Results 221-240 of 544 for speaker:Vincent P Martin

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementing Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Vincent P Martin: I thank the senior officials from the local authorities for their attendance. It is appropriate that the councils represented are those of Meath and Kildare because the two counties have much in common and have dovetailing interests. Apart from the counties' proximity, many of the challenges they face are the same. I will concentrate in my remarks on my home county of Kildare. Our guests...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementing Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Vincent P Martin: I thank Ms Aspell.

Seanad: Central Bank (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (17 Nov 2022)

Vincent P Martin: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Teach. On behalf of the Green Party, I am delighted to support this Bill. It is wonderful to see a collaborative approach. It is not unprecedented in this Chamber, but it is something we cherish. I am a huge believer in co-operation and collaboration. The Green Party-Comhaontas Glas would like to support this legislative...

Seanad: Private Nursing Home Sector: Statements (16 Nov 2022)

Vincent P Martin: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. We all accept that nursing homes play a vital role in our society. They house and provide homes to some of the most vulnerable people in our society. The Minister of State quite correctly reminded us of the significant and important presence of nursing homes in our lives when she said that 562 nursing homes exist in Ireland, accommodating almost...

Seanad: Safe to Create Programme: Statements (9 Nov 2022)

Vincent P Martin: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire go dtí an Seanad inniu. Safe to Create is a pivotal and much needed dignity at work programme for people in the arts sector which has been strongly promoted by the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin. Its goal is to impact change and the culture and practices of the arts sector in Ireland to provide safer working conditions for artists and arts workers....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: EU-UK relations and the implementation of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the Northern Ireland Protocol: Discussion (9 Nov 2022)

Vincent P Martin: I thank our expert guests. This has been a worthwhile exchange. However, I have a feeling politics as we know it is broken. We will continue to step up but there is huge weight on the shoulders of those in the academic world and civic society to help us fix this most serious moment since the Good Friday Agreement. It is not a high-level academic proposition, but there is a lack of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: EU-UK relations and the implementation of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the Northern Ireland Protocol: Discussion (9 Nov 2022)

Vincent P Martin: The academics are esteemed but they are independent and expert. Their message is an objective one but is not being hammered home effectively at the moment. If I say something, I am a politician and have a certain view on this but the majority of the independent, esteemed research points in one direction. I take Professor Shirlow’s point that a fake information war is being waged out...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: EU-UK relations and the implementation of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the Northern Ireland Protocol: Discussion (9 Nov 2022)

Vincent P Martin: That point has been well articulated by Dr. Petit and I thank her and the committee very much for their indulgence.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: EU-UK relations and the implementation of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the Northern Ireland Protocol: Discussion (9 Nov 2022)

Vincent P Martin: My apologies to the Chairman, I would love to spend more time talking to the committee but I must attend the Seanad to speak.

Seanad: Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill 2021: Committee Stage (8 Nov 2022)

Vincent P Martin: The lack of amendments from Senators does not demonstrate a lack of interest. This has been a collaborative approach-----

Seanad: Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill 2021: Committee Stage (8 Nov 2022)

Vincent P Martin: We are not speaking to the Bill.

Seanad: Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill 2021: Committee Stage (8 Nov 2022)

Vincent P Martin: I thank Senators for the prompt and unreserved support for the Bill on Committee Stage. I welcome the Minister, Senator Hackett, my Green Party colleague, to the Chamber. She is a supporter of this Bill and is doing her best to find a way forward for it. That is to be acknowledged. Since around 2012, there has been an almost 1,200% increase in imports of non-native honey bees into...

Seanad: Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill 2021: Committee Stage (8 Nov 2022)

Vincent P Martin: Okay, I will stick to acknowledgements and I will conclude-----

Seanad: Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill 2021: Committee Stage (8 Nov 2022)

Vincent P Martin: -----by saying that in 2020 alone, an increase of 327% in the importation into this country of non-native honey bee queens was documented. I thank Senators for their steadfast and continuing support. We have a wonderful gathering of Senators in the Seanad, including the horticulturist, Senator Murphy, and Senators Higgins and Wall. On the front line, we have more than 500 beekeepers in our...

Seanad: Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill 2021: Committee Stage (8 Nov 2022)

Vincent P Martin: Next Tuesday.

Seanad: Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill 2021: Committee Stage (8 Nov 2022)

Vincent P Martin: Tomorrow at 10.30 a.m.

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Deferment of Termination Dates of Certain Tenancies) Bill 2022: Second Stage (27 Oct 2022)

Vincent P Martin: It is always a pleasure to welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, to the Chamber. He is doing towering work in his own specific portfolio of responsibility. That is for another day, however. I would just like to commend him on that. He is here standing in to discuss a most pressing emergency. Previous speakers said that it is urgent and an emergency. In an emergency, normal rules...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Deferment of Termination Dates of Certain Tenancies) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Oct 2022)

Vincent P Martin: Previous speakers have, correctly, made reference to "eviction", which is an emotive term. It is also draconian but, at the end of the day, that is what we are talking about. With regard to the legislation, in the many years in which it has made judgments, the RTB has never used the word "eviction". It orders what is called a "termination of tenancy" and may order that the tenants hereby...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Deferment of Termination Dates of Certain Tenancies) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Oct 2022)

Vincent P Martin: Personal rights are covered in the Constitution as fundamental rights; they may not be absolute rights. Article 40.1 of the Constitution provides that everyone is equal before the law and the State cannot unjustly, unreasonably or arbitrarily discriminate between two citizens. If the Houses of the Oireachtas were to enact legislation that would do that, it would be exposed to a...