Results 1,821-1,840 of 2,017 for speaker:Anthony Lawlor

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Wind Energy Guidelines (15 May 2019)

Anthony Lawlor: This is typical of the Department down in the Custom House. Most of them live in the city and have no experience of what goes on in rural areas. It is unfortunate the Minister of State is giving the response. It is not his Department. The Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, and Minister of State, Deputy English, have allowed this crap response to be given here today. This has been going on...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Wind Energy Guidelines (15 May 2019)

Anthony Lawlor: I do not give a shit because those public servants are delaying this.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Wind Energy Guidelines (15 May 2019)

Anthony Lawlor: They are delaying this. Those guidelines should have been out in 2014. Here we are in 2019, and it will be almost 2020 before these guidelines are out. I do not give a hoot about the officials. It is about time they were named. Who is sitting on these files and not making decisions so that the public can act on what is out there at the moment? The planning guidelines go back to 2006,...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Wind Energy Guidelines (15 May 2019)

Anthony Lawlor: I am not being ignorant. I am giving the facts. The last guidelines were in 2006 and we have been promised new guidelines since 2018.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (28 May 2019)

Anthony Lawlor: Seeing as everyone has a spirit of bonhomie, I also congratulate all those who participated in the local elections. I did not come through that. I was a councillor at one stage. I also commend the count staff in the councils on the hours they put in. They were long hours over a period of three or four days. One count is ongoing in Longford while a recount is ongoing in Bandon in Cork. I...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 May 2019)

Anthony Lawlor: That is not relevant to the section.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (11 Jun 2019)

Anthony Lawlor: Over the past couple of weeks I have met various groups, farmers, businesspeople, publicans, hoteliers and individuals, all about the rapid increases in the cost of insurance. Some publicans have told me that, over the past three years, their insurance costs have risen by 33% while a hotel owner has told me that, this year, his insurance cost has risen by 50%. I also asked them about...

Seanad: National Surplus (Reserve Fund for Exceptional Contingencies) Bill 2018: Second Stage (12 Jun 2019)

Anthony Lawlor: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. The proposed legislation carries on from something that was here in the past that is still inactive. The former Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy, set up the National Pensions Reserve Fund with the whole purpose of setting money aside from surpluses or unforeseen funding that came into the Exchequer if such eventualities as this might...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Jun 2019)

Anthony Lawlor: One remembers seven or eight years ago when unemployment was at 15% or 16%, in contrast to the position we are in now. Of course that followed a previous Fianna Fáil Administration, as most people in the House would know. We are now at 4.6% unemployment, virtual full employment. I wish to ask the Leader for a debate on how to review the current work permits system. I get calls from...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Anthony Lawlor: Will the Minister of State correct the following sentence in his opening statement: "Award levels are the prerogative of the courts and therefore, for constitutional reasons, the Judiciary cannot be directed as to the levels that should be applied." The Civil Liability Act 1961 refers to awards brought forward by the Oireachtas which are constantly being updated. It is possible for the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Anthony Lawlor: That is legislation that has been on the books since 1961 and which is constantly updated by the Minister-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Anthony Lawlor: It is an award for damages on someone's death.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Anthony Lawlor: I have not mentioned anything yet. I just asked the Minister of State to take a look at that because of the Civil Liability Act 1961.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Anthony Lawlor: All right. That is the Minister of State's opinion. We will differ on that. The Judicial Council Bill 2017 will come before the Seanad next Wednesday. We still have not seen the additional amendments that the Minister for Justice and Equality proposes to bring forward. Will the Minister of State give us a timeframe for when Senators will see these amendments?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Anthony Lawlor: My problem with guidelines is that there is no legal basis for them. They do not have to be adhered to by the Judiciary. The judicial council may prescribe awards. The Minister of State indicated that if pathway A for the Judicial Council Bill 2017 does not work, there is pathway B, which the LRC is considering at the moment and which coincides with my Bill on the capping of awards. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Anthony Lawlor: If the LRC reports that it is constitutional for the Oireachtas to cap awards, does the Minister envisage bringing forward legislation to put a cap in place?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Anthony Lawlor: What is the Minister of State's opinion?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Anthony Lawlor: That will be an opinion of the Attorney General.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Anthony Lawlor: The impact of legal and other fees on personal injury awards is being examined. Why is there a delay in that and who is responsible for its delivery?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (13 Jun 2019)

Anthony Lawlor: Again, everything is being deferred further.