Results 2,361-2,380 of 2,414 for speaker:Fintan Warfield

Seanad: Adoption (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2017)

Fintan Warfield: On Second Stage I referred to some of the shortcomings of the Bill. One major flaw in the adoption process is the financial barrier. It impacts on many, with legal fees as high as €15,000. It prevents adoptions and prevents children from having a caring and loving home. It prevents prospective adopters from becoming loving parents. Where people can afford the high cost, the burden...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Harbour Authorities (24 Jan 2017)

Fintan Warfield: It is.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Harbour Authorities (24 Jan 2017)

Fintan Warfield: Go raibh maith agat a Chathaoirligh. On 15 December last I raised this issue in the House during the Order of Business. It relates to the Genealogical Society of Ireland, GSI, and its premises in Dún Laoghaire and the harbour company in Dún Laoghaire. A week before I raised the issue, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council passed a motion calling for the chief executive to...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Harbour Authorities (24 Jan 2017)

Fintan Warfield: I take it from that there is a refusal to intervene. Can the Minister not use the office he holds and the influence he has to get an extension of six months? I believe there is a good relationship on all sides. If, under the Act, the harbour company is being transferred to the local authority, why would it be entertained that the management of that company would erode a key service, not...

Seanad: Adoption (Amendment) Bill 2016: Second Stage (24 Jan 2017)

Fintan Warfield: I am very pleased to support this progressive Bill. As has been outlined by Sinn Féin in the Dáil, it legislates for what is in the best interest of the child and modernises a system that previously held archaic and restrictive barriers. It is the view of Sinn Féin that any adoption system must embrace a more modern and progressive view of the family. Throughout the State's...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Discussion (15 Dec 2016)

Fintan Warfield: I welcome the delegates to the meeting. I am a Sinn Féin Senator. I am not a member of this committee. I am here out of interest and to express support for the work of the organisations here today and also to express opposition to the baptism barrier provision. Are there data available on the number of people throughout the State affected by issues of access, including whether those...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Dec 2016)

Fintan Warfield: Last week, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council passed a motion calling for its chief executive to convene an early meeting of the board of the Genealogical Society of Ireland to discuss the decision of the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company to acquire the premises that houses the unique archive and research facility of the society and to explore the assistance the council could provide...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (7 Dec 2016)

Fintan Warfield: I welcome the opportunity to make a statement on climate action and low carbon development. The transition document sets the context for why we are here today and this is not a matter that can be kicked to touch or down the line. The threat to our environment, public health and economic prosperity is very real and without a radical change in the economic and environmental approach of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2016)

Fintan Warfield: I have raised the specific issue of rural isolation within the LGBTQI community on several occasions. It is useful to put it on the radar of organisations, reflecting the fact, in the particular context of today's discussion, that we have the first aging LGBTQI population post-criminalisation. In the past, criminalisation ensured such people were excluded and faced stigma and isolation...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2016)

Fintan Warfield: I thank the witnesses for their presentations, for which I am very appreciative. I apologise for the turnout at the committee. I am slightly out of my comfort zone on the rural agenda, but the witnesses might appreciate I have some questions about broadband in particular. The INTO document states there are 3,124 schools in the State. It goes on in the section relating to broadband to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2016)

Fintan Warfield: If one is religious enough.

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Ms Nicola Sturgeon (29 Nov 2016)

Fintan Warfield: In the coming months the House will debate the Electoral (Amendment) (Voting at 16) Bill 2016. If passed, citizens who have reached the age of 16 will have the right to vote in local government and European Parliament elections. It is worth noting any attempt to widen the franchise for referenda, general or presidential elections will require a referendum of its own, as proposed by the...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Nov 2016)

Fintan Warfield: In the Seanad this afternoon the First Minister of Scotland spoke openly about her support for 16 and 17 year olds casting their vote and having their say. In advance of the Bill that will come before us in the coming months I ask that all of us continue this positive conversation. In 2013, the Constitutional Convention recommended that those who reached the age of 16 should be allowed to...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Nov 2016)

Fintan Warfield: No, it will be after Christmas.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Nov 2016)

Fintan Warfield: I raise the appointments made by the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Heather Humphreys, to the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, IMMA. Of the nine appointments made, only three of them were women. Concerns have been expressed to me about the artistic expertise of some of the nine appointments. I understand a broad range of expertise, not...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Nov 2016)

Fintan Warfield: -----particularly in the context of the arts where women and allies have been campaigning for policies of inclusion, equality and economic parity. Will the Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys, be more ambitious with her appointments and give more consideration to the landscape in which she makes them? Separately, RTE was already raised in the Seanad today. RTE, in a statement to the Irish...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Nov 2016)

Fintan Warfield: I raise the objectionable tweet from the Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, in recent days in which he, in our name, gushed about Mike Pence, who apparently knows and understands the issues that affect our people. Why did the Taoiseach extend an invitation to Mike Pence to visit this island? The tweet went far beyond what was necessary in terms of diplomacy. He tweeted: "He certainly knows...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Nov 2016)

Fintan Warfield: I will be across the road with a banner.

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Nov 2016)

Fintan Warfield: The Taoiseach said that Mike Pence understands-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs: Sustaining Viable Rural Communities: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2016)

Fintan Warfield: I thank every speaker for his or her contribution. The meeting has been very informative. I will not promise a structured narrative from the notes I have taken, but I have a few questions, the first of which Mr. Ludlow might address. Recommendation No. 25 in the CEDRA report concerns the creative industries. To take up where Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell left off, the first paragraph...