Results 2,981-3,000 of 5,180 for speaker:Victor Boyhan

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Housing Provision (5 Oct 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I thank the Minister of State. I warmly welcome this decision, which makes sense. Nothing stays static. I would like the Minister of State to convey to the Department that it would be very helpful if we had the written statement because we have none, which is unusual for this particular issue. It would be helpful if someone from the Department could fax or email it to us this morning. I...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Housing Provision (5 Oct 2022)

Victor Boyhan: Hear hear - plenty of vacancies in here.

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by the Rt. Hon. Lord John McFall, Lord Speaker of the House of Lords (5 Oct 2022)

Victor Boyhan: On behalf of the Independent Group, I welcome Lord McFall, whom I met last night. I thank him for hosting that wonderful lunch at the pavilion at the Palace of Westminster for the members of the British-Irish Parliamentary Association, BIPA. There are a number of BIPA members here today. It is a very important organisation. I thank Lord McFall for visiting in this important year for us,...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Second Stage (5 Oct 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome the Minister and her officials to the House. I do not envisage this Bill taking as long as the previous Bill on the matter. The Minister has ten minutes to make her introduction.

Seanad: Water Environment (Abstractions and Associated Impoundments) Bill 2022: Second Stage (5 Oct 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, for coming to the House. I am conscious he is a rural Deputy as well as a Minister of State. He represents Longford and Westmeath where there are many farmers. I will spend most of my time speaking about engagement with the Irish Farmers Association, IFA. There was very little talk, if any, about the farming community in the Minister of...

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Second Stage (6 Oct 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome the Minister and thank him for coming to the House to set out this important Bill of his. I am generally supportive of the content of the Bill. We will need to tease out one or two issues and I will flag them to the Minister rather than tease them out now. This can be done later on in the process. I also want to thank the Oireachtas Library and Research Service which has done...

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Second Stage (6 Oct 2022)

Victor Boyhan: Thirty, I think.

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Second Stage (6 Oct 2022)

Victor Boyhan: Is there a difference?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Victor Boyhan: Is there time for me to ask a question? I know I am a bit late so I will-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I would like to ask just one question. I am sorry. I was in the Seanad so I could not get here earlier. I direct this question to the HSE. I sit on not only the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage but also the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. There is a double connection in all this. It is the simple question about the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I thank Dr. Minihan for that, but that is alarming. Bells should be ringing. We now have pesticides in our water systems. I look forward to that report, and I think we as a committee look forward to it. I thank Dr. Minihan for the indication that it is coming this week. This is alarming, however. We talk to oncologists and researchers about this. In our country, our food chain and our...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Victor Boyhan: It sounds alarming. A water supply is constant, and it is the cumulative effect of the contamination of that water that is causing this build-up.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome the Irish Water representatives. We are dealing with the matters of fresh water and wastewater; both are pertinent to the question I will pursue. I sit on this committee and, as I said, on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The HSE confirmed to us this afternoon the presence of toxins, particularly pesticides, in our water stream. This has been...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I have two supplementary questions. I will focus on Ms Ryan as she responded to my question about page 4. We talked about the 217 pressure impacts and she outlined how that figure was being eaten into. I suggest we should be provided with some sort of a breakdown on that. The committee continues to monitor Irish Water. We do not just consider it at today's meeting; it is part of our...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I will return to pesticides and the fact that they have been found in urine samples. This is a real danger to public health, our ever-fragile environment, on which Mr. Laffey touched, and the food chain. It raises the question of what best international practice is. I know much work has been done on this in Canada, the US, Germany and Austria. It is time to look at best practice to see...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Surrounding Water Quality and Supply: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I thank Mr. Gleeson and Mr. Laffey for their responses.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (11 Oct 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I join the Leader in her words of support for the people of Creeslough, County Donegal. This afternoon in Seanad Éireann, we joined together to observe a moment of silence for Senators who wanted contemplation, prayer and reflection over those who lost their lives so tragically in Creeslough. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost loved ones - their families and friends...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: State Bodies (12 Oct 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this Commencement matter and the Minister of State for coming to the House to deal with it. The matter relates to the Government's plans for making new temporary appointments to the board of An Bord Pleanála. I hope the Minister of State will outline what those plans are and make a statement on them. None of us needs a lesson on An Bord...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: State Bodies (12 Oct 2022)

Victor Boyhan: The Minister of State is absolutely correct as regards maritime issues. We have seen maritime legislation and the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, MARA, and all of the bits of legislation around that. That is an important complement to any new board. The heavy emphasis on environmental issues is important because many of those subsequently become challenges and are referred for judicial...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Oct 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I join with others in supporting the proposal on Seanad secretarial assistants' pay. The Leader is committed to it, as are all other Senators, so we do not need to discuss it at any great length today. We know the shortcomings and we have promised to address this issue many times, but we have not got it over the line. That is a disappointment, given that there is support for it across the...