Results 2,081-2,100 of 5,749 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Shared Island Unit: Department of the Taoiseach (12 Nov 2020)

Gerard Craughwell: Finally, some people would say that the Department has announced nothing new today or that anything it has announced or spoken about would have happened in the fullness of time anyway, so what is new? Perhaps I am missing something. I am quite happy to listen. I really want to see the other community that is not represented here, and if this means us meeting on a number of occasions in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Business of Joint Committee (12 Nov 2020)

Gerard Craughwell: We might also include Mr. Rob Williamson of the REACH Project, which is based on the Newtownards Road in Belfast. I asked for him at the last committee meeting. He is a unionist and a very middle-of-the-road sort of guy. It would be very good to hear his views.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (11 Nov 2020)

Gerard Craughwell: It is just after the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month and I pay tribute to the former taoisigh, Enda Kenny and Deputy Leo Varadkar, as well as the current Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, who all attended remembrance services at Enniskillen. It is great that Ireland has grown up and comes to remember the approximately 30,000 Irish men and women who lost their lives in the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (11 Nov 2020)

Gerard Craughwell: I hope the clock has been stopped.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (11 Nov 2020)

Gerard Craughwell: All of us in the House are elected and we are all public representatives. We are all peers in the House. None of us has the right to information ahead of anybody else. I will write today to the Secretaries General of every Department to ask them to take on their responsibility as the administrative heads of their Departments to ensure all Members of this House and the Dáil are treated...

Seanad: Recognition of Irish Military Service at Jadotville in 1961: Statements (11 Nov 2020)

Gerard Craughwell: I welcome the Minister to the House. This is the first time I have met him as Minister for Defence in this House so I congratulate him on his appointment. I also congratulate him on the fact that he has not appointed a Minister of State to work under him in the Department of Defence and has taken a hands-on position. He has met the representative bodies and visited a number of centres and...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (10 Nov 2020)

Gerard Craughwell: How can that be followed? I have two things to raise this morning. One is that we hear constantly that the HSE is looking for people to work in the area of tracing. An entire army of veterans is available who are only too keen to come back to drive people to medical appointments, do tracing work and anything asked of them. Several of the veterans' organisations around the country are...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (10 Nov 2020)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House and I understand he is under pressure. There have been 13 review reports and three Bills - four, if we include this one - and another Bill is coming in the next few days, and nothing has happened.

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (10 Nov 2020)

Gerard Craughwell: That is fine. I compliment the two Senators on bringing forward the Bill and admire their honesty. I particularly admire the honesty of Senators Cassells and Kyne who opened up the real issues that annoy the people of this country. One such issue is the 11 senators nominated by the Taoiseach, where we could bring in people from diverse backgrounds but do not. Rather, we bring in our own...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (10 Nov 2020)

Gerard Craughwell: -----and legislation was ruthlessly scrutinised and it did not bring down a Government when it failed. That is the sort of Seanad that I want to be a party to. I want to be here to look at legislation from the labour perspective, which is the panel I am on, and comment on it based on how I think it will impact on labour.My colleague, Senator Martin, spoke about two buses passing and that...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Nov 2020)

Gerard Craughwell: I second Senator McDowell's amendment to the Order of Business.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Nov 2020)

Gerard Craughwell: This weekend is very special for all of us who wore uniforms, irrespective of where we wore them. It is the weekend on which we would commemorate the armistice and the loss of Irish lives in the First and Second World Wars. More importantly, 8 November, this weekend, will be a very poignant day in Irish military history because we will remember 60 years since the Niemba ambush, when...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Nov 2020)

Gerard Craughwell: We could send him to Galway too.

Seanad: Children (Amendment) Bill 2020: First Stage (6 Nov 2020)

Gerard Craughwell: I second the proposal.

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

Gerard Craughwell: I compliment my colleague, Senator Murphy, on his speech and agree with everything he has said. We were promised that, when the schools reopened, there would be no particular problem with substitute teachers, etc. A number of principals of primary schools have contacted me in the past few days about the difficulty in finding substitutes. I was not a primary school teacher so I am not sure...

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

Gerard Craughwell: Hear, hear.

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

Gerard Craughwell: Well said.

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

Gerard Craughwell: No, I will not press the amendment. I take the Leader's word that she will prioritise this issue and deal with it on the nearest possible date.

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)

Gerard Craughwell: I came in here this afternoon with a very fixed set of views. The conflicts that are going on in my mind have been there since this Bill saw the light of day. Before I speak properly on the Bill, I want once again to condemn the way this legislation is being run through this House.

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)

Gerard Craughwell: It is absolutely disgraceful. The Minister's name will be on the Bill and his party's name will be associated with it. What were they thinking that they would allow this to happen? Why would the Minister come in here and ram through legislation when he knows how wrong it is to do so? I have had nearly 4,000 emails to date from those on one side of the argument and a few hundred from those...