Results 2,781-2,800 of 5,760 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the Minister and appreciate what he said. I am mindful, however, that ever since we first started to work through this Bill I have been toying with the conflict between the constitutional roles of the Government and the Attorney General. The Bill does not necessarily usurp those roles but it seeks to control them. For example, we have been down the road of the scenario where a...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: With that in mind I am willing to take the Minister's word on section 43.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: Under Standing Order 62(3)(b)I request that the division be taken again other than by electronic means.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: I will say a few words. This particular provision conjures up the notion of members of the commission hanging around the pillars of the Four Courts and asking various members of the Judiciary passing by if they can talk to them for a minute and if there is any chance they would take on the job of Chief Justice. As my colleague, Senator McDowell said, it is rather bizarre. I made the point...

Seanad: Gnó an tSeanaid - Business of Seanad (20 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: I call the Acting Leader to make an announcement.

Seanad: Gnó an tSeanaid - Business of Seanad (20 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: Is that agreed? Agreed.

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Protection of Employee Tips) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for the positive approach he has taken in respect of the Bill. It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the work put in by our former colleague, Trevor Ó Clochartaigh, who went to TG4. The station's gain was Seanad Éireann's loss. He is a great man. I am not in any way denigrating the work put in by Senator Gavan on this Bill but...

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Protection of Employee Tips) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: The bad employer pockets the €10 and it is gone. The people we are talking about are those to whom Senator Nash referred - students and individuals at the bottom end of the salary scale. Bad employers are making profits they should not make. Good employers always hand over the money. As a former trade union leader, I must be here to support this Bill in every way. I appreciate the...

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Protection of Employee Tips) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: The research conducted by my colleagues in Sinn Féin in drafting the Bill made for some difficult reading. The incidence of tips not being passed on to staff is much higher than any of us would like to think. This is an important amendment and it provides an avenue for redress for employees whose rights have been breached under this legislation. As a former trade union leader, I find...

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Protection of Employee Tips) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: Not knowing who gets it or where it goes is unsettling for everyone involved. I can even imagine how demotivating it must be for highly trained, committed and generous staff to have an important token of appreciation withheld from them. I fully support the amendment and hope the Minister of State sees fit to support it.

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Protection of Employee Tips) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: Very, very briefly -----

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Protection of Employee Tips) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: We have all, at some stage, worked in the hospitality sector. We knew the abuses that went on with bad employers. In my youth, I worked in a hotel where staff had to work a week in hand and would be get paid at the end of the second week. The employer fired everyone on the Thursday of the second week-----

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Protection of Employee Tips) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: -----so he never had to pay us. The employer was renowned for it. There are great employers out there and we must recognise them. We were talking about students. I received letters from the president of the Union of Students of Ireland on this.

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Protection of Employee Tips) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: There are great employers and we must recognise them. I hope that the amendment will be accepted.

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Protection of Employee Tips) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: Hear, hear.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: General Affairs Council: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (20 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: I agree with much of what my colleague has said, but I would like to bring the focus back home. In 2016, the day after the referendum, I wrote an article on the re-establishment of a Border on this island. At the time, it was scoffed at by many as an impossibility. It is not quite so impossible now. I would like to know what steps has the Government taken to bring back the corporate...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: The Momo issue to which my colleague has just referred relates to children's access to digital technology. The Leader will recall that I introduced a Bill here some time ago attempting to limit children's access to digital technology, particularly in school, without permission. We must step up to the plate here and parents must start taking responsibility. When one hands a mobile telephone...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: I move amendment No. 91b:In page 31, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following:“45. (1) Nothing in this Act shall require any member of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, or the High Court to apply to the Commission for consideration for appointment to any other judicial office in any of those courts (including the offices of Chief Justice, President of the Court of Appeal,...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: I support Senator McDowell's amendment. The Acting Chairman has been involved in boards of management of schools and the like and he is aware of the difficulty that is experienced at a time when a vacancy arises within an organisation. Here we are talking about a public appointment to a senior judicial position. One sets a date by which the recommendation has to be brought before the...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: I compliment the Minister on his sharp observation of what he perceives as some dispute between my two colleagues.