Results 3,481-3,500 of 4,178 for speaker:Paul Gavan

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: At no point in his answer did he give an explanation for the justification for excluding people who spent less than six months in the institutions. He has not answered that question. I plead with him to do so. It is not for me but for the people watching proceedings. It is for the survivors, who have written to us in their thousands to tell us there is something fundamentally unjust about...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: Oh my God.

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: Could the Minister please show us some collective respect? We are not asking rude questions. We are not being unpleasant to him. We are asking legitimate questions on behalf of the thousands of people who have contacted us. It is not acceptable to sit there in silence. It is a huge insult to the very people that this Bill purportedly sets out to protect but, as I pointed out already, in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Renewable Energy and Port Capacity: Discussion (16 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: I thank all our guests this morning. It is great to hear such positive plans and see ambition. However, I want to put some of the concerns raised by Wind Energy Ireland and at least give the witnesses an opportunity to respond. Wind Energy Ireland stated that, right now, those behind offshore wind projects still have no idea which Irish ports, if any, will be available to construct the wind...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: We are very disappointed that amendments Nos. 16 and 17 are ruled out of order. We hoped at least amendment No. 17 would be allowed. However, we must accept the decision of the Chair. The purpose of the amendments was to ensure the chief deciding officer is sufficiently impartial and independent. This is an important point that survivors would want us to defend. The office of the chief...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: One of the key points we are concerned about is that the office of the chief deciding officer should be independent, particularly in the recruitment of staff. That is dealt with it in one of the amendments that was not allowed. The intention was to ensure the chief deciding officer would have control in regard to the recruitment of staff. Can the Minister offer any reassurance in that regard?

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: One of the concerns we would have - I am sure the Minister can understand why we have it - is that the office may not be sufficiently resourced. It strikes me that we need the chief deciding officer to have the power to actually indicate that he or she needs additional resources and the power to appoint those resources. We know what happens generally otherwise. I am not hearing any...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: As we have just heard, several of our amendments have been ruled out of order in this particularly important section. I want to speak again about an issue on which, regrettably, the Minister decided to take a vow of silence around 25 minutes ago. It comes up again in this section and, of course, I have every right to raise it. It is the issue of the arbitrary, inappropriate and unfair...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: The Minister referred to the rationale behind the ruling on six months. Could he explain it to us?

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: I have listened carefully to what the Minister has just said, and I heard that the Minister is now saying that those who spent more than six months in an institution are more likely to have suffered. I think that is effectively what he said. I also know, and I referred to it earlier, that the Minister is a man of law. I know he is familiar with the eggshell skull rule, which means that...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: In that case, I want to come back in, because someone has to call this out. There is a horrific and unacceptable silence from the Minister here. It is completely unacceptable. I also want to speak to our colleagues in Government. I commend what Senator Seery Kearney said earlier today. She spoke out very clearly against the six-month rule. We have heard nothing from Fianna Fáil at...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: I want to briefly respond to the two previous speakers and to commend every word they have said. I highlight the fact, particularly to my colleague on the Council of Europe, Senator O'Reilly, that I have sponsored a request for a report at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe into the threat to the human rights framework of the Good Friday Agreement posed by the current...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: Well said.

Seanad: Regulation of Lobbying (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (17 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Regulation of Lobbying (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (17 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Disregard of Certain Criminal Records of Gay Men: Motion (17 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: Well said.

Seanad: Disregard of Certain Criminal Records of Gay Men: Motion (17 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: I welcome all our guests who have taken the time to be here today. I commend in particular my colleague and comrade, Senator Warfield, on bringing this very important motion to the Seanad. As has been pointed out, next month marks the 30th anniversary of the introduction of the 1993 Act which decriminalised homosexuality. It is worth reflecting that at least 940 men were convicted of...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (18 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: Once again, I raise the issue of University Hospital Limerick, UHL. Thanks to my colleague, Deputy Maurice Quinlivan, we found out that in the first 120 days of this year, the full emergency protocol was used on 118 days. In other words, there were only two days in the first four months of the year that it was not used. What does the full emergency protocol mean? It means that elective...

Seanad: Tourism: Statements (18 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: The Minister is very welcome. I acknowledge the exciting developments in Limerick, particularly the opening of the International Rugby Experience. It is very welcome in the heart of the city, alongside our medieval quarter and the fact that we really are the sporting capital of Ireland when you think of our success in rugby and hurling. Our hurling is a little dodgy at the minute, but we...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: This evening, we are back on Committee Stage of the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill. I wish to make an appeal to colleagues across the Chamber at this point, because something fundamentally wrong is happening. A Bill that is fundamentally flawed is going to be passed on Committee and Report Stages over the next week and then passed into law. As we all know, this is a Bill...