Results 2,401-2,420 of 6,020 for speaker:Martin Conway
- Seanad: Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (24 Nov 2020)
Martin Conway: I welcome the Minister of State back to the House. This legislation comes before the Houses annually.I welcome the fact that we are not to see any increase in stamp duty, at least as it affects customers of health insurance companies. Health insurance has been an absolute blessing for hundreds of thousands of families over many years. By and large, the health insurance industry has served...
- Seanad: Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (24 Nov 2020)
Martin Conway: On Thursday, 26 November 2020.
- Seanad: Credit Union Restructuring Board (Dissolution) Bill 2019: Second Stage (24 Nov 2020)
Martin Conway: I, too, welcome the Minister of State to the House. This legislation is a culmination of a lot of work that was done to restructure, tidy up and ensure there was proper and appropriate governance of moneys within the credit union movement. Today, it is appropriate to salute and acknowledge, as other colleagues have done, the founding pioneering people who developed the credit union model in...
- Seanad: Credit Union Restructuring Board (Dissolution) Bill 2019: Second Stage (24 Nov 2020)
Martin Conway: Next Monday.
- Seanad: Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2020: Order for Second Stage (24 Nov 2020)
Martin Conway: I move: "That Second Stage be taken today."
- Seanad: Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2020: Second Stage (24 Nov 2020)
Martin Conway: On this important legislation I agree with Senator Buttimer that it is somewhat regrettable that we are dealing with many things in the context of Covid-19, but that is life. With regard to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, I tend to share some of the concerns expressed by Senator Sherlock in terms of the moving over and the fixed terms. However, some of the people on the council now would...
- Seanad: Flooding: Statements (18 Nov 2020)
Martin Conway: I also welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank him for his proactive approach to his Department. That is how he does his business. He gets things done. That is a great thing to be able to say about a Minister of State. There is a lot of work to do to deal with flooding. Many colleagues have outlined the challenges and difficulties in other parts of the country. I would like...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)
Martin Conway: I will start by going back to an answer to a question asked by Deputy Cullinane in which Mr. Gunning said the position was "regrettable". Would he not agree that, so far, this has been a mess?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)
Martin Conway: I would describe it as a mess and I would not put a tooth in it because, at the end of the day, this is taxpayers' money. Taxpayers' money is funding all this. What was the reason for the delay in going into the site from 18 May until 13 July? What was the reason for the seven-week delay?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)
Martin Conway: That is correct.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)
Martin Conway: I can understand that might delay it by a week or two. We are talking about seven weeks.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)
Martin Conway: Essentially, then, there was a stand-off. The contractor refused to go on site until it got the money. Is that what happened?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)
Martin Conway: Was there a stand-off for a period of seven weeks where the contractor refused to go on site until it got the money and then, eventually, caved in after seven weeks?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)
Martin Conway: It is clear to me the contractor was not on site and was looking for money. Mr. Gunning can dress it up whatever way he likes but that appears to be the reality, which is a shocking state of affairs in terms of the board's relationship with the contractor. It seems to continue. In his opening statement, Mr. Gunning referred to hundreds of claims for hundreds of millions of euro and said he...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)
Martin Conway: What is the total cost of that?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)
Martin Conway: All that has happened and we are still in a situation where there are significant delays and hundreds of claims for hundreds of millions of euro. It does not, therefore, seem to have worked. Colleagues here have tried to pin Mr. Gunning down in terms of a date as to when the building will be completed and when the board will be in a position to hand it over to Children's Health Ireland. I...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)
Martin Conway: With any development, a person has an indicative date. It should not be a situation that the board will be able to give us that indicative date in quarter 1 of 2021. In Mr. Gunning's view, what is the worst case scenario?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)
Martin Conway: Please do. We are attempting to move this project along. In the absence of a compliant programme from the contractor, it is extremely difficult to provide the committee with the level of detail it requires and that we ourselves require.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)
Martin Conway: The taxpayer requires it.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)
Martin Conway: What worries me-----