Results 1-20 of 149 for going forward speaker:David Norris

Seanad: Disregard of Certain Criminal Records of Gay Men: Motion (17 May 2023)

David Norris: ...day like this. I commend Senator Warfield strongly on his initiative in putting this motion before the House. It is an excellent thing to have done. I had not realised it was 30 years. I am not good on anniversaries as I do not think backwards. Rather, I tend to think forward in life. I would like to recognise, as others have done, my colleague and friend Edmund Lynch, who is in the...

Seanad: Budget 2022: Statements (12 Oct 2021)

David Norris: ...history here. Until 2008, primary schools received funding to stock libraries with new books to help students to learn and develop and to support their well-being. That was an excellent idea. It was forward looking. This grant, however, was cut in 2008 and has never been restored. I ask that the Minister restore this grant. Allocating just €10 to every primary school child in...

Seanad: Organisation of Working Time (Reproductive Health Related Leave) Bill 2021: Second Stage (24 May 2021)

David Norris: How very kind of the Cathaoirleach. I greatly appreciate it. I pay tribute to my good friend and colleague, Senator Bacik. She has been involved in issues of human rights over many years. She has been particularly involved in women's rights, although not exclusively. There is nothing narrow about Ivana. I am very glad the Bill has been accepted by Government. It is a very positive move...

Seanad: National Screening Advisory Committee Bill 2020: Second Stage (30 Sep 2020)

David Norris: ...day for the Minister. I greatly appreciate that he has taken the trouble on such a very busy day because of Covid-19 to be here with us. In the spirit of positive co-operation, I have had a very good meeting with civil servants on this Bill and I see Ms Flaherty is in attendance to advise the Minister. That is also very much appreciated. This Bill will have the effect, if...

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

David Norris: Yes. I am certainly impromptu. I do not read my speeches, but I am going to read a few things into the record. This is not acceptable. I am going to set out why it is completely unacceptable. The draft heads of the Bill suggested that there would be a resolution to the issue of gay male couples not being entitled to adoptive leave or benefit. As it stands, only single male adopters or...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

David Norris: ...a toss what the person on the Bench does with his or her gonads. I do not care about it at all as long I do not have to witness it. We hear all this palaver about diversity and so on. How are we going to know how diverse it is and what if we want to appoint a gay judge? Personally I think it is nonsense; it does not matter a damn to me what they are. However, if we want diversity and...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jun 2019)

David Norris: ...he was the Minster for Justice, Attorney General, a distinguished senior counsel and all the rest of it. That said, I wait to be persuaded of this amendment and I am not 100% sure which way I am going to vote. I look forward to Senator McDowell's further contributions to elucidate this because what other questions is the commission going to ask? What else could it ask? It would be...

Seanad: Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Bill 2019: Second Stage (16 Apr 2019)

David Norris: ...in assisting the better promotion of gaming and lotteries." I would have thought we have had enough promotion of these matters already, particularly gaming and gambling. It is shocking what is going on. The explanatory notice and financial memorandum also says: "This modernisation will serve an important public interest is assisting the better promotion of gaming." I certainly do not...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Apr 2019)

David Norris: ...to any judicial office to make an application to the Commission to be considered for appointment to that judicial office. (2) A person to whom subsection (1) applies may notify the secretary of the Government of his or her wish to be considered by the Government for appointment to any vacancy in any judicial office.”. It seems absolutely absurd that a member of the commission...

Seanad: Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2019: Second Stage (12 Mar 2019)

David Norris: We are wasting our time if there is no such thing as a managed no-deal. I believe that there will not be a no-deal situation but the Government is right to consider it because serious issues are involved. There are the questions of aviation connectivity and road freight connectivity. Michael O'Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, predicted that flights throughout Europe would stop....

Seanad: Death of Shane O'Farrell: Motion (13 Feb 2019)

David Norris: ..., which I got today. Shane was an extraordinarily vital young man who was full of life. That life was snatched away by a Lithuanian drug addict. It is quite extraordinary to think that a young man who was so alive was destroyed in this way. A motion was put forward in the Dáil by Deputy Jim O'Callaghan that summarised some of Zigimantas Gridziuska's convictions. It stated:—...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2018)

David Norris: -----but also the full list so that the Government knows the three or four people who are supposed to be the best candidates, according to this group that is made up of this, that and the other and a collection of hairpins and whatever else we said. It should also have the longlist so that it knows who has been held out of the list. That would enable the Government to make a proper...

Seanad: Situation in Palestine: Statements (Resumed) (11 Jul 2018)

David Norris: I want to put my locus standion the record of the House. I have been going backwards and forwards to Israel and Palestine for 40 years. I had an apartment in Jerusalem for many years which I shared with my partner, Ezra Yitzhak Nawi, who is an Israeli Jewish civil rights activist who has been victimised by the Israeli State for his strong support for the Palestinian people. I am honoured...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

David Norris: ...not perform any of those functions with a view to influencing the interpretation of the law or the Constitution by the courts." Senator McDowell asked what kind of people would put themselves forward. On the lay panel, they will be exactly the kind of people who want to influence the interpretation of law and the Constitution. These are exactly the kind of people we are going to get. I...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Jun 2018)

David Norris: Okay, but there were quite a few interruptions. In addition, the finance is totally skewed to massively favour the parties. At the Constitutional Convention I put forward a motion that would amend that. It was passed by 98% of the people present. It was by far the highest percentage and nothing has ever been done about it. We must look at the office of the presidency in terms of the way...

Seanad: Local Property Tax: Motion (30 May 2018)

David Norris: ...to whether to support the Fianna Fáil motion. I probably will because it is half a loaf and that is better than nothing. However, if it was really the republican party it claims to be, it would go for total abolition of the local property tax. It astonishes me there was such a row about the water rates. There is a very clear argument from central Government for water rates and for...

Seanad: Domestic Violence Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2017)

David Norris: ...Bill. Unless the Minister of State can provide an alternative explanation, that seems to be a serious lacuna. On the last occasion, if my memory serves me right, the Minister said that it was a good idea to include such a definition. One therefore assumes that the definition will be accepted. It is arguable whether this specific and particular definition will be accepted but the...

Seanad: Domestic Violence Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2017)

David Norris: ...Minister of State is then agonised about the possibility that this list might become predominant. Of course, it will. That is the whole point of it. There would be damn all point if it was not going to be predominant. This is the product of the experience of victims, female and male, of domestic violence. This is what their experience is telling us. Of course the list will be...

Seanad: Controlled Drugs and Harm Reduction Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

David Norris: ...in Portugal has halved. That is something we need to look at. We cannot simply deal with the addicts, however. We have to deal with the supply side as well. So long as the supply side keeps going, we are going to have the involvement of criminal gangs. I am not in favour of decriminalisation so that everyone in the country should get high. I am in favour of it because drugs are the...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 May 2017)

David Norris: .... Apparently the complainant in Ennis was anonymous whereas Stephen Fry had the guts to stand up in a Christian country and raise these issues. I do not think it is too much to ask that if one is going to make a complaint about blasphemy, one should at least have the guts to put one's name to it. I look forward to this provision being removed by this Government.