Results 3,441-3,460 of 9,147 for speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

Seanad: Driving Test Waiting Times: Statements (25 Oct 2017)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I welcome the Minister. I commend my colleague, Senator Victor Boyhan, who has raised this issue relentlessly in the Chamber. I fully support his efforts. If one looks at the numbers for the three test centres in my own county, Buncranna, Letterkenny and Donegal, they are at the top of the list for waiting times. I am sure that the Minister will appreciate the matter that I raise. It is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Renewable Energy Directive: Discussion (24 Oct 2017)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I apologise for having to step in and out of the meeting as I had business in the Seanad. I am sorry that I have missed some of the presentations and responses. Teagasc had a synopsis of our responsibilities regarding greenhouse gases and emissions. The EU has set a target of 20% reduction by 2020 and a 30% reduction by 2030. The matter was debated in the Seanad recently, and no doubt...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Renewable Energy Directive: Discussion (24 Oct 2017)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Are they interlinked, though? Is there any crossover point where one blends into the other?

Seanad: Broadcasting Act 2009 (Designation of Major Events) Order 2017: Motion (19 Oct 2017)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The designation of the ladies football and camogie finals as major events is welcome. The attendance at this year's All-Ireland Ladies Football Final was fantastic. While it is not the Minister's direct responsibility, I would like to raise the issue of access to the broadcasts of games involving our international soccer team in the North of Ireland. If Sky Sports has the rights to the...

Seanad: Legal Metrology (Measuring Instruments) Bill 2017: Second Stage (19 Oct 2017)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I am happy to convey my party's support for the Bill, albeit I express concern at the delay which has turned the passing of the legislation into a matter of urgency. Although it is not the most thrilling piece of legislation, it is important as it transposes into Irish legislation two articles of an EU directive on the legality of measuring instruments. Metrology is the science of...

Seanad: Coroners (Amendment) Bill 2016: Second Stage (18 Oct 2017)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." This Bill is to be known as "Jake's amendment". On 20 March 2013, shortly after being prescribed the antidepressant, Prozac, 14 year old Jake McGill Lynch ended his own life using a firearm. Jake, who was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, was given the antidepressant drug despite research stating that it has no benefit for children with...

Seanad: Coroners (Amendment) Bill 2016: Second Stage (18 Oct 2017)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I thank the Minister and colleagues for their contributions to this debate. I appeal to the Minister and his Government colleagues not to oppose this Bill and to allow it go to Committee Stage today in order that we can further develop the issues of concern the Minister raised, try to find a way to address the concerns of families like the McGill Lynchs and also address some of the concerns...

Seanad: Flood Prevention Measures: Statements (18 Oct 2017)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, for his swift response to the flooding in Inishowen in east Donegal. In fairness to him, he was up there straight away and spent a couple of days in the area. I met him on the ground at a number of locations. He also attended a meeting with councillors and the local authority management team. As such, I acknowledge his personal commitment to...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (12 Oct 2017)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I would like to raise for the third time an issue I have raised in each of the past two weeks. I ask Senators to think of the major parks in their own cities, towns and communities. Swan Park, which is an important amenity for tourists at the core of my home town of Buncrana, has been destroyed by floods and will be closed to the public for an indefinite period. It has been estimated that...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Oct 2017)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I second Senator Rose Conway-Walsh’s amendment to the Order of Business. My home area of Inishowen was badly affected by floods in August, particularly two important community amenities, Swan Park, Buncrana, and Glenevin Waterfall, Clonmany. In Swan Park, the old bridge in the middle of the park was destroyed, as well as all of the green and walking areas. Donegal County Council...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Oct 2017)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Minister Davitt.

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2017: First Stage (4 Oct 2017)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I second the proposal.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Sep 2017)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: On the debate on Brexit, I want to note that the British Labour Party's shadow Secretary of State yesterday endorsed the view that special European status should be given to the North. That is in line with the findings of Oireachtas reports and a vote in the Dáil. I would like our Government to put that proposition much more firmly in future. It is clearly a common sense proposition...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Building Regulations (27 Sep 2017)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: When the report was published-----

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Building Regulations (27 Sep 2017)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: There was a very different -----

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Building Regulations (27 Sep 2017)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: With the Leas-Chathaoirleach's assistance, my colleague, Senator Conway-Walsh, will take the supplementary question because, obviously, it pertains to Donegal and Mayo. Is that agreeable?

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Building Regulations (27 Sep 2017)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Yes. Is that okay?

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Building Regulations (27 Sep 2017)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I appreciate that. The Minister of State is very familiar with this issue. I know he has visited Donegal a number of times and met affected families. He knows it very well at this stage. Even though it had limited terms of reference, the expert panel report, which was published almost four months ago, clearly demonstrated that there was a profound failure in State oversight of the...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Jul 2017)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: On a bonfire in east Belfast in recent days, there was a coffin with a picture of Mr. Martin McGuinness, deceased on it, and in other parts of the Six Counties there were bonfires with election posters of SDLP, Sinn Féin and Alliance candidates, some of whom are elected MPs, MLAs, MEPs, our national flag and various other effigies. A couple of years ago, when a priest sadly took his...

Seanad: Report of Seanad Special Select Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Motion (12 Jul 2017)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I commend the Seanad committee on its tremendous work in terms of the number of hearings it held and in regard to the compilation of this report. I particularly welcome that the report calls for special EU status for the North of Ireland and for the Good Friday Agreement to be protected. I would like to focus my contribution on the announcement by the British Government that it intends to...