Results 361-380 of 5,754 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: There are couples who would walk in their bare feet over hot coals to have a child. The constant reference to money turns this entire situation into a dirty backstreet operation. These are professionally qualified people that are giving a service. I will argue the issue of anonymous donation until the cows come home because I feel very strongly about it. I want people to stay with the...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Let us not drive it down to a profit and loss sheet.

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I rise to support this amendment. The last time we discussed this in the House, the Minister was somewhat concerned about the amount of information that would need to be on the notice and how those notices would find their way through the entire workforce. In my previous life as a trade unionist, I found that lack of information frequently led to more workplace disputes and the escalation...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Are we dealing with amendments Nos. 30 and 31?

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: As a trade unionist, I was struck by one of the comments made at yesterday's launch of the commemorative programme for 2016 in respect of the trade union movement and the part it played in the establishment of this Republic. In that context, the Bill is lacking to a certain degree in that it does not contain any recognition of the special place trade unions should occupy. We are moving...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I second the amendment. Senator Quinn is speaking from the employer’s side and I speak from the trade union side but I agree totally with what he has said. I have seen case after case become complex because documentation was missing or lost. I have seen one side accuse the other, saying it did or did not produce the documents and at the end of cases documents were not available. It...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Hear, Hear.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Irish Language Education: Discussion (1 Apr 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Nuair a bhí mé sa chéad cathlán i nDún Uí Mhaolíosa i nGaillimh bhí Gaeilge réasúnta agam ach anois tá sí uafásach. Mar sin, caithfidh mé mo cheisteanna a chur as Béarla. Gabh mo leithscéal faoi sin. I am deeply embarrassed to have such a wonderful group here with such beautiful Irish and that I have to put my...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Apr 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I acknowledge the case of Harry Gleeson but a number of people were killed mercilessly in this country, either by the State or by people who believed they had the right to do it. I often wonder what these people went through in the night before they were shot or hung. I agree with Senator Ó Murchú that the President should bring together all parties who were involved in the case...

Seanad: Freedom of Information Act 2014 (Effective Date for Certain Bodies) Order 2015: Motion (2 Apr 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: It is a pleasure to meet the Minister again. On the issue of freedom of information, I am not seeking to have broadened the areas covered, although I am very happy to see information made available to the general public on any occasion and subject.However, there are some things that I regard as repugnant, namely, the spate of freedom of information requests that come into this House....

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Social Insurance (15 Apr 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister is welcome and I thank him for coming to the House on the issue of class K PRSI contributions and the lack of benefits accruing from those contributions. I raise the issue mainly on behalf of the countless city and county councillors, the lifeblood of local democracy, who have approached me on this subject. Councillors are paid a representational payment of €16,590,...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Social Insurance (15 Apr 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Excellent. I thank the Cathaoirleach. As politicians, we all will be aware of the social risk associated with our profession, such as the risk of not being re-elected, the risk of long periods out of office and the consequent implications for every aspect of our lives and our financial situation.While it is true many local authority members have jobs in addition to their role as public...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Social Insurance (15 Apr 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the Minister of State. It is a difficult issue to raise here, given that to be in public service is almost regarded as a crime. I am not afraid to say these people are being treated very badly by the State. In anticipation of the Minister of State's answer, I have already alerted the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection that I will be proposing a debate on...

Seanad: One-Parent Family Supports: Motion (15 Apr 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I came to the House to support my two colleagues and I had no intention whatsoever of speaking. I am trying to remain as calm as I can because the OPFP is nothing more than a great big stick with which to beat lone parents and make them crawl for the miserable shillings they get. Have the officials who wrote the Minister's script ever known a day's poverty in their lives? Do they honestly...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: General Scheme of Retention of Records Bill 2015: Discussion (15 Apr 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: My input will be very short. A number of the victims that came forward to the various redress boards did so on the basis of the legislation that was there at the time. As Deputy McConalogue has already pointed out, what is very reasonable today was not available to the people who came forward. I have personal knowledge of one individual who did not come forward because he did not want his...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: General Scheme of Retention of Records Bill 2015: Discussion (15 Apr 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Is there a need or reason to retain these records? I am not at all convinced there is but if there is a reason to retain them, could they not be sanitised? Could the names be removed, with people referred to as "Victim A, B, C or D", up to 1,500 or 15,547? As some of my colleagues have indicated, we live in a country that is essentially parish-based. People live in parishes that were...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: General Scheme of Retention of Records Bill 2015: Discussion (15 Apr 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I am still not satisfied in my mind. The phrase "Lest we forget" has been mentioned many times. If we have done nothing else in this world, we have forgotten. Regardless of the many reports and documents in existence, we continually forget. Our economic crash is an example of us forgetting. I do not understand why we want to do this or who has requested it. Has somebody approached the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: General Scheme of Retention of Records Bill 2015: Discussion (15 Apr 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: On a point of order-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: General Scheme of Retention of Records Bill 2015: Discussion (15 Apr 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: We are essentially saying that we gave our word but we want to change it now. That is exactly what happened to the people in question.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Apr 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I am delighted to see that my Commencement matter yesterday on the issue of PRSI for councillors has led to Senator Paul Coghlan's awakening with regard to salary issues and the terms and conditions of employment of councillors.