Results 1-20 of 1,081 for long speaker:Brendan Howlin

Extension of Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2021: Motion (29 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: ...law. In recent times, every time we have extended this resolution, we have had a promise - as we have again - that it will be dealt with by way of normal law. We need to get on with that. This long suspension of the ordinary rules has established and perpetuated certain problems, some of them serious. Some pubs in residential areas have fronts and rears that are not suitable for...

EU Directive: Motion (29 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: ...but it was only yesterday that the motion was added to the Dáil business site at 2.25 p.m., a mere 24 hours or so ago. That does not underscore the importance of a proper debate in this House. As long as we put up with that, it will continue. As has been made clear by the Minister of State, this is a proposal to opt in to a reform and update of the directive we agreed to and...

Neutrality and the Triple Lock: Motion [Private Members] (29 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: ...separately, the first of which is the announcement by the Tánaiste, which I have to say was a surprise and I was in the House the time it was made. He stated that it is his intention to alter the long-standing mechanism to authorise the deployment of Defence Forces personnel on overseas missions. That mechanism, as we all know, is the triple lock, which entails the support of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: ...lock in simply removing the requirement a UN mandate? Is it to be an altered mechanism with some substitution for the third leg of the current stool, if you look? I would welcome clarity on that. The long-standing triple lock principle has been given repeatedly by all of us, including me, as an assurance to the Irish people during debates on EU treaties in the past when there were...

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (2 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: ...in the Tánaiste's speech and I have not heard any compelling rationale for it. For example, the Secretary General of the Department of Justice is not a member of the Policing Authority. We had a long debate on oversight of An Garda Síochána. The Tánaiste indicated that the Secretary General of the Department of Defence would be there for reporting purposes. I am...

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (2 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: ...and to involve structured and fundamental change, underpinned by legislation. This is the first legislation that we have seen. I wonder why we only have the first legislation now after such a long period. The prescription has been laid out and accepted in the commission report that was endorsed by this House. We were able to deal with issues like Brexit with a comprehensive package of...

Pre-European Council Meeting: Statements (20 Mar 2024)

Brendan Howlin: ...become active agents to bring about a halt to the killing. I commend the comments of the Taoiseach in the United States last week coming in tandem with the remarks of Senator Chuck Schumer, a long-standing ally of Israel. I hope they had an impact in the US but I feel they will have no impact on the Netanyahu government. This week Europe must do more. Even the most ardent supporters...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Elections 2024, Voting Rights and Combating Disinformation: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Brendan Howlin: How long is retention required of previously broadcast material? Is that enforced?

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Brendan Howlin: ...there are so many different views. That is a perennial issue. If I may put it bluntly in this august Chamber, it is more like the discussions on Seanad reform that have been going on for as long as I have been here. Everyone is in favour of it but we cannot get around to agreeing on what reforms should be made. There are a few fundamentals in terms of local government. One is the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Elections 2024, Voting Rights and Combating Disinformation: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Brendan Howlin: ...but in all this I am hearing a broad picture of difficulty with the multimedia platforms we have now. How do we ensure people have objective fact but are entitled to say what they like, as long as it is not unlawful, in a democratic system, which is our big flaw in many ways? That gives them a broad terrain to peddle untruth, if that is their opinion. These are fundamental issues....

Second Anniversary of War in Ukraine: Statements (20 Feb 2024)

Brendan Howlin: ...caused him to invade his neighbour, Ukraine, and set out to remove that nation from existence, remains unabated. Well before his unlawful and brutal attack on Ukraine, Putin set out in an hour-long speech his dream of a new Russian empire, one to be achieved through coercion and conquest. His speech sees independent Ukraine reduced to a tributary State where any aspirations to nationhood...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Middle East (25 Jan 2024)

Brendan Howlin: I would first make it crystal clear that while the litany of abuse against the Palestinian people is decades long, shocking and horrible, there is no excuse whatever for the wanton murder carried out by Hamas on 7 October. My question is directly in relation to the provisional measures that will hopefully be announced tomorrow. One of the calls relating to those measures relates to an...

Tribunal of Inquiry into certain matters relating to the Complaints Processes in the Defence Forces: Motion (24 Jan 2024)

Brendan Howlin: I welcome the establishment of a tribunal of inquiry. It has been a long time coming. It comes due to the tireless and courageous work of the Women of Honour group, who have campaigned relentlessly and effectively to have this statutory inquiry put into place and who have been since joined by others, whom those of us who attended the briefing in the AV room yesterday heard. A tribunal of...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Asylum Seekers (23 Jan 2024)

Brendan Howlin: 421. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the supports available to enable international protection applicants, long-time resident in direct provision centres, to undertake courses of study to acquire skills that will be useful to enable them to find employment if their applications are approved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2440/24]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union: Ambassador of Belgium to Ireland (17 Jan 2024)

Brendan Howlin: ...feasible that they will all be concluded in advance of the end of the mandate of this current European Parliament? In particular, if I may, I want to ask about Africa, in which I have had an interest for a long time. Ms Van Vlierberge made reference to working closely with the EU's African partners. My view on this, having followed political relations between Europe and Africa very...

Neutrality: Motion [Private Members] (28 Nov 2023)

Brendan Howlin: ...shocking. The other issue raised by the motion, on which most of the speakers tonight have focused, is the sudden and surprising announcement by the Tánaiste to this House last week about the abandonment of the long-standing triple-lock arrangement for the deployment of Irish military personnel overseas. While the Tánaiste's announcement surprised us, the reason behind it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Court of Auditors Annual Report 2022: Discussion (22 Nov 2023)

Brendan Howlin: I welcome Mr. Murphy and his team back to the committee. Mr. Murphy presented a very large array of material. I have a long list of questions I could ask, but in deference to the committee, I will be as focused as possible. The overall budget expenditure being presented is €196 billion in 2022, which is 2.5% of GNI of member states. When looking at a company, most auditors...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2023: Second Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2023)

Brendan Howlin: ...Noonan, for his indulgence. I wanted to make a few comments on the legislation before the House and the fact that this is the product of a new entity, the Electoral Commission, that we have been long promised and has been long talked about. It is great to actually have it in existence. All other electoral boundaries that were presented, and by convention passed without amendment, were...

Escalation of Violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (14 Nov 2023)

Brendan Howlin: ..., Al-Shifa, is today reported to be burying scores of dead patients in a mass grave. The hospital's administrator Mohammed Abu Salmiya said that bodies are littered across the complex and there is no longer electricity in the morgues. He said that so far 179 bodies have been buried, including those of seven babies and 20 ICU patients. The UN has stated that 10,000 people are in the...

Post-European Council Meeting: Statements (8 Nov 2023)

Brendan Howlin: ...been in the West Bank on land they have owned, forced out both by settlers and the Israeli military, is a shocking additional crime. We on this island know full well that in Yeats's words: Too long a sacrifice Can make a stone of the heart. We are watching a great horror. We know that in every community, every village and every meeting we go to and every time we look at our emails,...