Results 121-140 of 602 for speaker:Fiach MacConghail

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Sep 2014)

Fiach MacConghail: I congratulate the Government on making a decision to develop and consult widely on a national cultural policy. It is the first time that any Government has done so. I applaud the former Minister, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, and the current Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys, for setting up a consultative process to develop, for the first time, a national cultural policy. However, this has been...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Sep 2014)

Fiach MacConghail: Never has the state of our national cultural institutions been so fragile and uncertain with regard to governance and funding. We heard a couple of days ago that the National Museum of Ireland has had to close galleries. There is extraordinary uncertainty. The articles and memorandum of association of the Irish Museum of Modern Art state that 15 members can be appointed to the board. I...

Seanad: Appointments to Board of Irish Museum of Modern Art: Statements (23 Sep 2014)

Fiach MacConghail: I know this is a slightly inauspicious introduction, but I congratulate the Minister on her recent appointment as Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. I look forward to working well with her over the next while. She knows my track record. However, I wish to put a few points on the record. I am not making a personal statement regarding the two appointees. By the look of them...

Seanad: Direct Provision System: Motion (17 Sep 2014)

Fiach MacConghail: Ba mhaith liom fáilte chaoin a chur roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Ó Ríordáin ar a chéad turas go dtí an Seanad. Molaim é agus molaim Páirtí an Lucht Oibre toisc an portfolio atá curtha le chéile acu. Tá meascán maith suimiúil idir pobail nua, cultúr agus comhionannas sa phost nua atá aige. I welcome all...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Situation in Gaza - Middle East Peace Process: Palestinian and Israeli Ambassadors (3 Sep 2014)

Fiach MacConghail: I will be very brief. The ambassador is being slightly polite and perhaps too respectful. I will pick up on the last few points in the ambassador's speech and seek greater clarity on how the ambassador thinks Europe should play a more active role in the formal recognition of the Palestinian state. He should tell the joint committee exactly what he means by that and how he thinks Ireland...

Seanad: Situation in Gaza and Ukraine: Statements (31 Jul 2014)

Fiach MacConghail: I extend my personal congratulations to Deputy Charles Flanagan on his recent appointment as Minister for Foreign Affairs - comhghairdeas leis an Aire. I welcomed his statement yesterday on his desire to resume all-party talks in the North on issues such as flags, parades and the past. He is trying to get talks going again in September and I support him in that regard. It is a reminder to...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (16 Jul 2014)

Fiach MacConghail: I welcome the Minister of State. I was not here when he served in this House but his reputation indicates that he is a sincere and hard-working individual. I hope I and others can live up to the example he set during his time here. The Minister of State and I were colleagues on the Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht and I offer him my heartfelt congratulations. I...

Seanad: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Second Stage (9 Jul 2014)

Fiach MacConghail: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, to the House. Both the RPII and EPA are established, well-known and autonomous organisations. Senator Keane and I are both members of the Oireachtas committee that heard evidence from various stakeholders including the chairman of the RPII, Professor Reville. There is a need for mergers and amalgamations, but I believe the Government has...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (8 Jul 2014)

Fiach MacConghail: Yes, I wish to extend that point. The Minister of State has been clear but she must bear with us because we are not experts. It is important that we should talk this through with her a bit more. My understanding is that the Minister of State is making a commitment to issue a direction, particularly on the pilot ones. She has said that Limerick is already in the starting blocks. That city...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (8 Jul 2014)

Fiach MacConghail: Can I say a few words?

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (8 Jul 2014)

Fiach MacConghail: It is Committee Stage.

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (8 Jul 2014)

Fiach MacConghail: For the sake of efficiency, I want to wrap up quickly.

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (8 Jul 2014)

Fiach MacConghail: On this occasion, I would accept that Senator Zappone can speak on my behalf. We will not press the amendment but we reserve the right to return to it on Report Stage. As I said in my preface to this discussion, if the current Minister of State is still in that position on Report Stage, we will not press it. However, we would like to hear the same commitment from the succeeding Minister,...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (8 Jul 2014)

Fiach MacConghail: Agreed.

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (8 Jul 2014)

Fiach MacConghail: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I support the amendment of my colleague, Senator Zappone. I seek clarification as this is one of those issues in debate where one must separate the Minister of State's bona fides as a politician and her bona fides as a legislator. She might not be in this position, as she might be elevated or certainly have her workload increased, over the next...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Second Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fiach MacConghail: Introducing rent control to stabilise the market and ensure rent prices rise at a modest rate in line with inflation will result in tenants in the private rented sector living in a more stable community and having a better quality of life. It is a feature of many European states where renting is seen as a viable, long-term option and if we are to encourage more use of the rental market, rent...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Second Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Fiach MacConghail: I welcome the Minister of State to House and thank her for setting out the arguments for the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014. The Minister of State's brief involves an extraordinary responsibility but it is one she wears well and with the utmost commitment on housing and homelessness. A mark of the success of the Government will be whether housing and homelessness, which issues...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Jul 2014)

Fiach MacConghail: I acknowledge in the Seanad the passing of one of Ireland's most under-rated writers, the extraordinary Dermot Healy whom I knew. We met at funerals, wakes and festivals. There is a terrible sadness when a poet and an artist leaves us without a celebration and acknowledgment. Eileen Battersby could not have put it better in The Irish Timestoday when she wrote that Dermot Healy "began as a...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Jul 2014)

Fiach MacConghail: I do not want to wait for another 20 years.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Jun 2014)

Fiach MacConghail: I support Senators Bacik and Ó Murchú in regretting the passing of Gerry Conlon. It was a very tragic life in tragic circumstances for a man who was innocent. I support my colleague, Senator Whelan, regarding the al-Jazeera journalists who are jailed in Egypt. It is an extraordinary visual experience to watch the journalists in the BBC protesting with a minute of silence, with...