Results 2,361-2,380 of 26,396 for speaker:David Cullinane

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Jul 2013)

David Cullinane: Tomorrow, hundreds of former Waterford Crystal workers will protest outside the gates of this Parliament for their just entitlements, their pensions and the compensation they are rightly due because of the failure of the State to meet its obligations under the EU insolvency directive. It is again a case of workers having to take to the streets to get their just entitlements. They were here...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental EU Scrutiny Report: Discussion with Secretary General. (16 Jul 2013)

David Cullinane: I welcome the Secretary General and his team. Again I too commend them on their role during the Presidency. The overarching theme of the presentation is to promote sustainable economic growth and jobs. We all accept that and want to see it realised. There is an obvious relationship between economic growth and job creation. If we are to reach the very modest job creation targets which...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental EU Scrutiny Report: Discussion with Secretary General. (16 Jul 2013)

David Cullinane: This is an EU initiative and it was to be 3% of GDP. GNP is a different way of calculating it and the target mentioned may be the Department's target, but what I was talking about was the target of Horizon 2020, which was 3% of GDP. Where do we stand in that context? In GDP terms, what percentage are we realising?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental EU Scrutiny Report: Discussion with Secretary General. (16 Jul 2013)

David Cullinane: Okay.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental EU Scrutiny Report: Discussion with Secretary General. (16 Jul 2013)

David Cullinane: The figures are not here, so would it be possible to get the current figures for us?

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Jul 2013)

David Cullinane: Last February, the Taoiseach offered in the Dáil a very full apology to the survivors of the Magdalen laundries. Everybody in the House congratulated the Taoiseach at the time for finally facing up to the responsibilities of the State in respect of the women involved. The redress scheme was set up. Unfortunately, the religious orders, which were primarily responsible for the inhumane...

Seanad: Special Olympics Ireland: Motion (17 Jul 2013)

David Cullinane: I second the amendment. I commend the proposer of the original motion for raising the Special Olympics and its importance for people with disabilities. I remember vividly the 2003 Special Olympics in this State, and what it was like in my city, Waterford, where many families took in people from all over the world. It was a huge and fantastic occasion for this country, as well as for people...

Seanad: Special Olympics Ireland: Motion (17 Jul 2013)

David Cullinane: At the heart of it was a decision of the Ombudsman that the scheme was being applied unfairly because of the age criteria concerned. The Government will keep the scheme going for a couple of months and will come back to it, but did not deal with the substance of what the Ombudsman said. The scheme will not be made available for all those who need it. The Government has again gone for the...

Seanad: Special Olympics Ireland: Motion (17 Jul 2013)

David Cullinane: The Government did not deal with the substance.

Seanad: Special Olympics Ireland: Motion (17 Jul 2013)

David Cullinane: That is not a point of order.

Seanad: Special Olympics Ireland: Motion (17 Jul 2013)

David Cullinane: I will continue.

Seanad: Special Olympics Ireland: Motion (17 Jul 2013)

David Cullinane: I am sure we will also be told there has been no cut to the respite care grant but of course there has been, and it has impacted not only on the people who provide the care but on those who are in receipt of it. That has an impact on people with disabilities. There have been cuts to the household benefits package and special needs assistants. The Minister of Health stated there were no...

Seanad: Special Olympics Ireland: Motion (17 Jul 2013)

David Cullinane: The Government likes to pretend these things do not happen but the reality is different. All of us deal with this day in, day out - my party certainly does. If the Minister of State is not doing so there is something seriously wrong. The reality is that it is much more difficult than ever before to get a card on medical or hardship grounds. I deal with many families, day in, day out, week...

Seanad: Special Olympics Ireland: Motion (17 Jul 2013)

David Cullinane: I was interrupted a couple of times, with respect.

Seanad: Special Olympics Ireland: Motion (17 Jul 2013)

David Cullinane: We live with the corrections but I deal with a whole raft of disability groups.

Seanad: Special Olympics Ireland: Motion (17 Jul 2013)

David Cullinane: I do not know many disability groups who would say that things have got better for people with disabilities. I do not know many people who would say so. There are people who are really stretched and hurting because the resources are simply not there for them. For that reason we cannot support the substance of what is in the original motion because we cannot give praise to a Government that...

Seanad: Special Olympics Ireland: Motion (17 Jul 2013)

David Cullinane: The Senator made it a political motion.

Seanad: Special Olympics Ireland: Motion (17 Jul 2013)

David Cullinane: She certainly did.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Tuarascáil - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Report Stage (17 Jul 2013)

David Cullinane: I have made two contributions on this Bill thus far, a Second Stage speech and a semi-Second Stage speech on Committee Stage. Owing to the way in which Committee Stage was taken, that is just the way it turned out. There was a series of Second Stage speeches. This may be the last chance I have to speak on this Bill. I do not intend to give a third Second Stage speech but I want to make a...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Jul 2013)

David Cullinane: Yesterday I raised the issue of the Magdalen laundries and the refusal of the religious orders to face up to their moral, ethical and financial responsibilities to the women concerned. I also asked the Leader if he would impress upon the Taoiseach the need for him to be more forceful on the issue. I was not at all persuaded by the Taoiseach's contribution in the Dáil yesterday. The...