Results 3,021-3,040 of 26,396 for speaker:David Cullinane

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2014)

David Cullinane: I welcome the referral of the penalty points issue by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. It took 14 months for this to happen and the Minister must explain why it took so long for the issue to be referred to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. In the past 24 hours a number of Ministers have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs: Discussion (28 Jan 2014)

David Cullinane: I welcome the Secretary General and his team. There is no doubt that there has been good news on the jobs front in recent times. That the live register figures have dropped from 15.1% at their peak in 2012 to 12.8% is good news. However, it appears there is too much of a focus on the percentages. It seems to be a case of "never mind the quality, feel the width", which seems to permeate...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs: Discussion (28 Jan 2014)

David Cullinane: I asked why it was dropped from the review. The 50% target was in the original Action Plan for Jobs. Why was it dropped from the review?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs: Discussion (28 Jan 2014)

David Cullinane: It has simply been dropped. It is not there now. It was in the original document but not in this one.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs: Discussion (28 Jan 2014)

David Cullinane: I did not say it was unsuccessful. I said it has not met its targets.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs: Discussion (28 Jan 2014)

David Cullinane: It was broken down to yearly targets.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs: Discussion (28 Jan 2014)

David Cullinane: I asked about two Bills as well.

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Jan 2014)

David Cullinane: I again call on the Government, through the good offices of the Leader, to halt the establishment of Irish Water and abandon its regressive policy on water provision. We have heard in recent days from experts and economists that there could be an overspend of €2 billion on Irish Water. It was quite obvious to Senators on this side of the House when we were discussing the Water...

Seanad: Health Identifiers Bill 2013: Second Stage (29 Jan 2014)

David Cullinane: I welcome the Minister to the House. I will be supporting the Bill. Senator Gilroy pointed out that it should have been in place a long time ago. It should not have taken so long for the previous Government to put this in place and it took the current Minister to introduce the Bill, which is a necessary development in the delivery of health services in the State. Almost all Members have...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (29 Jan 2014)

David Cullinane: I thank Senator Zappone for raising the issue in Private Members' time and allowing the Senators to discuss Seanad reform. I also thank her for keeping the issue on the agenda and I thank Senator Quinn and Democracy Matters for their very good and constructive work in campaigning on this issue and for listening to a range of ideas, voices and opinions in formulating policies and ideas on...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (29 Jan 2014)

David Cullinane: We always want to see the option of reform put to the people and one of the consistent calls made by my party and others outside the political system was that the Constitutional Convention be the mechanism and conduit, which we can still use, to properly tease out, debate and ventilate the range of ideas on Seanad reform. The first thing the Government should do is to commit to real and...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (29 Jan 2014)

David Cullinane: It is not real reform. The Constitutional Convention is meeting this weekend and may discuss the future of the Seanad. The Taoiseach and the Oireachtas should give the Constitutional Convention a fresh mandate to properly examine Seanad and Dáil reform in the wake of the referendum results. We should properly ventilate all of the ideas and return with proposals, and then the...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Public Transport Provision (29 Jan 2014)

David Cullinane: I welcome the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Leo Varadkar. I am extremely worried by the proposal, as I see it, to privatise the entire bus service in Waterford city. All five city bus routes and the service to Tramore are to be awarded to private operators from 2016, as well as the Bus Éireann routes serving Kildare, Tullamore, Newbridge, Portlaoise and Athy. This...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Public Transport Provision (29 Jan 2014)

David Cullinane: In response to the Minister, I do live in the real world. In the world that I live in, the Minister's plan is to put out to tender a number of bus routes in Waterford. He has not answered the fundamental question I asked, which is why 100% of bus routes in Waterford city are to go to tender, when the national average is only 10%. Why is Waterford being singled out? The reality is that...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Public Transport Provision (29 Jan 2014)

David Cullinane: We will have to wait and see in that regard. Leaving aside the merits or otherwise of the Minister's overall plan to transfer services from Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus to private operators, I ask him to explain why Waterford has been chosen to have all five of its bus routes put out to tender, which is 100%, as compared to 10% across the State. Why is that the case?

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Feb 2014)

David Cullinane: I support the proposed amendment to the Order of Business. I concur with Senators who described last week's debate on flooding with the Minister as most unsatisfactory. Unfortunately, the Minister did not have answers to many of the questions that were asked. The emergency funding of €45 million that has been made available is completely inadequate to deal with the damage that has...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Feb 2014)

David Cullinane: Disgraceful.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Feb 2014)

David Cullinane: I have no objection. Where is that coming from? That might be the view of other parties but it is not ours.

Seanad: Charities Sector: Statements (4 Feb 2014)

David Cullinane: I join previous Senators who commended Senator Feargal Quinn on his 21 years in the House, and hopefully he will serve many more. I also join Senator Denis Landy in expressing my disappointment that the House is not sitting on Thursday. The Leader said the House will possibly not sit on the next two Thursdays because of the failure of legislation to come before the House but also because...

Seanad: Charities Sector: Statements (4 Feb 2014)

David Cullinane: That is deeply unfair on Members who want to turn up for work and do their job. It is important that we have this debate, even though it is only statements, and that we are given the opportunity to reflect on what can only be described as the scandals of recent weeks in respect of charities. Like so many issues in the State, it takes a scandal to drive the political machine to do what it...