Results 4,321-4,340 of 6,454 for speaker:Gerald Nash

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Withdrawal from Irish Banking Market (Resumed): Engagement with Financial Services Union and Electric Ireland (25 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: I thank Mr. O'Connell and Mr. McDowell for attending. In the context of the challenges that the retail banks have faced and that have been evident in recent months and since Ulster Bank and KBC announced that they are exiting the Irish market, it has been evident that the FSU has called it right from the get-go. It anticipated that because of a scheme of staffing cuts across the retail...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Withdrawal from Irish Banking Market (Resumed): Engagement with Financial Services Union and Electric Ireland (25 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: Staff are under incredible pressure and they had been anyway because of the reduced headcount in retail banks. They are under tremendous pressure, which I know about from speaking to banking staff in my constituency, and that is objectively presented through the survey material and responses to the Ireland Thinks research, which is important to put on the record. Is Mr. O'Connell in any way...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Withdrawal from Irish Banking Market (Resumed): Engagement with Financial Services Union and Electric Ireland (25 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: The information from the banks.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Withdrawal from Irish Banking Market (Resumed): Engagement with Financial Services Union and Electric Ireland (25 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: That is completely understandable in light of the pressure they are under and with the additional expectations the banks have around staff. On that point, I am attracted to the FSU's proposal that every branch should have a desk that would be occupied by staff to help people to open new accounts. That would be a positive development. Ulster Bank said last week that it is working with the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Withdrawal from Irish Banking Market (Resumed): Engagement with Financial Services Union and Electric Ireland (25 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: That is realistic and it is why I am attracted to the idea of a task force. There is one missing body in the Central Bank's engagement on this. It has had round-table discussions with the CEOs, but it ought to have included representatives of the workers in the bank, who know best what is required. It should do that now. My final question relates to the references Mr. O'Connell made to...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: I move amendment No. 20: In page 20, lines 21 and 22, to delete “are civil servants within the meaning of the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956” and substitute “are civil servants (within the meaning of the Civil Service Regulation Acts 1956 to 2005) in the Civil Service of the State”. This technical amendment seeks to ensure we properly classify the civil...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: I am happy to withdraw the amendment on that basis.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: I move amendment No. 35: In page 39, lines 15 and 16, to delete all words from and including “(1)” in line 15 down to and including line 16 and substitute the following: “(1) The Registrar shall maintain the Register of Political Parties and shall cause it to be published on the Commission’s website. (2) The Registrar shall in addition cause to be published on...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: I am disappointed by the response of the Minister of State. If the registrar of political parties is required to have all this information and, from what the Minister of State is telling me, the relevant documents and so on can be made available for inspection and scrutiny, then surely, in the interests of transparency, it would not be a significant ask of the new commission to cater for the...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: We have a significant amount of business to get through this evening and in the coming days, so I will not press the amendment but I reserve the right to re-enter it on Report Stage.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: Far be it from me to put words in Deputy O'Callaghan's mouth. This is a well-presented amendment seeking merely to establish a review of this policy question. Similar amendments were ruled out of order for different reasons but I am glad we can have a discussion about this, brief as it might be. It seems eminently sensible that this might be the first job, in terms of the research...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: This is about ensuring there is proportionality. We know that the PRSTV, multi-seat constituency system is among the most proportionate systems in terms of the outcomes and value, if I can describe it as such, for people's votes. Deputies O'Callaghan and Ó Broin have reaffirmed their commitment to multi-seat constituencies and how that can produce a more proportionate and fairer...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: Certainly not; quite the contrary. My amendments are self-explanatory. If the Minister of State would commit to entertaining them, it would be a good day for democracy, for smaller parties and for the system generally. When my party was larger, it was consistent in respect of the number of seats that should be returned from each constituency. The issue of county boundaries and so forth...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: It would just be for the purposes of Dáil elections.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: I move amendment No. 41: In page 41, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following: "(3) When preparing a report in relation to the constituencies for the election of members to Dáil Éireann, the Commission shall seek to secure that its recommendations taken as a whole would result in as small a number of constituencies returning 3 members, and in as large a number of...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: I move amendment No. 44: In page 44, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: "(3) For the purposes of preparing a report referred to in subsection (1), the Commission shall have regard to the need to secure that the number of members of a local authority to be elected for each local electoral area should be not less than 5 and not more than 7, provided that a smaller number (but...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: Deputy O’Callaghan tabled two very important amendments. I obviously support the thrust of them. We absolutely have to enable more people with disabilities and those who have difficulty accessing polling stations as they are currently constituted. We need to make it easier and more accessible for people to vote and participate in the democratic process. Equally, Deputy...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: To clarify, we accept that a very high standard is applied by professional polling companies. Nevertheless, we have found, whether within our constituencies or in rogue polls published by media outlets that may not be regulated but may be gaining some traction, that the methods are not robust and the polling can change the outcome of elections. It is those kinds of arrangements that are in...