Results 501-520 of 5,027 for speaker:Victor Boyhan

Seanad: Health Services: Statements (Resumed) (15 Nov 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome the Minister of State and his officials and thank him for such a comprehensive report. Health is a wide brief and he has chosen to focus on particular issues which Senators have raised in the House. A service which is close to my heart and to which I have referred regularly in the House is the national rehabilitation service. There is a real need for a master plan or to receive...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Planning Issues (16 Nov 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy John Phelan, to the House. I will be brief. I am raising this matter in the context of Rebuilding Ireland. In the preparations for it and the ongoing and concluding legislation to underpin it, officials in the Department made a very strong case for the fast-tracking of planning and a lot of concern was expressed by local councillors, in particular,...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Planning Issues (16 Nov 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I, too, thank the Minister of State. I note that there have been no approvals under the fast-tracking system, despite the provision being put through in legislation last December. It is a slow process. One of the big difficulties with the policy document Rebuilding Ireland and planning is keeping track of statistics. Every time one asks a question one is given different figures....

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Planning Issues (16 Nov 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I know and the Minister of State is right.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Nov 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I want to talk about the Housing (Homeless Families) Bill that was discussed in Dáil Éireann yesterday. I welcome the Government support for it. This is a Labour Party Private Members' Bill which attempts to compel the housing authorities to recognise the needs of children and families who become homeless, which is valid. I am greatly encouraged by the response of both parties to...

Seanad: Councillors' Conditions: Statements (16 Nov 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Phelan, to the House. I am conscious that he was a councillor for a long period and, therefore, knows about local government and the importance of city and county councillors who do their work for local communities. I will use my speaking time as constructively as I can and I will not repeat what others have said. I want to thank the AILG and LAMA...

Seanad: Councillors' Conditions: Statements (16 Nov 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I used the word "some." I got Fine Gael votes too.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Hospital Services (21 Nov 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome the Minister of State. In essence, I am asking that the Minister for Health make a statement on the plans by the Dublin Midlands hospital group to downgrade the services at Portlaoise hospital and to publish the five-year plan for the hospital. There is great uncertainty regarding this plan. From today's edition of theLeinster Express, we understand that public meetings are to be...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Hospital Services (21 Nov 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I thank the Minister of State. I am cognisant that there was a draft plan in 2016. Consultation clearly took place. The draft plan was amended and the HSE came back in 2017 with a further version. That is an indication of ongoing consultation and engagement, which I welcome. It is important to have this plan published soon in line with what the Minister of State has delivered today. It...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Nov 2017)

Victor Boyhan: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Nov 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I ask the Leader to extend, with the approval of the House, an invitation to An Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar. He would be very welcome here and it would be a great opportunity for the House to hear what he has to say and for him to engage with this important part of the Houses of the Oireachtas and, possibly, have an exchange of questions and answers. It would be great to see him-----

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Nov 2017)

Victor Boyhan: -----before the end of the year or, if he could not fit it into his schedule, very early in the new year. One must admire his communication skills and how he engages with social media, his weekly press releases to the nation and his statements from his office and from Europe, but it is also important that we do not forget the people within the Houses of the Oireachtas. Will the Leader...

Seanad: Judicial Council Bill 2017: Second Stage (22 Nov 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome the Minister. I will not be taking the eight minutes and I will not repeat what everyone else has said-----

Seanad: Judicial Council Bill 2017: Second Stage (22 Nov 2017)

Victor Boyhan: Okay six minutes. I am sorry.

Seanad: Judicial Council Bill 2017: Second Stage (22 Nov 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I shall not repeat what everyone else has said, although it has all been very valid. I welcome the Minister and I welcome this legislation. The very first thing I did when I came into the House was to propose a motion under Private Members' business, which was passed by this House, when the Tánaiste, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, was the Minister for Justice and Equality. The motion was...

Seanad: Defence Forces (Veterans Lapel Badge) Bill 2017: Second Stage (22 Nov 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I also acknowledge the enormous work that Senator Gerard P. Craughwell, a colleague of mine, has done on a broad spectrum of issues relating to the Defence Forces. Across all parties and none, we can all vouch clearly for his huge commitment. This is a man who has served as a soldier himself, who has personally experienced many issues with...

Seanad: Councillors' Conditions: Statements (Resumed) (22 Nov 2017)

Victor Boyhan: The Leader knows my views on this.

Seanad: Councillors' Conditions: Statements (Resumed) (22 Nov 2017)

Victor Boyhan: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Justice Matters: Statements (22 Nov 2017)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome the Tánaiste and former Minister for Justice and Equality. I want to start with the line "parallel process". Why are we having a parallel process when we have the Charleton tribunal? Based perhaps on the arithmetic of these Houses, there is a sense here of Members vying for political blood and for heads on a plate and this is neither fair, right, nor appropriate. It is...

Seanad: Justice Matters: Statements (22 Nov 2017)

Victor Boyhan: This is worth saying because it is what I fundamentally believe. The Tánaiste is well-regarded, well-respected and an experienced Deputy, former Senator and Minister. She has clearly set that out. She has come to this House and explained her position. She said, critically, that last Monday she confirmed to the Taoiseach that neither she nor the Department of Justice and Equality "had...