Results 921-940 of 5,027 for speaker:Victor Boyhan

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I move amendment No. 27:In page 44, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 13 of the Principal Act 8.Section 13 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following subsection after subsection (1):“(1A) (a) The members of a planning authority may at any time, for stated reasons, submit a resolution to the manager of the planning authority...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I wish formally to second amendment No. 30 and indicate that I will also formally second amendment No. 31. I will be brief as I am conscious there are time constraints and that we want to make progress. I have always supported the national planning framework. It is a very good and positive document. I genuinely believe a mistake was made about it. As I have said previously, there was an...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: It was a lost opportunity because I believe Fianna Fáil would have-----

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: -----fully supported Fine Gael on it. It is a fantastic plan. I was in Athy and Sligo the other day and they are wonderful towns but they are falling down on their knees, as it were. I was also in Ennistymon the other day. There seems to be no sense of there being a bigger national plan. We need a national plan. This is a big document. Another mistake that was made is that it was too...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I refer first to the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF. I saw some NTPF staff seated downstairs in the LH2000 building earlier. Perhaps they were due to attend a meeting of a joint committee. The public outpatient waiting list for consultants was published in the national newspapers today. More than 511,000 people are awaiting treatment, which is extremely disappointing. I will not...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: And the gin and tonic.

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: And the world.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Irish Water: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome the ICTU and its 18 members. As long as I have been in the Houses I have never seen so many people from one group. I acknowledge their deep commitment to public service. I was first elected to a local authority in 1999 when I became a member of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council so I know about and value the knowledge to which Mr. Hearn refers. He spoke about the...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: As the House will be aware in January 2017 12 beds at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire were closed. Despite numerous visits to the Seanad by the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, and the Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, Deputy Finian McGrath, and many promises and commitments to reopen these beds, I was informed by officials at the hospital...

Seanad: 25th Anniversary of Decriminalisation of Homosexuality: Motion (19 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: It is great to see the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, in the Chamber. I am especially delighted that she is here at this time and at this junction. It is appropriate that she is here. I welcome all the people in the Gallery. I thank Senator Nash and his Labour Party colleagues for coming up with this idea and preparing this motion. I wish to acknowledge the work...

Seanad: 25th Anniversary of Decriminalisation of Homosexuality: Motion (19 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: -----including the rights of LGBTI individuals, who continue to suffer disproportionate levels of violence and face systemic discrimination in many countries." That is where we need to shine our light. That is where we need to put our focus. We need to not be complacent within ourselves because this issue is really important. We need to actually pursue those commitments. It is a good...

Seanad: 25th Anniversary of Decriminalisation of Homosexuality: Motion (19 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: -----because he made this issue one of his conditions of government and he continued to work quietly for it. Today, of course, we have marriage equality, which was a real success as part of that. I thank all of the people involved and those people who brought forward this motion today. Well done. Well done to Senator Norris as well. He is a brave, courageous, feisty individual. We are...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: Today is World Refugee Day, which honours the strength and courage of refugees and encourages public awareness and support of refugees and people who have had to flee their homeland because of conflict and natural disaster. It is a good reason to have a World Refugee Day and stand in solidarity with such people. Today we received a report from Mr. Brian Dawson, the communications manager of...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Second Stage (20 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Charles Flanagan. I am conscious that when the Taoiseach was in this House he renewed a request for us to scrutinise legislation effectively and in detail. That was important for all of us and we should do that. I like the debate, which has been positive. On the whole, I want to welcome this legislation. The Judiciary has served...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I feel that I should be in the Seanad voting against the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport's Judicial Appointments Bill but I will not do so. I welcome the Minister, Ms Hurley and Mr. Kelly to this meeting. The reports are very interesting although I have not read them in great detail. There is a lot of meat in them and a lot to glean and learn from them. However, it is very...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I wish to raise three issues. There was much discussion in the media over the weekend about the Council of Europe and the anti-corruption body known as GRECO, the Group of States against Corruption. I do not want to pre-empt what I hope will be a lively and engaging debate on the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill next week, but suffice to say it is reported in the press that the Chief...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (27 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I am grateful to the Leas-Chathaoirleach for the selection of this Commencement matter. I warmly welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Damien English, to the House. He is always very welcome and it is always good to see him. I thank him for taking up my invitation to make a statement on the possible further expansion of the local infrastructure housing activation fund, or LIHAF, scheme....

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (27 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I thank the Minister of State for that comprehensive report. I welcome the fact that the call for the funding will be issued later this week. From what the Minister of State stated, I am not quite sure it will be exclusively to fund State lands or public lands. Let us not get caught up on whose they are. They are public lands. The real controversy is that we have vast tracts of State...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I had intended to speak on one matter, but I will first touch on the issue of housing raised by Senator Ardagh. When the Minister of State, Deputy English, took my Commencement matter on the local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF, this morning, he stated that he would this week announce a second round. That is positive news and should be acknowledged. In conjunction with local...

Seanad: Education (Digital Devices in Schools) Bill 2018: Second Stage (27 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I support the legislation. I welcome the Minister to the House and acknowledge his work on digital technology. He has been very conscientious and vocal about same. I also acknowledge that he published a circular that requires all schools to consult parents, teachers and students on the use of smartphones and tablet devices in schools, which is important. We need to have a tripartite...