Results 5,121-5,140 of 5,914 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Voting at 16) Bill 2021: Second Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I rise, as quite an elderly lemon in this House, to support this Bill.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Voting at 16) Bill 2021: Second Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I think back to my youth. At 12 years of age, I started my first job. At 15, I ran a bar in a hotel in Lisdoonvarna for the entire season. Before the age of 16, I was working in a pub called The Hog in the Pound in South Molton Street in London. By the time I was just over 16, I was a member of the Armed Forces. To suggest, today, that a 16-year-old would be anything like I was when I...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Voting at 16) Bill 2021: Second Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I am deaf so I cannot hear the Senator. I would like to see participation at as early an age as possible. I think 16 is a good age to start. My colleague Senator Cummins made the point that he came from an education background; so too did I. I travelled the length and breadth of the country as president of the Teachers' Union of Ireland, TUI, and I learned how advanced children are from...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Voting at 16) Bill 2021: Second Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: The bottom line is that we have nothing to fear. I encourage the Minister of State to kick aside any amendment and go for it. He should be a brave Minister of State. He will go down in history.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Voting at 16) Bill 2021: Second Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: And maybe beyond.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Voting at 16) Bill 2021: Second Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: So the people proposing the Bill are actually kicking it down the road.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Voting at 16) Bill 2021: Second Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: On a point of order, this was a Fianna Fáil Bill that was brought to the House and Fianna Fáil apparently are the people who are kicking it to touch until 1 July 2024. Do they not speak to one another in that party or where are we going? This is nonsense.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Nov 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I was not here yesterday, unfortunately, as I had other business. Today I want to remember the people of the Niemba massacre who lost their lives in Niemba in the Congo in 1960. Forever etched in my mind are the dates of 8 November and, in particular, 22 November when the bodies were returned to Ireland and brought down O'Connell Street in Dublin. Lieutenant Gleeson and his men, all but...

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the witnesses for coming here today. We spoke before they came down. It is a pretty daunting prospect to come into this place and face the music. Their presentations were fantastic and I thank them both for that. I am going to go through a few things here. Whichever of the witnesses thinks themselves best suited to pick up on each might do so. The first matter impacts Ms...

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Ms Cronin has made her point really well. When we are talking about day care centres, particularly for elderly people, nowadays you very frequently find couples who are 40 or 50 years married when one becomes frail and needs respite. The person looking after him or her also needs some time to themselves and this is where day care centres come into their own. I am sure we will hear about...

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Unfortunately, the public watching this cannot see the Visitors Gallery is full. These are people who travelled hundreds of miles to be here today to hear the petition being heard. The story Ms Curtis tells about Cork is typical of the other two that are here today. We have public representatives here at local authority level. Nobody engages with them anymore. Decisions are taken...

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I appreciate that.

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: You did a good job the last time you had them in, Chair.

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I wonder whether there age discrimination going on here. Leaving aside Ms Curtis's issue, we are talking about respite care and day centres in particular. It is old people generally who use them and it is young people who are making decisions about the future of these organisations. The whole thing is ageist.

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Is Ms Mullins going to make a presentation?

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: No, I am finished with Ms Curtis at this stage.

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Those who are viewing probably cannot see the document. There are great big lumps of black on the pages. The only word I can see on one page is "post". That is very helpful. It is the most insulting document that has ever been published by anybody. A public representative in the Gallery gave me this document today. To send it out shows a total level of arrogance beyond belief. Ms...

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: A Chathaoirligh, I rest my case at this stage. It makes me so angry to hear about Loughrea, Ms. Curtis's place in Cork and to talk about St. Brigid's again. Somebody said to me some time ago that the St. Brigid's thing was politically motivated. I do not believe that for a second. The signatures Ms Mullins and the campaign have cannot all be people from one party.

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I am going to give the floor to the people who are closest to it. Deputy Mattie McGrath is here and Deputy Cahill is here.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Nov 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: For most of us growing up, watching the Artane boy's band march in Croke Park on All-Ireland final day was something of great joy. However, for a number of people the Artane Boy's Band, its title, uniform, and everything about it conjures up nothing but memories of the abuse and butchery that took place in the Artane Industrial School. Councillor Mannix Flynn has managed to get a motion...