Results 25,781-25,800 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (11 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: Nor mine.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (11 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: Keep going, then.

Death of former Members: Expressions of Sympathy (12 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: It is my great privilege as well as my duty to pay tribute to two remarkable former Members of this House and two remarkable public servants I was privileged to know. At first glance, the two might have appeared to be very different people, and they were, but they shared extraordinary values, passionate views on what was right and passionate voices to articulate those views regardless of the...

Death of former Members: Expressions of Sympathy (12 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: -----but we had a very interesting overnight train journey from Moscow to Vilnius in the former Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. As well as the samovar of tea, we also had a stronger native beverage and I had some very good, insightful discussions on all politics and all politicians on that journey with those remarkable women.

Death of former Members: Expressions of Sympathy (12 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: I often wondered about that afterwards because we were accompanied by a Russian. Maybe there is a transcript worth reading in some liberated archive in Moscow. On that trip one of the people we met was Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space. I remember that Monica was truly delighted to meet a woman who had been in space. As others said, Monica was a true feminist who would...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: Writing in The Irish Timestoday, the Tánaiste said that Irish preparations for a no deal Brexit are accelerating. He stated:All departments have already examined the legislation that will be required for no deal. Priority will be attached in the new year to giving this legislation Dáil and Seanad time. Political support across the Dáil will be necessary to do this. Some...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: For clarity, this is not a stakeholders' issue; we are not talking about the Industrial Development Authority, IDA, or anything else. This is a parliamentary briefing. If legislation is necessary urgently, we should be preparing for that in Parliament so that we can hit the deck running on whatever legislative preparations are needed, rather than have broad discussions with everybody. I...

Pre-European Council Meeting: Statements (12 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: Technology is advancing relentlessly. Every year, workers, businesses and consumers have to adjust to new ways of working. Some jobs decline and new occupations emerge. Businesses and workers have to adapt. The downside is that technology is voracious in its appetite for energy and too reliant on fossil fuels which have caused climate change and the destruction of the natural world. All...

Pre-European Council Meeting: Statements (12 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: Perhaps I could finish this sentence please. There is a real prospect of a second vote being successful. That would really be the best outcome for this island.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (12 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: 60. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his planned visits abroad in the next six months. [52102/18]

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: That is a lot of seminars.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: The love in did not last long.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: What about the legislation?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: I always do. From January 2008 to October of this year, the consumer price index, CPI, rose by 3%. One might think that the cost of living has only risen marginally in that period but that would be a mistake; the CPI is not a cost of living index. This has been forcefully stated by the CSO for years but the message does not seem to have penetrated the minds of Government officials. The...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: Asked-for rents are 26% higher than at the peak of the Celtic tiger according to daft.ie. Job opportunities are overwhelmingly concentrated in the towns and cities and that is where the rent pressures are most acute. Rent pressure zones are meant to slow down rent increases to 4% a year, but if we use compound over the period of five years, that is 21.7% even where they are working. In...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: The issue now is rents.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: However, the Government does not control it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: The Government is shifting them on to the public purse.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: The Tánaiste obviously does not agree that workers need a pay rise. It is good for the economy. We have looked in very great detail across several countries. There is always resistance to increases in the minimum wage from employers in other sectors, but in every case it is good for the economy because it puts more money into circulation. We have a very unbalanced wage structure in...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (13 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: Concerns have been raised in recent weeks about the proposed new national maternity hospital. These concerns centre on ownership and services to be provided at the hospital. We have also learned that if work does not commence by the end of the year, we may have to begin the planning process all over again in order to ensure that the building meets new environmental standards set by new...