Results 2,221-2,240 of 7,637 for speaker:Rónán Mullen

Seanad: Seanad Bill 2020: Second Stage (18 Nov 2020)

Rónán Mullen: It is very helpful that the Senator brought that fact forward. Neither of us is an unqualified admirer of the Citizens' Assembly mechanism, to say the very least. What is urgently needed, if politicians are genuinely sincere about reform, and as I said last week, is that we identify a date by which the necessary reform must be carried out. We also need a committee of these Houses to...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Hate Crime) Bill 2020: Second Stage (17 Nov 2020)

Rónán Mullen: Cuirirm fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. There are major problems with this legislation. Much has been said already about the flaws in the drafting of the Bill. I must be honest and say it is flawed in its delivery, so to speak, or in its execution. That is rooted, I am sorry to say, partly in the fact that it is also flawed in its conception. It is in places confused, erratic and,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Key Priorities and the Effects of Covid-19 on the Education System: Department of Education (17 Nov 2020)

Rónán Mullen: I ask the Minister about the shock that fee-charging schools felt when the decision on the Covid package of supports to help schools to reopen safely emerged in August. I recall mentioning it to the Minister briefly when I met her in the corridor of Leinster House. I wrote about it in the Irish Independentat the time. When it was decided to make a Covid package available, there was major...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Key Priorities and the Effects of Covid-19 on the Education System: Department of Education (17 Nov 2020)

Rónán Mullen: I thank the Minister for her reply but there is still a widespread view in the sector that an injustice was done and that this decision was without precedent. They saw it as something of a stroke from within the Civil Service, to be respectfully honest with the Minister. They felt that while the fee-paying sector, as she rightly says, gets money in terms of the payment of teachers, they get...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Key Priorities and the Effects of Covid-19 on the Education System: Department of Education (17 Nov 2020)

Rónán Mullen: I accept that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Key Priorities and the Effects of Covid-19 on the Education System: Department of Education (17 Nov 2020)

Rónán Mullen: At a 50% rate.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Key Priorities and the Effects of Covid-19 on the Education System: Department of Education (17 Nov 2020)

Rónán Mullen: Which is less.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Key Priorities and the Effects of Covid-19 on the Education System: Department of Education (17 Nov 2020)

Rónán Mullen: However they had a higher threshold to meet when it came to proving it. One principal said that imposing all of this paperwork on them at a time when they were really struggling was unfair. At one point, they even said that giving people more work they can do can amount to workplace bullying. That was how it was felt. There was a lot of strong feeling.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Key Priorities and the Effects of Covid-19 on the Education System: Department of Education (17 Nov 2020)

Rónán Mullen: I thank the Minister.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Key Priorities and the Effects of Covid-19 on the Education System: Department of Education (17 Nov 2020)

Rónán Mullen: I want to raise the issue of mental health and NEPS. The Minister referred to this briefly earlier. It was already an issue before we ever had a pandemic. There was pressure on the system and schools' ability to access the system and have assigned psychologists affects their ability to determine the needs of children with special needs, or indeed where there are behavioural issues. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Technological Universities Act 2018 (Section 36) (Appointed Day) Order 2020: Motion (12 Nov 2020)

Rónán Mullen: Briefly. I welcome this important development. I have an association with TU Dublin and I have seen its importance for that region and everyone involved. This development will enhance the life chances and opportunities of those who attend. I wish everyone involved in bringing this forward to the next phase the very best.

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

Rónán Mullen: On a point of order, I have been following the debate for some time from my office and as one of the six Senators affected by this proposal, I wish to indicate my interest in speaking.

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

Rónán Mullen: Was the Senator far from Damascus?

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

Rónán Mullen: Good goods come in small parcels.

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

Rónán Mullen: The Senator cannot believe everything they say when they promise him the vote.

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

Rónán Mullen: There is no question that if one is going to engage in the piecemeal reform that this Bill involves, that is, reform of the university franchise, then a six-seater constituency is the way to go. One anomaly that it would get rid of is those who are graduates of Trinity College and NUI have two votes in the Seanad Éireann election. It is obvious that if we are going to give a vote to...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Election Monitoring Missions (6 Nov 2020)

Rónán Mullen: I welcome the Minister of State. Election counts are to the fore of most of our minds at the moment as we watch the continuing drama in the United States, and we hope this will resolve itself sooner rather than later. There are many countries, however, in the Third World and the former Soviet bloc where, sadly, we can never be certain the democratic process will be carried out freely and...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Election Monitoring Missions (6 Nov 2020)

Rónán Mullen: The Minister of State has not addressed the contradiction between what has been said in the Dáil already about OSCE member states not sending volunteers and the fact that I have demonstrated that they have been sending volunteers. They are also facing the challenges of the pandemic. It is to disrespect the important work of election monitoring to suggest that the pandemic would be a...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Election Monitoring Missions (6 Nov 2020)

Rónán Mullen: I want to clarify one point. I have no wish to say something is rotten but I did mean to say something may be rotten. I am concerned because, as I said, other countries are doing it and they are facing the pandemic. There is something unexplained that needs to be dealt with.

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

Rónán Mullen: One of the older members around here is going into storage today. I want to compliment the people from the Office of Public Works, the Natural History Museum and the National Museum of Ireland who are removing the skeleton of an ancient walrus. I just saw this going on outside. In fact, they had to open up and expand the window space to remove this walrus by way of a window because of its...