how my colleagues feel about that but that would be my view.

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (21 Mar 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: I wonder if there would be merit in bringing the petitioner in here and letting them outline their case by crafting questions that they believe should be answered and then bring Tusla in and put those questions to it in order to give closure to the petitioner's case. They may not get the answers that they want but at least they will have had their moment of having the issue heard. I think...

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (21 Mar 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: While we are waiting on Senator Murphy, has the secretariat a view on this? Would it be appropriate to have Tusla before this committee or should it be another committee, like the health committee, for example?

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (21 Mar 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: It is important that the petitioner is aware of the fact that if they are bringing specific evidence, it should be empirical evidence that will stand the test of scrutiny. One thing we do not want is the committee to be used as a battering ram with no solid ground behind it. That would want to be made perfectly clear to the petitioner when they come in.

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (21 Mar 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: As a former leader of a trade union in the education area, nobody should be out of pocket during their training other than whatever fees they pay for their course. If it is, for example, mandatory that you spend six months in St. Vincent's hospital, St. James's Hospital or somewhere and that incurs a cost of having to travel to and from home, we must remember they are students and not...

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (21 Mar 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: I have a couple of points on this. First and foremost, the petitioner is looking for the commissioning of a report. We should put a bit of framework around whatever study that would be carried out by having the representative bodies in here. I would go right across the medical profession and have all of them make a submission as to what they think should be put in place. Simply asking for...

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (21 Mar 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: Deputy O'Donoghue made the point about people working in construction. I was involved in a major chemical site many years ago. We were provided with everything from our steel toe cap boots to helmets, earmuffs and the whole shooting gallery. I had reason to write to the health service some time ago about people being provided with work wear or scrubs as they are called in the hospitals -...

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (21 Mar 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: Anyway, I digress; that is going off the issue. The question is whether we all agree to bring in the representatives of bodies and get their views on what should be done with respect to training.

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (21 Mar 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: That is a fair point.

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (21 Mar 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: This case particularly raises the issue of European responsibility because if a ship or, in this case, a fishing vessel was licensed in one jurisdiction, it is more than likely that when it came to be relicensed in Ireland, it was a rubber-stamp operation. There would have been no serious effort to establish the stability of the particular ship or boat. This particular family appeared...

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (21 Mar 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: I am deeply unhappy with that. The Cathaoirleach was quite taken with the family when they came in, as were Deputy Buckley and various other members. I do not know what we can do.

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (21 Mar 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: I have no difficulty bringing in representatives of those two Departments but before we do that, we should seek to be provided with the marine inspector's report that gave the licence to that boat. We should be provided with all the documentation that led to the licence being awarded. Thereafter, and the secretariat may tell me we do not have the power to do this, we should get an...

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (21 Mar 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: Yes, I am saying the two marine engineers we heard from during the discussion on the petition have all the information, but they have all the information as contracted by the family. That, in itself, would cause it to be biased, in my view, and necessitates the prospect of an independent engineer to advise us. Maybe I am pushing the committee beyond its limits.

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (21 Mar 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: This complaint runs to millions of euro. We are not talking about pennies here. We are talking about millions, so we need to be certain about it.

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (21 Mar 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: We should bear in mind that this is a family who cared so much about their employees that they sank their own business. The man could have kept going on a risk and a wing and a prayer that nothing might ever happen. He put the safety of his crew above everything else. I lost a business and my house and I know what it is like, but it was my fault. This was not his fault. The man has...

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (21 Mar 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: She is one of our own.

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (21 Mar 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: This State has negotiated with people on their deathbed to resolve an issue having fought them for years while they still had some bit of health. In this case, the man who appeared before the committee was calm and was very focused in what he had to say. To my mind, he came across as an extremely credible witness. I do not want this committee in any way to provide an out for a Department...

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (21 Mar 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: If hundreds more cases will come after it, we need to look at our marine inspectorate and see what it is doing in licensing boats that are not worthy.

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (21 Mar 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: I think we are all in agreement as to where we need to go. I thank the Chair for his willingness to allow this to be discussed in the way it is being, and I thank the secretariat for getting us an answer so quickly from the OPLA.