Results 1,321-1,340 of 5,872 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: I am making that point.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: It would be good if the option to make voluntary contributions were open to those who had been paying class K contributions if they cannot get their class K contributions recognised. Another issue relates to the lacunae that exist between Departments. For example, the Department of Education and Skills recognises that a person not involved in teaching between the period of June and...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: I will have to wait until tomorrow.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: Would I dare?

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: Would I dare?

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: I have one final point on the class S PRSI. I was contacted by a farmer recently who told me he is not being given his contributory old age pension because at some stage during his contributions to class S, he received some form of farm payment which means he is not eligible. It is an interesting situation. The Minister will not have an answer to that straight away but perhaps it is...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: I move amendment No. 2:In page 7, to delete lines 17 to 20 and substitute the following:“(a) by the substitution of the following for the definition of “public office holder”:“ ‘public office holder’ means a member of the European Parliament for a constituency in the State, being a member who is in receipt of the salary specified in section 2(2) of...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: It is the amendment before this one.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: The other one is section 2, amendment No. 3.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister is correct.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: Class K PRSI is a tax on public service. That is the long and the short of it. One pays 4% and gets nothing for it. The Minister is on record as saying that nobody should pay for social insurance unless there is a benefit from it. It is a farce to say that Deputies, Senators and other people covered by class K PRSI cannot avail of a contributory old age pension. In my case I can make a...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: The social welfare contributions for councillors over 66 years are being repealed. The point I was making was that they had been paying class K contributions for the past five or six years. I appreciate there is a problem with class K contributions. In 2013, class K was extended to all unearned income, which included things such as rental income, income from shareholdings, dividends and so...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: I will withdraw my amendment and give the Minister a chance to discuss it with the two Ministers in question. He may come back with a change of mind. I will resubmit it on Report Stage. If the Minister is not in a position to do anything, I will not delay the proceedings and will withdraw it immediately.

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: I congratulate the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Varadkar, for moving swiftly on the issue of pensions in Independent News & Media. That is the type of action one expects from a Government Minister. However, while he is to be congratulated for it, that should not be seen as endorsing him as leader of the Fine Gael Party or the like. Senator Mark Daly spoke about Orkambi...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (7 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: I call Senator Ruane. As there is only a short time remaining, I ask if she might share the remaining time with Senator Mulherin.

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (7 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: I have been fair to the Senator now perhaps she will be fair to me.

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (7 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: I can indeed.

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (7 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: I apologise to Senator Coffey but there is no time left. I call the Minister.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Member States' Position on UK Withdrawal from EU: Maltese Ministry for Foreign Affairs (7 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: Ms Mizzi is very welcome to Dublin. I thank her for her very informed presentation. I am concerned about a number of issues. I am aware there was a pre-EU bilateral agreement between Malta and the UK. It has been a central plank of the 27 member states that there would be no bilateral negotiations with the UK. I am not sure whether that is more about teaching the UK a lesson for being...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Member States' Position on UK Withdrawal from EU: Maltese Ministry for Foreign Affairs (7 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: One of the common features we encounter when talking to people from the member states is the issue of the Single Market. The Single Market seems to work very well in the areas of agriculture and fisheries and in various other sectors. Ms Mizzi cannot have missed - perhaps she did - the crowd outside the gates of Leinster House today protesting in respect of the drug Orkambi. We had similar...