Results 61-80 of 5,873 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 : Discussion (Resumed) (19 Jun 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Dr. Burke and Mr. Power are very welcome. To make my position clear before I start, the triple lock is a red herring in the Defence Forces' current context and we should be discussing the other aspects of the Bill. The Chair said we will get to those, and I accept that, but they are far more important when we talk about the impact of courts martial, the power to suspend personnel, etc. We...

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 : Discussion (Resumed) (19 Jun 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Chair, I do not understand what this has to do with the legislation.

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 : Discussion (Resumed) (19 Jun 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: No, it is not. We are here talking about Irish legislation-----

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 : Discussion (Resumed) (19 Jun 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: -----not about other conflicts.

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 : Discussion (Resumed) (19 Jun 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: In fairness now-----

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 : Discussion (Resumed) (19 Jun 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: How is that going to impact this legislation?

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 : Discussion (Resumed) (19 Jun 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: No, it is not. It is a political point and the Senator is using the committee for political reasons.

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 : Discussion (Resumed) (19 Jun 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: We are tight for time. I have a couple of very quick questions about the triple lock and sovereignty. Where does the sovereignty of the State lie when we go outside the State for permission to deploy troops? Could the Seanad fill the same role as the United Nations Security Council with a significant majority required to deploy troops? Finally, there has been a lot of talk here about the...

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 : Discussion (Resumed) (19 Jun 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: It is not.

Seanad: Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Bill 2024: Committee Stage (19 Jun 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I, too, want to support Senator Stephenson's amendment. I have a difficulty with the way we use the possibility of a charge on the Exchequer to say that certain amendments must be rejected. There is no absolute charge on the Executive by having an advocate in place. As my colleague Senator Boyhan has just pointed out, most of the people we are talking about are in their 60s. Most of...

Seanad: Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Bill 2024: Committee Stage (19 Jun 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Getting back to the appointment of a special advocate, the Bill will lay on the State and the HSE statutory rights that people have. What do we do when those statutory rights are ignored? How do we resolve that? The only way we can get a remedy is to go to the courts. The Minister and I know that if you take the State to court, it has deep pockets and will keep you in the courts until you...

Seanad: Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Bill 2024: Committee Stage (19 Jun 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I wish to raise a couple of issues. Anything that imposes a charge on the Exchequer can be ruled out of order. Printing the documentation was a charge on the Exchequer. We are a bit selective in that regard. I want to go back to the contributory pension. My colleague, Senator Boyhan, made a point about the religious institutions, some of which have not yet made the contribution that is...

Seanad: Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Bill 2024: Committee Stage (19 Jun 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I am sorry to come back in so quickly but, as the debate has been going on, I have received a message on my phone from a person who is well advised and well informed in respect of these institutions. I will not read out the name of the company but this person has given me the name of a company, one of the largest companies in the countries and one that is highly successful and highly...

Seanad: Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Bill 2024: Committee Stage (19 Jun 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: We spoke about statutory obligations. I have just received a message from one person on the mother and baby homes medical card who sought physiotherapy and was told to go private because of the long waiting list. Where is the statutory obligation there? How does that person overcome that? I fully appreciate the Minister's officials will have informed her of the answers that she is...

Seanad: Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Bill 2024: Committee Stage (19 Jun 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: With respect to supports for people living outside the State, I cannot understand why a specific figure was ring-fenced. As somebody who goes to a couple of consultants every year, €3,000 will not take one very far in this world. There should be an expense scheme based on returned receipts such that any time survivors seek medical help, providing it is in accordance with what they...

Seanad: Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Bill 2024: Committee Stage (19 Jun 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I turn to amendment No. 19. We learned from the military side of the world that there is a thing called moral injury. They say moral injury transitions three generations. To be honest, I cannot see a massive rush for PhDs, Masters degrees or whatever else from the former victims of the institutions, but there will be a requirement for education. Can we spread the education allowances to...

Seanad: Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Bill 2024: Committee Stage (19 Jun 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Following on from what Senator Ruane said about decoupling redress from justice, redress schemes are generally brought in to expedite the quick settlement, as it were, of an injustice. In a lot of cases, the people we are talking about opt for a redress scheme. They have been keeping this secret all their lives and they do not want their personal lives in the High Court, so there is an...

Seanad: Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Bill 2024: Committee Stage (19 Jun 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: The issue of the contributory pension for those who were in institutions has to be investigated. If they were employed and somebody got money for the labour they gave, that labour should have been covered under social insurance stamps back in the day, or PRSI. If companies in this country had the use of slave labour from these institutions and the institutions received money for it, then we...

Seanad: Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Bill 2024: Committee Stage (19 Jun 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I, too, commend Senator Tully for tabling the amendment. The wording it contains is important. The Senator talked about measures being commensurate with compensation from the religious. Driving through any village or town in Ireland, the largest building you will find will be the church. I agree with what Senator Boyhan said in that I have known many good churchmen. I have known...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Jun 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: On Saturday I was fortunate enough to have a ticket to the rugby match. On my way back, as I was walking through Dublin city I was struck by the number of houses that were locked up with nobody living in them. On my drive home through Rathfarnham, I found an entire block of apartments empty. Close to Stillorgan, I saw another entire block of apartments empty. When I looked a little bit...