Results 621-640 of 5,754 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Jul 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I refer to No. 80, motion No. 18 on the Order Paper, an all-party motion with respect to city and county councils. I am aware of the many telephone calls and letters originating from this House, promising support and action on the issue relating to the motion, that were sent to distinguished members of city and county councils.In light of what Senator O'Donovan has just said, I would hate to...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jul 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I support Senators Ó Murchú and Cullinane on the issue of the Ballymurphy massacre. It is no secret that I carried a weapon for two armies in my life and I never carried a weapon without an instruction booklet in my pocket which informed me as to when I could and could not open fire. From what I heard this morning, there was an indiscriminate series of assassinations, which is all...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jul 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: -----and I would like us to have a full debate in this House on the matter. It gives me no pleasure to ask for a debate on Irish Water in this House. Water charges are an additional tax our citizens are being asked to pay and they have clearly refused to pay it. The figure of 43% in respect of those who have paid the charges is no great win for anybody. What is upsetting about this is the...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jul 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Perhaps it is. The bottom line is that we need independent people. Having served as president of a teachers' union, I know that without a general secretary on whose independence I could always rely-----

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jul 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Yes. I have actually had ten. This is my eleventh career.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jul 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Without an independent adviser, I could not have moved forward. I ask that we take more care in bringing in these Bills.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jul 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Form a group

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jul 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jul 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I think the relevant figure is 6%.

Seanad: One-Parent Family Payment: Motion (15 Jul 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Hear, hear.

Seanad: One-Parent Family Payment: Motion (15 Jul 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: There is a seat over here.

Seanad: One-Parent Family Payment: Motion (15 Jul 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, for being patient. I would like to begin my contribution to this debate by referring to a section of the website of the Department of Social Protection on which a number of ready reckoners are set out. I am sure the Minister of State is aware that four of the seven examples given on the website show lone parents losing money as a result...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Appointments to Certain Offices) Bill 2014: Second Stage (15 Jul 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I will not delay him long other than to say that, as a member of a trade union and a trade unionist who has spent the past 20 years of my life trying to rid this country of the scourge of fixed-term contracts, zero-hours contracts and all sorts of other contracts where people, unfortunately teachers, found themselves working in schools more hours...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Appointments to Certain Offices) Bill 2014: Second Stage (15 Jul 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Well said.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Weight of Schoolbags (16 Jul 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank him for being here. While schools might be out for summer, parents and students will soon be preparing to return in September. The issue of the weight of schoolbags remains unresolved not for another year, but for another decade. The issue was raised in the Dáil as far back as 1996, and the then Minister, Ms Breathnach, gave the...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Weight of Schoolbags (16 Jul 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I am concerned that we are pushing things down to boards of management. A recent high-profile case regarding the abuse of a lady while she was a student in a primary school in Cork came back to bite the Department and the Government. As the Legislature, we have a responsibility. We cannot shed it to boards of management. We cannot offload it...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Weight of Schoolbags (16 Jul 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the Minister of State.

Seanad: Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Jul 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister of State is welcome. I too oppose section 47. It is said that incompetent people constantly do incompetent things. From the outset, Irish Water has been handled by incompetents. From the very start, everything about it was wrong. I have no difficulty in paying for water, but please do not tax me a second time. I already pay for water. The Government is beginning to divert...

Seanad: Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Jul 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: The issue of public ownership is far from certain. Although we asked for a referendum, we were knocked back. Why was there such great opposition to a referendum? The section asks me to become a revenue collector for Irish Water and submit details of what I do or do not do on my private properties. As Senator Darragh O'Brien said, the Government has stuck the section on the end of a Bill...

Seanad: Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Jul 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: It is a pity the Government did not think of that.