Results 3,021-3,040 of 3,241 for speaker:Brian Ó Domhnaill

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Second Stage (17 Oct 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I acknowledge his work in bringing this Bill to fruition. I appreciate that the delay in bringing the Bill to the Seanad was partly because it was subjected to pre-legislative scrutiny by the committee. That was the correct course of action because it gave the committee the opportunity to engage with stakeholders and hear their opinions and...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (23 Oct 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I support the first amendment. It is sensible and opportune to have someone with veterinary expertise on the board given the welfare issues that exist, including the drug issue. That is a major issue, which we will address in subsequent sections. I support that amendment without qualification. One of the concerns I have relates to the Irish Greyhound Board and the proposal to increase the...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (23 Oct 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Following on from Senator Norris's point, it does not just relate to this board but to all State boards. The Senator has raised a wider point with which I agree. I would be interested in hearing the response of the Minister of State. In this section and as referred to in section 9, there is an issue with a board member whose term expires. Until such time as there is a vacancy, that member...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (23 Oct 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: On greyhounds that are banned in another jurisdiction, section 21(1) states: "The Board may, after consultation with the Minister, make regulations for the use, management and control of greyhound race tracks". Under section 21(2)(n), it provides that it may prohibit "the entry to a greyhound race in the State of a greyhound the subject of a sanction of a foreign greyhound racing...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (23 Oct 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: That would be great.

Joint Standing Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands: Plean Straitéiseach Údarás na Gaeltachta 2018 - 2020: Ionadaithe ó Údarás na Gaeltachta (14 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach, leis an bpríomhfheidhmeannach agus leis an Uasal Nic Grianna, an t-oifigeach cumarsáide. Tá lúcháir orm go bhfuil siad anseo agus tá cur i láthair maith chuimsitheach go leor déanta ansin acu ar na spriocanna atá ag an Údarás agus ag an bplean straitéiseach. Tá roinnt ceisteanna...

Joint Standing Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands: Plean Straitéiseach Údarás na Gaeltachta 2018 - 2020: Ionadaithe ó Údarás na Gaeltachta (14 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach, leis an bPríomhfheidhmeannach agus leis an Uasal Nic Grianna, an t-oifigeach cumarsáide. Tá lúcháir orm go bhfuil sibh anseo agus tá cur i láthair maith cuimsitheach déanta ansin agaibhse ar go leor de na spriocanna atá ag an Údarás agus ag an bplean straitéiseach. Tá roinnt...

Joint Standing Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands: Plean Straitéiseach Údarás na Gaeltachta 2018 - 2020: Ionadaithe ó Údarás na Gaeltachta (14 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: An bhfuil aon chúnamh sa bhreis ar fáil do chomhlachtaí i dtaca le pleanáil a chur i bhfeidhm? Ó thaobh an tionscnaimh gteic, Gréasán Digiteach na Gaeltachta, de, tím sa léarscáil go bhfuil páirc ghnó Fháil Charraigh fágtha amuigh as an gteic. An bhfuil aon chúis leis seo? Tá comhlacht amháin, agus is...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I welcome the Minister of State back again. I support the amendment, which I think is important. There were a number of grouped amendments but I refer to amendment No. 7, which impels the board to ensure that this issue is dealt with rather than allowing it to deal with the issue casually or selectively. The reputational damage of the drugs issue in the greyhound industry has gone...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I beg the Acting Chairman's pardon, but I got the amendments mixed up. I referred to the drugs issue, but I should have referred to artificial insemination, the subject of section 26. The matter relates to these amendments, particularly amendment No. 7.

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Yes. I will table a number of additional amendments on Report Stage to deal with the artificial insemination of greyhounds. The Irish Greyhound Board received a legal opinion from Mr. Ross Aylward, senior counsel, on 27 February 2013. His legal opinion was sought on the use of frozen semen in the sector. It reads as follows:There is no escaping the need to apply the two year death limit in...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Frozen semen from the father of that dog dates back to 1992.

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: That dog is dead; therefore, the regulations have been flouted.How can anyone have confidence in an organisation that flouts its own regulations? The five licensed operators are turning themselves into multimillionaires by creating a cartel within the sector. There is no level playing field, but we do not have to recreate the moon to deal with this issue. All we have to do is replicate...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I want to speak to my amendments Nos. 8b and 8d. I touched on the issue of drugs in the greyhound racing sector earlier and the nature of these amendments is to try to strengthen the integrity of this sector because it has been marred with drug abuses. The abuse of drugs in greyhound racing is either to make the dog go faster or to slow it down, but it has other unintended consequences for...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: It is a matter of public record anyway.

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I accept that but I am quoting from a newspaper article.

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I accept that.That gentleman is not the only one. As I said the other day, numerous people travel across the water, fill their dogs with drugs, race them on tracks in the United Kingdom, following which they are banned for perhaps six months, a year or a lifetime, as in the case I mentioned, yet, the following week or perhaps before the end of it, they are racing the same dogs on a track in...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I thank the Minister of State. I understand where he is coming from but I do not necessarily agree with it. Both of these amendments are under section 27, which concerns the administration of substances to greyhounds, where it says that: "The Board may, after consultation with the Minister, make regulations for the control restriction, prohibition or administration of substances". I do not...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: My second amendment does not take away the discretion from the control committee. What I am suggesting is that there would be a minimum period of four months. The dog could not race after two or three days, as outlined by Senator Ruane, in that the dog could run around the track, the stuff could be sweat out of the system and the dog tests negative. This is wrong. We need a minimum period...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Great.