Results 2,561-2,580 of 4,178 for speaker:Paul Gavan

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna (Atógáil) - Commencement Matters (Resumed): Health Services Staff Remuneration (18 Jun 2019)

Paul Gavan: I will share time with my colleague.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna (Atógáil) - Commencement Matters (Resumed): Health Services Staff Remuneration (18 Jun 2019)

Paul Gavan: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, although I hoped the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, would take this Commencement matter. I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State; it is just that I have more time for him than I do for the Minister. The Government is denying pay increases to support staff in the healthcare sector who, as the Minister of State is aware,...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna (Atógáil) - Commencement Matters (Resumed): Health Services Staff Remuneration (18 Jun 2019)

Paul Gavan: I realise the Minister of State did not write the reply. I know it is a scripted response from a civil servant. It is highly cynical. The HSE accepts the job evaluation exercise but does not accept that it has to implement it. That is the height of hypocrisy from the civil servant who wrote that line. I want to finish by saying one thing. The Government will not avoid industrial action...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (18 Jun 2019)

Paul Gavan: I also apologise because I had a previous engagement and was a little late coming in. I have been closely following this topic. My concerns revolve around worker's rights. I have come across first-hand horror stories of what has happened in this sector. I am interested in what Mr. King has to say about this. It occurs to me that, without a commitment to union recognition, we are not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (18 Jun 2019)

Paul Gavan: I thank Mr. King for that powerful testimony. I saw a couple of people nodding when listening to it. There are real concerns about the sector. What type of employer would oppose statutory protection for employees? Surely every good employer could agree to that. This poses real questions about people that would vote against further engagements in the process. I compliment Mr. King on...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Jun 2019)

Paul Gavan: Last week, I was very happy to speak at a protest against President Trump at Shannon Airport. Our departing Oireachtas colleague, Deputy Clare Daly, also attended the protest along with a number of others. It was a very good occasion. I want to raise what is happening with President Trump with regard to Huawei because it really brings home the damage this president is doing. Analog...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Business of Joint Committee (13 Jun 2019)

Paul Gavan: I second that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Use of Reduced Timetables: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jun 2019)

Paul Gavan: I thank our guests for their presentations. They were powerful and quite shocking. What is happening must be so frustrating. Everyone agrees it should not be happening. Everyone also agrees about resources. There was a particularly powerful presentation on the challenges faced, particularly by teachers. As Deputy Thomas Byrne pointed out, the Minister will agree with us, yet the...

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Protection of Employee Tips) Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2019)

Paul Gavan: I move amendment No. 1:In page 3, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: ""employee" has the meaning assigned to it by the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997;". I welcome the Minister to the House. There is a tremendous show of support for the Bill in the Visitors Gallery, including by colleagues from SIPTU, Mandate, ICTU and Fórsa. I see, too, representatives of the...

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Protection of Employee Tips) Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2019)

Paul Gavan: Maybe not. That is true.

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Protection of Employee Tips) Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2019)

Paul Gavan: The Senator is probably right. After eight months of research in Britain, even it admitted that there was a problem in this regard and that workers needed to be given a legal right to receive their tips. Right now the Minister is placing herself somewhere to the right of Boris Johnson. Seriously, we need to do better than that. I, therefore, ask the Minister to work with us and not kill...

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Protection of Employee Tips) Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2019)

Paul Gavan: Hear, hear.

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Protection of Employee Tips) Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2019)

Paul Gavan: Absolutely.

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Protection of Employee Tips) Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2019)

Paul Gavan: I thank the Minister for her response. Where to begin? I will begin with the Low Pay Commission report. The representatives on the commission from the Mandate trade union and ICTU are here today in the Gallery. They have written to the Minister and all Senators calling on the Government to support this Bill. Their position could not be clearer. It was a bizarre report.

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Protection of Employee Tips) Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2019)

Paul Gavan: It stated no research was done and in the next sentence stated it would not do any either. Fortunately, Deirdre Falvey did research for The Irish Times. Apparently, it is one of the most read articles published by the newspaper this year. It found the major restaurant chains put on between 5% to 15% service charges which they then pocket. What those in the Gallery have already clued into...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (11 Jun 2019)

Paul Gavan: I call for a debate on the housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme. Over the weekend we heard of the terrible stigma attached to this scheme where low-income families, especially single mothers, are finding it extremely difficult to secure rental housing due to the stigma attached to the housing assistance payment. The private rental market is not equipped to deal with the volume of...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 May 2019)

Paul Gavan: I wish to raise the confirmation that President Trump will be coming to Ireland on 5 June. To be clear, Sinn Féin fully respects the right of President Trump to visit this country, but we have been consistent in protesting his policies and we will be protesting when he arrives at Shannon Airport. I am very much struck by the irony of the fact that he will be meeting the Taoiseach at...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 May 2019)

Paul Gavan: A few minutes ago I was delighted to join colleagues from a number of parties on the plinth to stand with the Palestinian people and call for a boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest this weekend. There was a big representation from my party, Sinn Féin, but I also noticed Civil Engagement group and Labour Party Members, a broad range of Independent Members, as well as Social Democrats...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 May 2019)

Paul Gavan: If the Leader says so.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 May 2019)

Paul Gavan: We could hold it in Limerick hospital could we?