Results 1,401-1,420 of 5,754 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Shannon Group: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: I immediately retract it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Shannon Group: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: Totally.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Shannon Group: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: I always put it on the record when a chair-designate comes before us that I hate wasting his or her time because as a committee, we cannot say "No, the individual should not be employed." At the end of the day, it is a courtesy call really. That said, the engagement this afternoon has been really interesting. My impression of Shannon Airport, the cohesiveness and dedication of the staff...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Shannon Group: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: I was in Galway at the weekend and I purchased the Connacht Tribune. When I opened it, a piece of marketing material about Shannon fell out. It gave me a little bit of confidence that somebody somewhere is doing something to try to drive the airport. I do not understand why there is not a bus route from the major population centres straight to Shannon Airport four or five times a day, even...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Shannon Group: Chairperson Designate (25 May 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: My first flight out of Shannon was in 1968. It was a comfortable place to visit then and is still a very comfortable place. I am not going to waste any more of Mr. Henry's time. I am very happy for him. I think the Minister has picked a good man for the job and I wish him the very best as he moves forward. I am sure my colleagues from County Clare will have lots more questions for him so...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 May 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. In recent times capital projects have been questioned. People ask how the national children's hospital went from €600 million to possibly €2 billion, or more. It is no secret that I have had a huge interest in search and rescue. I have been spending a considerable amount of my time and that of the House trying to get to the bottom of what...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 May 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: It is the first time the Senator was ever called that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of An Post Network: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the Chairman. The gentlemen are very welcome. As a leader of a trade union in a former life, I only wish I had the commitment the IPU officers have. Their work on behalf of the members is second to none. The more questions we have heard this afternoon the more depressed I have become. I am almost about to go over to our guests and tell them to do themselves a favour by shutting...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of An Post Network: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: I would like the following to find its way into any report we might do: modern life and modern governance requires there is a return on investment by way of profit or whatever to the State. If we are going to give post offices €12 million we want to see what we are going to get back out of it. However, some things in life simply are not quantifiable. Mr. O'Hara put his finger on it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of An Post Network: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: Do the post offices get a transaction payment?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of An Post Network: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: If I buy stuff online or whatever-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of An Post Network: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: Banks get a kickback on everything they do. I appreciate what Grant Thornton did and the macro view from a purely commercial point of view, but there is a side to the post office that is not commercial and cannot be quantified. I do not know how we can square that circle, and there is no answer the witnesses can give me today. I have listened to their answers and everything else. Mr....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of An Post Network: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: On that very question, back in the day when I was a kid myself, when we were at school we had a post office savings book. I think it was stamps at the time, if I am not mistaken. We used to buy penny stamps or something and we would save up a fiver for Christmas or whatever. Do children use the saving services of the post office or do they all use the bank?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of An Post Network: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: I hope I have not reduced the union's argument by insisting there should be a public service fee available to postmasters and postmistresses. The sum of €12 million is a small amount of money to keep them alive.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of An Post Network: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: As the Chair is speaking, I am thinking of my home county of Galway and the town of Athenry. Monivea and Menlo which are two small villages outside of Athenry. All have post offices. The banks are moving away from places such as Athenry and it is difficult to carry out any banking transaction. If Monivea and Menlo post offices close, then it does not matter what age I am, if I want to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Future of An Post Network: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: One cannot pay for that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Átha Cliath: Chairman Designate (18 May 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: I welcome Mr. Owens. I am sorry that he was here, then we were gone and now we are back. That is the nature of committees. I am deeply impressed to hear that he was educated on Eblana Avenue. I spent 25 years right next door to him in the Senior College Dún Laoghaire, which later had classrooms on Eblana Avenue. There has been some change to the buildings in that sector. I have to...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 May 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: The Acting Leader looks extremely well in the new suit. I congratulate him on his elevation.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 May 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: Cathal Brugha Barracks is 100 years old today. A parade is being held in the barracks to celebrate. It is rather distressing to me that the bourgeois Green Party of the middle class wants to see Cathal Brugha Barracks bulldozed to the ground to provide a site for property for the well-heeled in south County Dublin. Cathal Brugha barracks is a vital part of Dublin's infrastructure and of...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 May 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: To the barracks, of course. I do not often agree with my colleague Senator Ó Donnghaile, but Sinn Féin had a tremendous win in the Northern election. In my lifetime, we now have a situation where a nationalist group should be in control in the North of Ireland. Due to the Good Friday Agreement, which is respected by all, there is a shared responsibility. In that context, it is...