Results 4,761-4,780 of 12,320 for speaker:Paul Murphy

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Paul Murphy: What is happening here is the Government has decided to draw a line in the sand in terms of Ministers and taoisigh being forced to come in here, answer questions and be responded to in a free-flowing format. That format has presented problems for the Government. It has clearly created situations of embarrassment and pressure for the Government and for particular Ministers. The Government...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Paul Murphy: I thank the Ceann Comhairle. In the past few minutes the Minister for Justice has said there is no issue with her answering questions. She said she offered to change priority questions and every party said "No", and she said the suggestion is that priority questions cannot be used to hold Ministers to account. It is, again, an insult when very single Opposition party and grouping is saying...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Paul Murphy: That is what the people are looking for. There is a problem with the Minister answering questions. She is refusing to do it and she is being facilitated by the Taoiseach. That is a disgrace.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Paul Murphy: For two weeks now, with the amount of public attention given to this and the amount of time given to this in the House, one could reasonably ask why the Taoiseach does not just agree. If she has nothing to hide, why does the Minister not just come in here and answer questions? The only conclusion one can draw, as Deputy Shortall pointed out, is that there is something to hide, and that...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Paul Murphy: In terms of the appointment of Máire Whelan, why did he insist-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Paul Murphy: No, the Taoiseach had a specific session. He did not just do it through regular oral parliamentary questions. He insisted on a specific-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Paul Murphy: That is the point but he was arguing for questions.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Paul Murphy: If the Taoiseach wants, he can go and read the transcript from three years ago. Deputy McDonald very deliberately used some of his own words from three years ago last week to suggest that he could be on this side of the House issuing exactly the same speech in question. He knew at that point in time that what he is offering now was not acceptable because it does not amount to accountability.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Paul Murphy: No.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Future of Media Commission (24 Nov 2020)

Paul Murphy: 2. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the inaugural meeting of the Future of Media Commission. [36612/20]

Ceisteanna - Questions: Future of Media Commission (24 Nov 2020)

Paul Murphy: I want to raise the issue of the broadcasting charge, which was alluded to in the past couple of weeks by RTÉ's television controller, Mr. Andrew Lynch, at the Oireachtas committee. Why is the Government insisting on pushing ahead with plans for a new stealth tax on every household with this talk of a broadcasting charge? Did the Taoiseach not learn any lessons from his experience of...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (24 Nov 2020)

Paul Murphy: 11. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee which addresses climate change will next meet. [38833/20]

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (24 Nov 2020)

Paul Murphy: In response to me, I believe the Taoiseach told me that campaigns did not achieve much. I do not take any personal offence at that.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (24 Nov 2020)

Paul Murphy: That is no problem. It sums up the Taoiseach's political philosophy. It flies in the face of history. This Parliament would not exist and we would be a part of the British Empire had there not been a campaign, one with a significant military element. We would not have the right to vote, to join trade unions or to have a minimum wage. Every substantial improvement in living standards and...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (24 Nov 2020)

Paul Murphy: That is not-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (24 Nov 2020)

Paul Murphy: Not at all.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (24 Nov 2020)

Paul Murphy: If the Government does what is necessary, we will agree with it.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (24 Nov 2020)

Paul Murphy: That will be far too late.

Covid-19: Statements (24 Nov 2020)

Paul Murphy: Like many, I feel trapped in a kind of doom loop of lockdowns. Figures come down but community transmission is nowhere near eliminated. The Government listens to the considerable amount of business lobbying and reopens too quickly, and then the number of cases rises again. The way the Government talks, it is like a third wave and third lockdown are inevitable. That would be a nightmare...

Regulation of Lobbying (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage [Private Members] (24 Nov 2020)

Paul Murphy: It was James Connolly who wrote that governments in capitalist society are but committees of the rich to manage the affairs of the capitalist class. He was 100% correct. He was actually popularising what Marx and Engels had written in The Communist Manifesto, stating the executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie. That was back...