Results 24,321-24,340 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2017)

Brendan Howlin: Long before the Brexit referendum, it was clear that Brexit presented a mortal threat to the soft Border between Ireland and Northern Ireland and the peace process that had been built up by so many people over many decades. The Labour Party has consistently supported the position adopted by the Government on the commitment required by the people of this island from the British Government to...

Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2017)

Brendan Howlin: However disappointed all of us are at the turn of events yesterday, obviously we are all now required to look forward and not back. Has the Taoiseach had discussions with Michel Barnier since the events of noon yesterday? Has he ascertained his position as the mandated negotiator on behalf of the EU 27? How can Mr. Barnier and his negotiating team sit down and negotiate to a conclusion a...

Order of Business (5 Dec 2017)

Brendan Howlin: Any matter that impinges on defence is a matter of great sensitivity for the Members of this House and, more importantly, for the people of this country. We all engaged in a great deal of introspection immediately after the initial defeat of the referendum on the Lisbon treaty. One of the things that became evident at that time was the need for mechanisms in this House to accommodate proper...

Order of Business (5 Dec 2017)

Brendan Howlin: I ask that it be referred to the committee.

Order of Business (5 Dec 2017)

Brendan Howlin: The Army Chief of Staff could come in.

Order of Business (5 Dec 2017)

Brendan Howlin: With the Ceann Comhairle's permission, I would like to express my sympathy to the family and friends of those involved in the horrific road traffic accident that occurred in my own constituency of Wexford, on the New Ross road, last night. I empathise with the emergency response personnel, the gardaí and the ambulance crews, and indeed local people who arrived on what was a scene of...

Order of Business (5 Dec 2017)

Brendan Howlin: On the same matter, the Taoiseach will be aware that the Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill passed Second Stage in February. It has been on Committee Stage for nine months. For nine months, we have been awaiting the very thing he has now announced, which is for the Minister of State to bring forward amendments that were promised. When various Members of this House raised the...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (5 Dec 2017)

Brendan Howlin: 3. To ask the Taoiseach when Cabinet committee D - infrastructure - last met; and when it will meet again. [52000/17]

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (5 Dec 2017)

Brendan Howlin: In the minute and a half I have I wish to focus on the capital plan. The Taoiseach has repeatedly told us that the Government intends to publish a ten-year capital plan. That is a momentous event because it will tie the next two Dáileanna to a capital programme that he and this House will determine. How can we have an input into the plan? I accept that things will be tweaked over...

Ceisteanna - Questions: National Economic and Social Council (5 Dec 2017)

Brendan Howlin: One area where NESC has been helpful and successful in the past is sustainable development. The Taoiseach referenced the NESC work programme. Will he indicate whether the council intends to take on any work in respect of climate change? When a former Minister and current EU Commissioner - someone the Taoiseach knows well - is calling on Ireland to wake up soon, we know it is time for us to...

Ceisteanna - Questions: National Economic and Social Council (5 Dec 2017)

Brendan Howlin: The Government may need to come up with a name other than the renewable heat programme.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (5 Dec 2017)

Brendan Howlin: 8. To ask the Taoiseach when Cabinet committee A - economy - will next meet. [50202/17]

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (5 Dec 2017)

Brendan Howlin: On Monday, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, published a ground-breaking report on precarious work entitled, Insecure and Uncertain: Precarious work in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The report found that 160,000 people or 8% of the workforce are experiencing significant variations in their hours of work from week to week. This has serious ramifications for workers'...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Departmental Reform (5 Dec 2017)

Brendan Howlin: Are we taking my question now as well?

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Departmental Reform (5 Dec 2017)

Brendan Howlin: The Minister will recall that the Toland group was set up by a Government of which we were both members to deal with fundamental issues of concern in the Department of Justice and Equality. I listened with some dismay to the initial response from the Minister. The five issues the independent review group first identified were a closed, secretive, silo-driven culture; significant leadership...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Departmental Reform (5 Dec 2017)

Brendan Howlin: Does the Minister reject Toland?

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Departmental Reform (5 Dec 2017)

Brendan Howlin: The Minister opened by saying he was informed that 80% of the Toland recommendations have been implemented. He concluded by saying that the Department is now outward-looking and there has been cultural change, as if the realities of the past two weeks have not happened. If that is the mindset, I despair. The Minister said all the work of reform is well under way and is, in fact, well...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Departmental Reform (5 Dec 2017)

Brendan Howlin: Yes, that is correct. There are too many such matters.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Departmental Reform (5 Dec 2017)

Brendan Howlin: We know all of that. What is the Minister going to do about it?

Situation in Syria: Motion [Private Members] (5 Dec 2017)

Brendan Howlin: I commend Deputies Daly and Wallace on using their scarce parliamentary time on this important issue. The conflict in Syria, as others have said, is the world's gravest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War. Millions of people have been displaced, both inside and beyond the borders of Syria, and more than half a million people are believed to have been killed since 2011, the vast...