Results 1-20 of 196 for long speaker:Fintan Warfield

Seanad: Employment Permits Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (28 May 2024)

Fintan Warfield: ...introduction of this type of permit. We are further concerned there will be an increased risk of exploitation of the workers who would be employed under these permits. They will not be in the State long enough to learn or become acquainted with their rights. However, they will be here long enough to be exploited. That is a grave concern we have. The introduction of these permits will...

Seanad: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Second Stage (28 May 2024)

Fintan Warfield: I welcome the Minister to the House. Automatic enrolment has been a topic of conversation for a considerable time. Sinn Féin supports it in principle and has long advocated it. However, we are not satisfied with the structure outlined in the Bill and consequently will not be supporting it on this Stage. Should substantial changes be made during its passage, we will consider...

Seanad: Employment Permits Bill 2022: Committee Stage (22 May 2024)

Fintan Warfield: ...employer is to have a whole new application for a new employment permit. I note this costs in the region of €1,000, so it is prohibitive. It also involves a labour market needs test for the position and a long waiting time, among other things. This proposed change removes the obligation for a new application and makes it a realistic option for everyone, without fundamentally...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2023: Second Stage (16 May 2024)

Fintan Warfield: ...who have waived their right to anonymity in sexual violence cases in an effort to encourage others to come forward as well. Some of the recommendations have come as a result of their bravely. This long overdue Bill will include a number of significant reforms. I pay tribute to their determination in ensuring that we have better justice. I also wish to speak on the O’Malley...

Seanad: Gambling Regulation Bill 2022: Second Stage (14 May 2024)

Fintan Warfield: ...the harms caused by gambling. We are here because they spoke up and refused to allow this harm to continue. There can be no doubt that an overhaul of the regulation of gambling in the State is long overdue. Research produced by H2 Gambling Capital has continually recorded Ireland as having among the highest gambling losses not only in the EU but across the globe. It is estimated that...

Seanad: Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Fintan Warfield: ...bringing this Bill before the House but also on all his tireless work on disability issues. People with additional needs, their families, friends and communities have been failed by the State for a long time now, yet we are one of the richest countries in the world. What is our vision for our country? Is it a society in which all citizens, including those with additional needs, are...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Apr 2024)

Fintan Warfield: ...legislation would, I hope, right that wrong. The Government and its agencies are also probably one of the biggest publishers in the State. Most Government publications are hosted on websites that have no long-term access guarantee and there is no centralised access to the Government records or repository either. That is something that needs to be addressed. I would welcome the...

Seanad: Research and Innovation Bill 2024: Second Stage (20 Mar 2024)

Fintan Warfield: ...in Ireland. Ireland has underinvested in research and development. The White Paper on enterprise states that research, development and innovation are the best ways to generate sustainable, long-term productivity and growth. Analysis of European and global indicators show us going in the wrong direction on innovation scorecards and on international competitiveness in areas of research...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Mar 2024)

Fintan Warfield: ...to the Order of Business that No. 12 be taken before No. 1. Sinn Féin, like many other organisations, people in the public, in civil society organisations and many political parties have long supported the naming of the national children's hospital for Dr. Kathleen Lynn. She was a remarkable woman, who at various times was chief medical officer, vice president of Sinn Féin,...

Seanad: Private Rental Sector: Motion (6 Mar 2024)

Fintan Warfield: ...been a 20% increase in rent since this time last year. It does not take a financial adviser to know that rents like this are simply not manageable or sustainable for the majority of people whose voices the motion represents. The housing crisis has gone on too long and it has gone from bad to worse. Too many people are paying too high a price for decades of failed Fianna Fáil and...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Mar 2024)

Fintan Warfield: .... Are those organisations experiencing the same level of poor communication we have seen in the relationship between RTÉ and the Department? Why has the Arts Council been without a chairperson for so long? Why are there so many vacancies on the boards of the national cultural institutions? According to a response issued on 31 January to my colleague, Deputy Ó Snodaigh, there...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Arts Policy (21 Feb 2024)

Fintan Warfield: ...to get a sense of what the Government is doing on workspaces for artists. The availability of workspaces for artists throughout the country in both urban and rural areas has been an issue for as long as I can remember. A recent Dublin City Council audit found that there are only 529 workspaces in Dublin. That needs to be considered in the context of a city that has a 17% office vacancy...

Seanad: Situation in the Middle East: Statements (Resumed) (20 Feb 2024)

Fintan Warfield: .... Yet, while this slaughter is playing out daily on our mobile phones and TV screens the EU dithers and plays political games with the lives of the people of Palestine. It had no difficulty spending long hours speaking about the need to support Ukraine, and rightly so, but why does Gaza warrant so little of the EU's serious time? The EU has failed to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Why...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2024)

Fintan Warfield: ...The democratic outcome of the Assembly elections in 2022 will at last be respected. Thankfully, the DUP has moved to explicitly recognise and respect the outcome of that election.This has been a long time coming, but I am delighted for Michelle O'Neill, who can now really fulfil her promise to be a First Minister for all. She has been a hugely popular designated First Minister. She has...

Seanad: Coroners (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (30 Jan 2024)

Fintan Warfield: ...and transparency in regard to fees and expenses paid to coroners and the public. In addition to these in-house practical measures there is also a need for the Government to follow through on long-overdue reforms of the coroner system. The need for this reform has been highlighted by a good in-depth report by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, ICCL, which was published a number of...

Seanad: An Bille um an Naoú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (An Teaghlach), 2023: An Dara Céim - Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (The Family) Bill 2023: Second Stage (22 Jan 2024)

Fintan Warfield: ...impact of the proposed amendments. We also believe that the Government should commit to expanding State supports for families, including through taxation and social welfare, to at least families based on long-term cohabitation. It should also commit to additional supports for single-parent families. We believe we are heading in the right direction but there is a need to look at the...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Football Association of Ireland's Facility Investment Vision and Strategy, and Governance Issues: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)

Fintan Warfield: ...are just concrete former stands with corrugated iron roofs. The infrastructure in the league is an absolute disgrace. Soccer fans have put up with it and it has gone without investment for so long. We now have a situation, post Covid, where people want something authentic and the facilities are just creaking. One club that has had the support of the Government and South Dublin County...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Football Association of Ireland's Facility Investment Vision and Strategy, and Governance Issues: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)

Fintan Warfield: We put you up in Inchicore for long enough. We have a situation where the infrastructure has been neglected by everybody. The fans of the league do not have confidence in the FAI and never have. That is why I am not shocked we are here again on a governance issue, which I have not got into because it has been covered at length, but which I am outraged by. We only have ten teams in the...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Football Association of Ireland's Facility Investment Vision and Strategy, and Governance Issues: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)

Fintan Warfield: ...authorities. I hope the issues around governance and ethics the FAI faces do not affect private investment and the investment the league so desperately needs because it has been neglected for so long. Sin é. I am out of time.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Dec 2023)

Fintan Warfield: ...the recent report by the Irish Federation of University Teachers. I begin by thanking the federation for its work in highlighting the issue, in particular its recent report. We have known for a long time how precarious things are for workers in higher education from Oireachtas education committees and audiovisual room briefings. This report is a clear call to action. One of the most...