Results 261-280 of 2,414 for speaker:Fintan Warfield

Seanad: World AIDS Day: Statements (30 Nov 2017)

Fintan Warfield: World AIDS Day presents an opportunity for the global community to evaluate its fight to eradicate HIV and AIDS. In 2016, HIV transmission rates in the State exceeded 500 for the first time since records began, bucking a trend of reduction among our European counterparts. According to statistics from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, HPSC, we are on course to having an even higher...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Dec 2017)

Fintan Warfield: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Dec 2017)

Fintan Warfield: I congratulate the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Madigan, on her appointment and wish her well. I ask the new Minister to clarify the excessive spending on marketing and public relations in the Creative Ireland budget. A freedom of information response that has been received on foot of a request from Sinn Féin shows that less than 33% of the €4.4...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Heritage Bill 2016: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2017)

Fintan Warfield: I will waive my questions on burning and hedgerows and will instead discuss the canals, if that is okay. I will ask Mr. Dolan for additional briefing on his statement. It says, "Waterways Ireland wish to immediately reintroduce the proposed 2012 by-laws and increase charges to the maximum level to attract private marina operators onto the canal". Will Mr. Dolan brief the committee a tiny...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2017)

Fintan Warfield: The move by the Government to rush through the Dáil a motion that integrates the Irish Defence Forces into the EU military apparatus under permanent structured co-operation, PESCO, is at complete odds with Ireland's neutrality. PESCO is about increasing military spending in the EU, increasing co-operation and collaborations between national armies and making them dependent on one other....

Seanad: Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy (6 Dec 2017)

Fintan Warfield: Ar mo shon féin agus ar son Shinn Féin, ba mhaith liom mo chomhbhrón a dhéanamh le clann an iarSheanadóir Des Hanafin a fuair bás i mí an Mheithimh. On my behalf and that of Sinn Féin, I extend my sympathy and condolences to the family and loved ones of former Senator Des Hanafin following his death in June. While in many instances my politics are the...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015: Statements (6 Dec 2017)

Fintan Warfield: It has become abundantly clear that Ireland will fall short, as other Senators have mentioned, in meeting the targets for renewable energy and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, has recently reported a 3.5% rise in emissions last year. Earlier in the year the EPA reported that Ireland will fail to meet its greenhouse gas emission targets for...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Dec 2017)

Fintan Warfield: I have spoken about the particulars of permanent structured co-operation, PESCO, on two occasions in the House, but in keeping with the commitment to Irish military neutrality, UN primacy, demilitarisation and nuclear disarmament, Sinn Féin believes the Government has to show leadership and work with others to actively oppose the evolution of an EU common defence. I believe the European...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Second Stage (7 Dec 2017)

Fintan Warfield: This morning the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection admitted that the welfare cheats campaign was a mistake. That is a welcome development. Social welfare is about protecting those of us who are most at risk and most vulnerable. It has become somewhat typical of previous Governments and the current Government to try to erode these institutions. Fine Gael policies often...

Seanad: Permanent Structured Cooperation: Statements (13 Dec 2017)

Fintan Warfield: What is the Senator talking about?

Seanad: Permanent Structured Cooperation: Statements (13 Dec 2017)

Fintan Warfield: Last week with almost zero public debate, Ireland was signed up to PESCO. Among the most ludicrous arguments, some of which we have heard here, in favour of doing so was that we needed to drag our neutrality through the mud in order to support the EU and its values. Since when did increasing national defence budgets, creating new military capabilities, fuelling the arms industry, and...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Children and Family Services Provision (14 Dec 2017)

Fintan Warfield: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, to the House. It has been two and a half years since the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 was signed into law. This historic legislation gave parental rights to same sex couples across the State and truly embraced the notion that family formations are diverse, and there is no single proposition for Irish identify but only...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Children and Family Services Provision (14 Dec 2017)

Fintan Warfield: I am disappointed that, having previously been given a timeline for the end of this year, that again, we are not being given an indication about the introduction of Parts 2 and 3. I have no doubt that the Department is working hard on this but I urge the Minister of State to give urgency to this issue. Same-sex families have waited long enough and we cannot claim to recognise all families...

Seanad: Report of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements (17 Jan 2018)

Fintan Warfield: I commend Senator Noone on the role she played as chairperson of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. She was calm, patient and fair and her conduct as chairperson was everything for which an institution such as this could hope. Those traits are all the more impressive when one considers the issue at hand and the behaviour of some people. For quite some time, it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Arts Sector Funding: Discussion (17 Jan 2018)

Fintan Warfield: I thank everyone for coming in. Mr. O'Sullivan and the Chairman discussed conflicts of interest. My question is a general one in that regard. If I were on the board of the Arts Council and had previous involvement with a traditional folk band, would I remove myself from conversations specific to that application or from the competition entirely? That might not be relevant to larger...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Arts Sector Funding: Discussion (17 Jan 2018)

Fintan Warfield: I note to Ms Copeland that I received an FOI response from Government late last year on the €4.4 million spent on the Creative Ireland programme to date. A total of 30% of this money was spent on marketing, €760,000 on media advertising, €330,000 on social media and €192,000 on website development. In the absence of any real return to pre-recession levels of arts...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Arts Sector Funding: Discussion (17 Jan 2018)

Fintan Warfield: My next question is for Mr. Ó Coigligh. Bodies such as the Arts Council and the Irish Film Board provide necessary finance for artists. These bodies cannot perform to full capacity unless the Government gives serious consideration to them. Does the Department or Government have any timeline on achieving the doubling of funding, which is the Taoiseach's strategy?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Arts Sector Funding: Discussion (17 Jan 2018)

Fintan Warfield: The 6% increase mooted every year will not achieve that, but is there a timeline or a pathway to achieving that increase?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Arts Sector Funding: Discussion (17 Jan 2018)

Fintan Warfield: I accept that this is not part of the conversation and the witness does not have to answer it, but has the Department made a comment on the RTÉ review of the orchestras?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Arts Sector Funding: Discussion (17 Jan 2018)

Fintan Warfield: Capital was mentioned. I met with an artists-led studio spaces initiative in the city centre. Block T has closed. Others in Cork have closed. Sinn Féin has called for an artists' studio spaces scheme. Is space for artists something the Department is mindful of? It does not require as much current funding following the capital construction allocation. Artists are concerned about...