Results 1,981-2,000 of 9,145 for speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2013)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Okay. The banker who received €850,000 yesterday was up to his neck in all of that. That is the reality. People are sick to their stomach that every time we have to deal with these issues there is some buyer in the way. When will there be leadership? I and others sat through 15 or 16 hours of deliberation on Committee Stage and Report Stage amendments to the Personal Insolvency...

Order of Business (25 Apr 2013)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: This morning the European Court of Justice found in favour of the case against the State taken by the former Waterford Crystal workers on the losses to their pensions. The court found that offering retirees half of what they are entitled to is not going to wash. In response to this, what legislation does the Government intend to introduce to give proper protection to workers when they are...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Museum Projects (25 Apr 2013)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 33. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in view of the growth in tourism from Asia and the fact that a world famous collection of Tibetan paintings is housed at Collins Barracks, and that Dublin also has the Chester Beatty, his plans to establish a Museum of Asian Art in Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19376/13]

Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 Apr 2013)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Prior to speaking about the specifics of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill placed before us today, I wish to outline yet again to the House the reality of mortgage difficulty. I am not convinced that the Government grasps just how dire the situation is for tens of thousands of households across the State. As I speak, almost one in four households is in mortgage distress. That is...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Metropolitan Area Networks Programme (30 Apr 2013)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 128. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if there are towns to be added to the MANs scheme; if these towns will be identified; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20194/13]

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Private Rented Accommodation Provision (1 May 2013)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 20. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the fact that families on the rental accommodation scheme are being displaced because lending institutions that repossess their rental properties due to the landlords arrears are refusing to keep tenants. [20487/13]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Palliative Care for Children (1 May 2013)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 230. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to implement the recommendations from the report, the Respite Services for Children with Life-Limiting Conditions and their Families in Ireland, a National Needs Assessment, on palliative care for children; and if so, if he will outline his implementation plan. [20587/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Judicial Appointments (2 May 2013)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 2. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he has read the Reform Of Judicial Appointments Procedures Bill 2013; and his views on whether it forms the basis for bringing an end to the on-going practice of political appointments to the Judiciary [20924/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Judicial Appointments (2 May 2013)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: We have had a discussion about the fact that many people in the legal profession engage in political life, which is to be welcomed. They give advice to political parties and their expertise is sought on many occasions. However, that is not the point I make. That should not rule members of the legal profession out but the difficulty is the current process leaves it open to the accusation...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Judicial Appointments (2 May 2013)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: My Bill seeks to give more authority to the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board. I appreciate that the Minister gave a commitment in the programme for Government for a judicial council. I welcome his consideration of my Bill and the fact that he believes we need to go further. I urge the Minister to do so as soon as possible. Certainly, I would suggest that he wants to be the last...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Judicial Appointments (2 May 2013)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I appreciate the Minister's engagement and while I acknowledge that my Bill is not perfect, it is a good offering. The Bill refers to the JAAB's drawing up a shortlist of three candidates and publishing the reasons for its selection. The Government would then choose one of the candidates and publish the reasons for its choice. That removes any suggestion of impropriety in the selection...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Industrial Relations Issues (2 May 2013)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 5. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he has held any recent meetings with the Garda Representative Association and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors to address the wide range of concerns the representative organisations have repeatedly publicly aired. [20925/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Industrial Relations Issues (2 May 2013)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: As the Minister knows, the GRA annual conference is taking place this week and I had the opportunity, like so many others, to listen to the reports from Ms Valerie Cox for the Pat Kenny programme when she spoke directly to gardaí about the issues affecting them. Morale is at its lowest level and, sadly, the relationship has broken down between the Minister and the association, meaning...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Industrial Relations Issues (2 May 2013)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: To be fair about this, the relationship between the GRA and the Minister of the day has been antagonistic for a number of years. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in the last Government had a big row with the GRA as it was about to deliver a condemnatory address. This happened before the Minister's time in office but it serves no one's interest that it continues. I appeal...

Other Questions: Visa Agreements (2 May 2013)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The Minister may be aware of the case that has been reported in the media over the past week of two Chinese parents, Meijiao Yu and Xiao Shao, who are looking to have their daughter, aged almost four years, returned to be with them. They came here as students on student visas and now they are here with a business. They are exactly the kind of persons who we want to build their future here...

Other Questions: Garda Investigations (2 May 2013)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: We will await the outcome of that report. The Minister will be very familiar with this case going back to the time when he was an Opposition spokesperson on justice. I have had a chance to review what is known about the case, most of which is in the public domain. Potentially it is one of the biggest scandals in the history of the State in terms of the range of people associated with it,...

Other Questions: Garda Investigations (2 May 2013)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I am concerned that the confines of this re-examination and report will be limited to the immediate investigation. As the Minister knows, a range of issues flow from this case which are of the utmost concern. This case is truly shocking. I had a chance to review it in detail over the weekend and I am stunned at the extent of the scandal. The public will not be satisfied with police...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Human Trafficking (2 May 2013)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 29. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the figures for potential and suspected cases of human trafficking in 2012, and to date in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20827/13]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Bullying in Schools (2 May 2013)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 85. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if any secondary school here, funded by the Exchequer can refuse the placing of an information poster to support LGBT students from an organisation also funded by the Exchequer, in the notice board space of that school; and if he will advise of his Department's policy on the matter. [20908/13]

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Quality Issues (2 May 2013)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 162. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if Donegal County Council is the competent body for designation of the bathing waters in Lough Foyle at Carnagarve, Moville, County Donegal, under the EU bathing Water Directive. [20971/13]