Results 2,341-2,360 of 3,444 for speaker:Shane Cassells

Seanad: Budget 2021: Statements (14 Oct 2020)

Shane Cassells: The Minister is very welcome to the House. I congratulate him and pay tribute to him on his budget yesterday. I will start by referring to the contribution of a colleague of mine in the Lower House, Deputy Lahart, who in his contribution to the Dáil a few weeks ago pleaded with the Government to provide a sense of hope to the people of the country in the months ahead as we face into...

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht: Business of Joint Committee (14 Oct 2020)

Shane Cassells: I welcome the witnesses and join them in welcoming the funding that was apportioned yesterday. It is no more than the sector deserves and, pandemic or not, it is recognition of decades of hard graft by numerous people, many in a voluntary capacity. I want to tease out not so much how the additional money will be spent, but the point touched on by the witnesses, who acknowledged that many...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Oct 2020)

Shane Cassells: I will touch on the debate that has been raging in the country over the past 48 hours in respect of the playing of GAA matches this weekend and, in particular, Members of these Houses weighing in and putting pressure on the GAA to concede that the competitions should be abandoned and drawing the false comparison between what has happened at club level in this country and these elite games....

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht: Tourism Sector: Discussion (21 Oct 2020)

Shane Cassells: I acknowledge the witnesses and the horrendous year that their sectors has had. I thank them for being here. I thank Ms Andrews for her work as chair of the task force. I note the presence on the task force of a former boss of mine, Eoghan Corry, from my GAA journalism days. Mr. Gallagher was very pessimistic, or maybe honest and frank when he touched on solvency. From his liaison with...

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht: Tourism Sector: Discussion (21 Oct 2020)

Shane Cassells: Given that that was more a statement than a direct question, we will move on to Deputy Cannon. I acknowledge on behalf of the committee the work Deputy Griffin did in his time as Minister of State and, in particular, his work during the first lockdown. Everyone owes him a debt of gratitude. I thank him very much.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Oct 2020)

Shane Cassells: I welcome the news that last week the Cabinet agreed to draft an election reform Bill that would provide for the establishment of a statutory independent electoral commission and, critically, the modernisation of the register of electors, which we can all agree needs to happen. An area I feel needs to be looked at, and I raised it in the previous Dáil with the then Minister with...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Oct 2020)

Shane Cassells: People will immediately raise concerns about security as a knee-jerk reaction as to why it cannot happen, but our entire Revenue system now operates on a secure portal. If we can collect the taxes of the people of this country online through a secure portal, then voting online safely should also be possible. Last year, I met the Gov2U group, which promotes democracy throughout Europe. Up...

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht: Key Departmental Priorities and Effects of Covid-19: Minister for Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport, Gaeltacht and Media (4 Nov 2020)

Shane Cassells: The band who played at my wedding had 12 members so I would have been in real difficulty.

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht: Key Departmental Priorities and Effects of Covid-19: Minister for Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport, Gaeltacht and Media (4 Nov 2020)

Shane Cassells: I welcome the Minister and the Minister of State and wish them well in their roles. Deputy Munster referred earlier to the Future of Media Commission, saying that the union would be disappointed. I am still a proud member of the National Union of Journalists, NUJ, and welcome the appointment of Siobhán Holliman to the commission. It is a good move to have someone with practical...

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht: Key Departmental Priorities and Effects of Covid-19: Minister for Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport, Gaeltacht and Media (4 Nov 2020)

Shane Cassells: When is it due?

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht: Key Departmental Priorities and Effects of Covid-19: Minister for Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport, Gaeltacht and Media (4 Nov 2020)

Shane Cassells: Is the Six Nations a possibility?

Seanad: Biodiversity: Motion (5 Nov 2020)

Shane Cassells: I welcome the motion from the Green Party Members of Seanad Éireann. I welcome the fact that the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, has this portfolio and wish her well in her role. I also wish her well in her work to marry together the very real challenges, pressures and realities of life in Ireland and the need for our country to react to the threats to our habitats and ecological...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects (6 Nov 2020)

Shane Cassells: The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is welcome and I thank her for being here. I rise to raise with her the important topic of St. Mary's Special School in Navan. It has a requirement for a new building. A promise was made to provide one. It has been in existence for 43 years in Johnstown in Navan. The school has had a long-running battle to acquire this purpose-built building to...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects (6 Nov 2020)

Shane Cassells: I thank the Minister of State for the response. I am sure that she can understand my frustration when one looks at the detail in the reply from the Department and the painstakingly slow progress that it has taken in respect of this matter, including the referenced to the move to phase 2 of the secondary school that is on the campus for Coláiste na Mí. Meanwhile,43 years later...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (10 Nov 2020)

Shane Cassells: I thank Senator Byrne for bringing forward this Bill, for his work in that respect, and indeed his commitment to the ideals that he has set out. In recent days we have listened to our friends across the pond in the United States and how their Government is not listening to the will of the people by facilitating and authorising the President-elect's transition team to commence its work. We...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (10 Nov 2020)

Shane Cassells: Which I said.

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht: Future of Public Service Broadcasting and Impact of Covid-19 on the Media Sector: Discussion (11 Nov 2020)

Shane Cassells: I welcome the witnesses. I thank the members of the journalistic fraternity whom all three represent, especially when it is considered that, as Mr. Lynch pointed out, there is still a public hunger for proper news content as opposed to the guff that is put on social media without any fact checking or recourse to libel laws. The witnesses represent NUJ members who actually care about proper...

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht: Future of Public Service Broadcasting and Impact of Covid-19 on the Media Sector: Discussion (11 Nov 2020)

Shane Cassells: Will all 200 jobs be culled in 2020?

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht: Future of Public Service Broadcasting and Impact of Covid-19 on the Media Sector: Discussion (11 Nov 2020)

Shane Cassells: I will jump in because I wish to ask Mr. Dooley and Mr. Purcell a question that is linked to RTÉ. On the protection of regional media in particular, be it print or radio, newsrooms have been cut drastically since I worked in one more than 20 years ago. That has impacted on coverage of local courts, sports and council meetings. One idea I discussed with John Whittingdale, the former UK...

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht: Future of Public Service Broadcasting and Impact of Covid-19 on the Media Sector: Discussion (11 Nov 2020)

Shane Cassells: Is RTÉ opposed to such a scheme being introduced in Ireland?