Results 961-980 of 2,414 for speaker:Fintan Warfield

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Jul 2020)

Fintan Warfield: All Senators from the previous term will consider which Bills to resubmit. One of the Bills of which I am most proud is the amendment to the Gender Recognition Act, which tried to right the wrong of the exclusion of young people from the original Act. The House has a proud record of support and shows of empathy for our trans community, who bear the brunt of attacks on all of the LGBTIQ...

Seanad: Education: Statements (28 Jul 2020)

Fintan Warfield: It is a bit surreal that the Government side has two speakers.

Seanad: Education: Statements (28 Jul 2020)

Fintan Warfield: Teachers, children and other young people have endured enough during the pandemic. They now deserve clarity and certainty. At the very least, they deserve accurate and up-to-date information so that they can make informed decisions. Some of the measures and resources associated with these decisions make no sense. Last year, 500 teachers per day were not replaced by a substitute teacher....

Seanad: Education: Statements (28 Jul 2020)

Fintan Warfield: This was our chance to deal with class sizes. One in five primary school children are in a class of more than 30 pupils. We have the largest primary school class sizes in Europe and the Government seems to believe it is a good idea to keep it that way. If there was ever a time to reduce class sizes, this is it. Sinn Féin will use our Private Members' time in the Dáil tomorrow to...

Seanad: Education: Statements (28 Jul 2020)

Fintan Warfield: Absolutely.

Seanad: Education: Statements (28 Jul 2020)

Fintan Warfield: It is not democratic.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (18 Sep 2020)

Fintan Warfield: I want to address the complete lack of clarity behind, and the lack of an explanation for, the reported decision to close indoor eating spaces in Dublin. Communication and basic thoughtfulness were completely lacking in this process. Last night, thousands of workers in pubs, cafés and restaurants across the city found out through the media that they may well be unemployed by the...

Seanad: School Transport, Leaving Certificate 2020 and Reopening of Schools: Statements (24 Sep 2020)

Fintan Warfield: It is not the first time he has been mentioned in the Chamber. I welcome the Minister to the House. I, too, want to focus my contribution primarily on class sizes. We have some of the largest class sizes in Europe. The OECD average is 20 and, as was mentioned by a Fine Gael Senator, we have class sizes above 30. Way back in July Sinn Féin was suggesting emergency measures on the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Sep 2020)

Fintan Warfield: I raise the issue of co-living because it is entirely unsuitable for the times we live in if we want to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus. An application for a co-living development in Dublin 8 is at appeals stage. While it is yet to be approved, the proposal has had a terrible effect on the local community by driving up prices and squeezing good, well-intentioned developers out of...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Sep 2020)

Fintan Warfield: Such a decision would be welcomed and understood by many. We encourage people in Harold's Cross, Rathmines and the inner city, including North Great George's Street, to stand against these units because people power will stop them. The Minister can also stop them by issuing a ministerial order on his way to the Convention Centre next week.

Seanad: Leaving Certificate 2020: Statements (8 Oct 2020)

Fintan Warfield: I have a direct question for the Minister. Given that the Government knew about the errors from Polymetrika up to a week before it let students and parents know about them, will she place on the record of this House a cast-iron guarantee that there is absolutely nothing else that we are unaware of? There are also concerns that some pupils have been told that their personal data may have...

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Order for Second Stage (14 Oct 2020)

Fintan Warfield: I welcome any time legislation is either debated in this House or begins its journey here, but I am concerned that this Bill is due to be considered in one week and that we have three hours after the debate today to submit amendments. It is unacceptable for that to happen in the context of legislation that will have such a profound impact on the lives of so many people who have been badly...

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Second Stage (14 Oct 2020)

Fintan Warfield: I pay tribute, as others have done, to the women of the mother and baby homes and to their families and campaigners for maintaining dignified pressure on successive governments to see the process through to completion. Five interim reports have been published and the inquiry was granted a one-year extension. That extension was necessary in part owing to the lateness of materials submitted...

Seanad: Shannon Group: Motion (14 Oct 2020)

Fintan Warfield: I will speak to the Government amendment. When it came through yesterday, Sinn Féin sent it on to some of the airport workers so that they could have a look at it. The response came back within minutes and told us all we needed to know. One of the workers captured the mood, saying "This isn’t an amendment, it’s a totally different motion full of words that resemble the...

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht: Business of Joint Committee (14 Oct 2020)

Fintan Warfield: I thank the representatives of the National Campaign for the Arts for appearing before the committee. The poverty crisis among artists and cultural and creative workers is nothing new, nor is it an employment or jobs issue. We give State support to the arts because there is a market failure and artists exist on commissions, short-term work, contracts, shares of fluctuating box office...

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht: Business of Joint Committee (14 Oct 2020)

Fintan Warfield: Artists tick all the boxes on the 11 grounds we use to measure poverty. Report after report from the Theatre Forum, Visual Artists Ireland, the Arts Council, etc., indicates artists are earning less than €12,000 per year. Reversing the cuts to the PUP was our priority in the budget and it is disappointing that has not happened. It follows that we must protect the primary resource...

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht: Business of Joint Committee (14 Oct 2020)

Fintan Warfield: I will finish on this. I recognise the trauma and that, having struggled through five years of austerity to this point, people were clinging on for dear life.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Oct 2020)

Fintan Warfield: I was planning to propose an amendment to the Order of Business to reflect what Senator McDowell has just outlined. Perhaps he might allow us to second his proposal to take only Committee Stage today. I remind the Leader of what she said on Thursday, 10 September: I hear Members very loudly and clearly. I recall how standing here some six weeks ago I told the House that we would not do...

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Fintan Warfield: I wish to speak to the section.

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Fintan Warfield: The Leas-Chathaoirleach will see that Sinn Féin opposes section 2 outright. Obviously, we are discussing the deposit of certain records of the commission with the Child and Family Agency, Tusla. In terms of opposing this section outright, we wish to see Tusla removed as the depository for records and that we reassert the 2004 Act provisions for the depositing of records with the...