Results 2,041-2,060 of 6,435 for speaker:Gerald Nash

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (Professional Home Care) Bill 2016: Second Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Gerald Nash: I am please to have an opportunity to contribute to the debate and to make a few points that, I hope, are relevant to the House's consideration of the important matters before us. I congratulate Senator Burke on his far sightedness in introducing this important legislation, which my party supports. It is clear to everybody that a form of regulation is required in this sector and for home...

Seanad: Competition (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (10 Nov 2016)

Gerald Nash: I was delighted to have had the opportunity to enable this Bill at an early stage to pass through the Cabinet approval process during the previous Government's term. Senator James Reilly was a member of that Government too. Success has many fathers and, indeed, mothers. Many people in this Chamber have played a role in bringing this legislation to this point today. I thank the Minister...

Seanad: Protection of Employment (Uncertain Hours) Bill 2016: Second Stage (16 Nov 2016)

Gerald Nash: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I will sharing my time with Senator Ivana Bacik. I am pleased to welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Paul Kehoe, as well as officials from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Employment and representatives of Mandate, the members of which would be directly affected by the policy the Bill intends to cover. I am very pleased to have...

Seanad: Protection of Employment (Uncertain Hours) Bill 2016: Second Stage (16 Nov 2016)

Gerald Nash: We provide solutions. Just because we are in opposition does not mean we do not provide solutions.

Seanad: Protection of Employment (Uncertain Hours) Bill 2016: Second Stage (16 Nov 2016)

Gerald Nash: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Kehoe, for his kind remarks about the track record of the previous Government and the work that I did with officials in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to try to transform the industrial relations landscape in this country. We made some important improvements to the suite of employment law protections in this State at the most difficult...

Seanad: Protection of Employment (Uncertain Hours) Bill 2016: Second Stage (16 Nov 2016)

Gerald Nash: The Labour Party believes not in exploiting people's problems but in providing solutions to them.

Seanad: Protection of Employment (Uncertain Hours) Bill 2016: Second Stage (16 Nov 2016)

Gerald Nash: If Senator Divine would like to engage with me on the Mandate trade union and the Dunnes dispute, I am happy to do so. I worked closely with the Mandate trade union, which had a path beaten to my door to try to ensure that the collective bargaining legislation, which it is now availing of to prosecute its case, was introduced in a timely fashion, and it was. I have a very strong...

Seanad: Protection of Employment (Uncertain Hours) Bill 2016: Second Stage (16 Nov 2016)

Gerald Nash: It is a shame that Sinn Féin continues to be exceptionally sectarian when it comes to the interests of working people in this country. I will make an exception in that regard for Senator Gavan, who I prefer to listen to in terms of his detailed knowledge and experience-----

Seanad: Protection of Employment (Uncertain Hours) Bill 2016: Second Stage (16 Nov 2016)

Gerald Nash: -----of industrial relations both as a practitioner and professional and in his role as a Senator.

Seanad: Protection of Employment (Uncertain Hours) Bill 2016: Second Stage (16 Nov 2016)

Gerald Nash: I was not prepared to allow that empty, vacuous charge go unchallenged.

Seanad: Protection of Employment (Uncertain Hours) Bill 2016: Second Stage (16 Nov 2016)

Gerald Nash: Last week, Members of this House united to support a Bill from my colleague Senator Bacik which seeks to restore collective bargaining rights for people who have been denied them since 2004. These are vulnerable workers in our economy who are left to the vagaries of the free market to make ends meet. We showed our better selves last week in terms of our being able to combine our...

Seanad: Protection of Employment (Uncertain Hours) Bill 2016: Second Stage (16 Nov 2016)

Gerald Nash: Shamefully, there are still too many people in this country who are going to be bed on a Sunday night not knowing what hours they will be working the following week or the likely level of their income. Therefore, they cannot, as colleagues have stated, pay the rent, organise mortgage repayments, child care costs or their lives in a way that they should be able to do. There is a bigger issue...

Seanad: Commencement Matters (Resumed): Schools Building Projects (24 Nov 2016)

Gerald Nash: I will cut right to the chase as I explained earlier. Three years ago the previous Government ensured that a commitment was made in the five year schools' capital programme to build a new school at Whitecross national school in Julianstown. The Minister of State will be aware that the Louth and east Meath areas are one of the fastest growing areas in the country. The demographics are such...

Seanad: Commencement Matters (Resumed): Schools Building Projects (24 Nov 2016)

Gerald Nash: I thank the Minister of State for bringing clarity to this matter. I would be happy to lead a delegation of parents, teachers and members of the school's board of management to meet the Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, or the Minister of State. One of the problems I have discerned from the process is a lack of communication, poor communication or miscommunications along the way. It is a...

Seanad: Commencement Matters (Resumed): Schools Building Projects (24 Nov 2016)

Gerald Nash: The school and the principal expressed concerns about the cost of the prefabricated accommodation and I am pleased that an agreement appears to have been reached to scale it back, and that it can be progressed as soon as possible.

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Dec 2016)

Gerald Nash: I have a very straightforward question this morning. When will I, another compliant taxpayer, get my water charges money back? This is the question on the lips of every compliant taxpayer this morning, or at least the 1 million people who have paid their water charges. The idea that has been floated over recent days, that those who have not paid their water charges will be pursued and made...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Dec 2016)

Gerald Nash: I read that in today's newspapers.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2016: Second Stage (1 Dec 2016)

Gerald Nash: I welcome the Minister to the House. The annual Finance Bill is the landmark event for Government each year. I said that at the budget. This Bill gives effect to the policy and ambition of any Government in any given year. It enables the Government to give effect to its policies and, in a broader sense, outline its philosophy and principles. In reality, it is very difficult to discern...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2016)

Gerald Nash: I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that the Convictions for Certain Sexual Offences (Apology and Exoneration) Bill 2016, if it is appropriate-----

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2016)

Gerald Nash: Yes.