Results 5,201-5,220 of 5,914 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Oct 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. I join with colleagues who have spoken about the forthcoming election to the Seanad. I agree with what Senators Norris and Mullen had to say. We debase ourselves in this House in the way we allow elections to take place. It is a foregone conclusion before it has even started. Indeed, it has been in the public domain, put there by members of----

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Oct 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: As one of my colleagues on the other side of the House said, somebody kicked an own goal and that is the only reason I am here. The bottom line is that I do not believe Fine Gael will put up a candidate. I compliment Fianna Fáil and hope Sinn Féin will consider it. Indeed, if there is a person who is independent and is looking for a signature, my signature is here waiting. I...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Oct 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: The Senator is rowing back-----

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Oct 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: -----another three weeks.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (30 Sep 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: My point may be more appropriate for the general discussion. I am somewhat disappointed there is nothing with respect to guidance and counselling services in the schools. From having spoken to people in third level and further education, I note we are now beginning to see the cost of the failure to provide guidance as students move through second level. There is poor choice of third level...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (30 Sep 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I do not, unfortunately.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (30 Sep 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I do not believe that is fair.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (30 Sep 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: That is not fair because, if one examines the attrition rates at third level, one realises they are too high.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (30 Sep 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: If the Senator wants me to go through them now, I will go out and get the statistics for her.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (30 Sep 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: We all know there is a problem here.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (30 Sep 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: If one checks with the professionals in the area-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (30 Sep 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: On public private partnerships, I have seen some schools that were developed through that system and they are a credit to the planners. More importantly, however, they take a huge weight from the shoulders of management in those schools, in so far as the latter has no responsibility for the infrastructure of the building, other than to request through the management body that repairs be...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Sep 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Night after night on our television screens we see the plight of wretched people running from their respective war-torn countries, but I am absolutely shocked at the level of racist comment that I am beginning to hear around the country. Indeed, yesterday a man stood outside the gates of Leinster House with a sign saying "No more refugees." Many of us will have visited New York at some...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Sep 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: We populated countries as far away as Australia, Canada and the United States of America. One will find Irish people and Irish pubs all over the world. These people are not coming to this country because they want to come. They are coming because they have nowhere else to go. It poses huge problems for us but I am happy to congratulate the Irish Congress of Trade Unions for offering its...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Sep 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: This morning I heard on the news that foreign citizens who are in this country on visas of one sort or another for education or training purposes are queueing around the block waiting for access to the Department of Justice and Equality to renew their visas. I cannot for the life of me understand, particularly in the context of students, the reason the international office in each college...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Sep 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Well done.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2015 - Vote 37: Minister for Social Protection (22 Sep 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the Tánaiste for her presentation. As I look at almost everything relating to government, there is now a preoccupation with measuring outputs and statistics; there are statistical measures for everything. We can finish up working towards the examination and statistics that make us look good, or bad as the case may be, but sometimes discrete information is lost. The function...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2015 - Vote 37: Minister for Social Protection (22 Sep 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: The one that comes to mind is in the area of social protection. It concerns class K PRSI. Those who pay it do not benefit from it, although they pay at the rate of 4%. The same applies to educational supports. The Minister mentioned persons who moved into the education sector where one moved from one set of statistics into another. Heretofore, we have not measured the success of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2015 - Vote 37: Minister for Social Protection (22 Sep 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Since 2015 they are by anybody with what is called unearned income.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2015 - Vote 37: Minister for Social Protection (22 Sep 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: It seems to be anathema to the notion of social insurance that one would make insurance contributions from which one could never draw down.