Results 23,081-23,100 of 26,610 for speaker:David Cullinane

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Child Care Services Provision (2 Dec 2014)

David Cullinane: I welcome the fact that Pobal and the Waterford Childcare Committee are working with the board and the staff to try to find a resolution, and that the Minister's staff are also assisting in that. The problem is the income. The board does not have enough income to sustain the service and the staff are being asked to take an 8% pay cut. Most of these staff earn less than €250 a week....

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Child Care Services Provision (2 Dec 2014)

David Cullinane: I welcome the Minister to the House. I spoke briefly to him about this privately a number of days ago and gave him notice that I might raise this issue because it has been raised with me. This issue is the serious situation in the Manor Childcare Centre in Waterford city, where 16 staff members were served with redundancy notice by the board. I have met both the board and all members of...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Dec 2014)

David Cullinane: I join Government and Opposition Senators in expressing sadness and shock at the death of Jonathan Corrie at a spot very close to Leinster House. It is tragically symbolic that Mr. Corrie died only a few yards away from the national Parliament of this State. Only last week the Government announced its housing policy and the investment plan relating thereto. However, that announcement did...

Seanad: Flood Management: Statements (27 Nov 2014)

David Cullinane: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank him for taking this important debate. We have debated the issue in the House on previous occasions following more serious flooding. Obviously, we have had flooding over the course of the last few weeks in some parts of the State as well. I start with a positive experience which shows that flood relief measures work. There was a huge...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Nov 2014)

David Cullinane: Stand for election.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Nov 2014)

David Cullinane: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Nov 2014)

David Cullinane: Yesterday, a number of Senators, including me, raised the issue of long waiting lists in hospitals with 50,000 patients across the State waiting more than 12 months to be seen. As the Leader acknowledged yesterday in his response, it is unacceptable that in Waterford and the south-east, 6,300 patients are waiting longer than 12 months for an out-patient appointment. That is for an...

Seanad: Water Sector Reforms: Statements (25 Nov 2014)

David Cullinane: I welcome the Minister of State, but that is where my welcome finishes. I do not welcome his speech or the announcement made in the Dáil last week on the half-baked measures put in place. It is essentially to buy the election, but it will not work. Senator David Norris asked why Sinn Féin had specifically been singled out in the Minister's contribution. It is quite obvious - it...

Seanad: Water Sector Reforms: Statements (25 Nov 2014)

David Cullinane: That is what the Government should do. I am glad that the Leader of the House has come into the Chamber. I hope he will respond. If he or the Minister of State, Deputy Paudie Coffey, wishes to have a debate with me outside the House, we can have it. I look forward to the Leader's contribution, but it will be more anti-Sinn Féin nonsense. He is here to cover for the Minister.

Seanad: Water Sector Reforms: Statements (25 Nov 2014)

David Cullinane: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Nov 2014)

David Cullinane: No one said "Hear, hear."

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Nov 2014)

David Cullinane: I welcome the statements to be taken today on Irish Water and thank the Leader for arranging this debate. Several weeks ago the Minister for Health attended the House for comprehensive statements on health care. I am sure the Leader will have seen yesterday’s newspaper reports on how waiting times in some hospitals have gone up. Surprise, surprise, in the south east, the waiting...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Nov 2014)

David Cullinane: There should be no half measures. The Opposition sat and listened to the Government Senators, yet when those of us who criticise Government policy speak they heckle and shout us down because they do not like what we have to say. Will the Leader inform us when the Seanad will debate this issue? There was a lengthy debate in the Dáil yesterday but there has been no debate yet in the...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Nov 2014)

David Cullinane: It is very clear Irish Water has become a monument to the Government's failure. Irish Water is as toxic as the Government's policies. If any Labour Party Senators believe this will be seen as a fair and reasonable response to the demand made by the tens of thousands of people who have taken to the streets, they will get the answer on 10 December-----

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Nov 2014)

David Cullinane: -----when people will come out and demonstrate very clearly. Such comments will be a rallying call for all of those-----

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Nov 2014)

David Cullinane: -----who are sick to the teeth of listening to Senators and Deputies on the Government side state it is only €1 per week or €3 per week. We have heard it again today from Senator Comiskey, with his very generous salary and expenses, which I also receive. We may be able to afford to pay, but for many people out there €3 per week is a lot of money. He and his Government...

Seanad: Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill 2014: Second Stage (19 Nov 2014)

David Cullinane: I commend the three Senators who introduced the Bill as well as those who have contributed to the debate so far. I also welcome the Minister. Sinn Féin welcomes this Bill and we are happy to support it. We agree with the sentiments of the Adoption Rights Alliance that it represents an important first step towards equality for adopted people in Ireland. For far too long, the Irish...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Nov 2014)

David Cullinane: In recent weeks questions were asked of the Leader of this House, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste regarding Irish Water and the revised charges that will be announced today, which I welcome.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Nov 2014)

David Cullinane: It is amazing that despite all the questions being asked, which the Leader of this House, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste refused to answer and said we will have to wait until the announcement was made, all the details of what will be announced came into the public domain through the media. That seems to characterise this Government's approach to dealing with such matters and is one of...

Seanad: Seanad Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2014)

David Cullinane: The discussion is about section 1 and it is about the Short Title. The Bill also seeks to amend a number of existing Bills, so there should be some latitude given because of that. I am very slow to get in the middle of a disagreement between Independent Senators in this House, but I will say that the two Senators who approached me and my party most frequently on this issue were Senators...