Results 2,001-2,020 of 6,308 for speaker:Gerald Nash

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: It would just be for the purposes of Dáil elections.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: I move amendment No. 41: In page 41, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following: "(3) When preparing a report in relation to the constituencies for the election of members to Dáil Éireann, the Commission shall seek to secure that its recommendations taken as a whole would result in as small a number of constituencies returning 3 members, and in as large a number of...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: I move amendment No. 44: In page 44, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: "(3) For the purposes of preparing a report referred to in subsection (1), the Commission shall have regard to the need to secure that the number of members of a local authority to be elected for each local electoral area should be not less than 5 and not more than 7, provided that a smaller number (but...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: Deputy O’Callaghan tabled two very important amendments. I obviously support the thrust of them. We absolutely have to enable more people with disabilities and those who have difficulty accessing polling stations as they are currently constituted. We need to make it easier and more accessible for people to vote and participate in the democratic process. Equally, Deputy...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: To clarify, we accept that a very high standard is applied by professional polling companies. Nevertheless, we have found, whether within our constituencies or in rogue polls published by media outlets that may not be regulated but may be gaining some traction, that the methods are not robust and the polling can change the outcome of elections. It is those kinds of arrangements that are in...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: I move amendment No. 48: In page 45, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following: "(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), research commissioned or conducted under that subsection may include research on— (a) best practice standards in the taking of opinion polls, and voter education in relation to opinion polls, (b) best practice standards in relation...

Property Services (Land Price Register) Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members] (26 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: I am delighted to speak in support of Deputy O'Callaghan's Bill. I believe it has considerable merit and addresses a yawning gap in the measurement of wealth in this country. All the evidence suggests that land, property and housing generally are inextricably linked to wealth inequality. We know from successive reports from the Central Bank and from various reputable think tanks that the...

Passport Services: Statements (26 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: I will start where Deputy Conway-Walsh concluded. If I am correct, 90% of applicants are applying online now, which is the right approach to take and is what we always encourage constituents to do, but it does not mean that there are no problems. There are problems with the online process, as we have all experienced, especially in recent months. I will go into that in more detail. ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (25 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: 99. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the permanent school building project for a school (details supplied); when her Department plans to submit the planning application for the project to Meath County Council; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26612/22]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Withdrawal from Irish Banking Market (Resumed): Engagement with Financial Services Union and Electric Ireland (25 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: I thank Mr. O'Connell and Mr. McDowell for attending. In the context of the challenges that the retail banks have faced and that have been evident in recent months and since Ulster Bank and KBC announced that they are exiting the Irish market, it has been evident that the FSU has called it right from the get-go. It anticipated that because of a scheme of staffing cuts across the retail...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Withdrawal from Irish Banking Market (Resumed): Engagement with Financial Services Union and Electric Ireland (25 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: Staff are under incredible pressure and they had been anyway because of the reduced headcount in retail banks. They are under tremendous pressure, which I know about from speaking to banking staff in my constituency, and that is objectively presented through the survey material and responses to the Ireland Thinks research, which is important to put on the record. Is Mr. O'Connell in any way...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Withdrawal from Irish Banking Market (Resumed): Engagement with Financial Services Union and Electric Ireland (25 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: The information from the banks.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Withdrawal from Irish Banking Market (Resumed): Engagement with Financial Services Union and Electric Ireland (25 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: That is completely understandable in light of the pressure they are under and with the additional expectations the banks have around staff. On that point, I am attracted to the FSU's proposal that every branch should have a desk that would be occupied by staff to help people to open new accounts. That would be a positive development. Ulster Bank said last week that it is working with the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Withdrawal from Irish Banking Market (Resumed): Engagement with Financial Services Union and Electric Ireland (25 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: That is realistic and it is why I am attracted to the idea of a task force. There is one missing body in the Central Bank's engagement on this. It has had round-table discussions with the CEOs, but it ought to have included representatives of the workers in the bank, who know best what is required. It should do that now. My final question relates to the references Mr. O'Connell made to...

Short-term Lettings Enforcement Bill 2022: Second Stage [Private Members] (24 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: I very much welcome the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Labour Party on the Short-term Lettings Enforcement Bill 2022. It is very important that we have a proper ventilation of this issue in the Chamber this evening. Nobody is making any overstated claims about the utility of the legislation. It is not a panacea but it certainly is a contribution to what is a very live debate and...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: RTÉ reported today that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, will be bringing plans to Cabinet to amend the Electoral Reform Bill 2022 to ensure finance from outside the State does not influence selections. This is a very positive development, which we welcome. We have been calling for it for some time, but it needs to be done properly....

National Parks and Wildlife Service Strategic Plan: Statements (Resumed) (19 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: I am very pleased to speak on behalf of the Labour Party in this very important debate here today. In the first instance, real credit is owed to the Minister of State for delivering this plan. It is a very good one and has great potential. I also sincerely say that this is a great credit to the Green Party for ensuring that this particular initiative made it into the programme for...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Technological Universities (19 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: 110. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps that he and the Higher Education Authority are taking to progress the process of obtaining technological university status for Dundalk Institute of Technology; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24104/22]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Technological Universities (19 May 2022)

Gerald Nash: The securing of technological university status for Dundalk IT is fundamental to the economic and social development of County Louth and the rest of the north east. As the Minister knows, there are only two institutes outside consortia: Dundalk IT, DkIT, and the Institute of Art Design and Technology, IADT. The Minister recently visited Dundalk IT, for which I thank him. I am somewhat...