Results 2,801-2,820 of 5,760 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

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

Gerard Craughwell: Senator Norris is making his opinions known and there is no disagreement between my two colleagues. We are back to the same thing here which worries me. When I hear a Minister saying that he is confident something will happen or that he is fairly sure that at the end of the day, people will do this, that or the other, I note that unless it is written down in black and white, what one is...

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

Gerard Craughwell: Something I had not considered when I spoke before Senator McDowell is the onerous task that arises when a vacancy is to be filled. The Senator made the point that the questions would have to be the same for all applicants. Surely the marking scheme will then have to be the same for all applicants. A set of questions which would be deemed fair to all applicants will not easily be put...

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

Gerard Craughwell: -----some will come from the business side-----

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

Gerard Craughwell: The Labour Court has for years been bogged down in appeals over public service appointments in respect of which the same questions were not asked, the same marking schemes did not apply, or the marking scheme was not robust when it came under scrutiny.

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

Gerard Craughwell: I am only getting warmed up.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (27 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: While we are discussing the issue of transport, we might also consider the Luas. I live along the green line. When the service started, it was a comfortable way to come into town, but it has now reached the stage where, from approximately 7.30 a.m. until 10.30 a.m. and from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. or 8 p.m., it is like getting into a sardine can. Trams are so overcrowded, it is not funny....

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: There was some debate between us as to whether the word "may", where it appears for the second time in the proposed section 45(1), would create a problem. I will leave it to my colleague Senator Norris to confirm this, but I believe we had all agreed that the words "the Commission shall" in subsection (2) removed any element of doubt. On the Minister prescribing a time period, we did not...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: I want to clear something up. Regarding what Senator Norris said----

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: -----there is something we have got to get clear. What we are talking about is fixing a time for the commission, at the request of the Minister, to report. The point I have been trying to make, and I hope I make it clear, is that there is no simple way to fill a public appointment because, ultimately, it is reviewable by the courts, and I have been involved in public appointments during my...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: I may be talking to the wall on this, but I would like to address amendment No. 91e now, if I may.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: We separated those last night.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: Yes. We will stick with amendment No. 91d then. I am really rather shocked that the Minister would dismiss this amendment so lightly.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister is not accepting it, though.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister has been quite definitive in-----

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister has been quite assertive in rejecting the amendment. That is regrettable.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: I realise we are speaking to an amendment but I want to put on record that I am fully aware of the fact that this Bill has struggled through this House. Debate on it has gone on for many, many hours, and I commend the Minister on his patience as it has gone through the House. However, I will not be threatened that at some stage the CPP or someone else will limit my right and the right of...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: The Acting Chairman had indeed, but I just wish to make the point clear. I call on anyone-----

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: -----who has looked at the amendments that have been tabled during the debate in this House to show how any of those amendments were vexatious or frivolous. We sought to improve the Bill. We are totally opposed to the Bill. We do not believe it has any purpose in this country and we believe that our Constitution already deals with the appointment of judges. I would like to see a new...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: I respect the Acting Chairman's ruling.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: I move amendment No. 91e:In page 31, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following:"45.Nothing in this Act shall require the Government or the Minister to make any statement or explanation to the Houses of the Oireachtas in relation to its advice to the President in respect of any person for appointment to any judicial office, whether or not the person was a person recommended by the...