Results 3,021-3,040 of 5,749 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: -----of having a former Tánaiste, Minister for justice and Attorney General to point out, line by line and word by word, how awful this legislation is and how dangerous it is to the independence and quality of the Judiciary. I ask the Leader not to sully the reputation of this House because the political demands and pressures placed on him. Thank God for the checks and balances built...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: The only reason the Irish people believe this House-----

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: I am prepared to stand here all day if that is what it takes.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: Snide remarks were made about this having been prepared by a senior counsel. It was not prepared by a senior counsel.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: It is a prepared script because the matter is important.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: The point I am trying to make is that if it takes from now until hell freezes over, we will continue to debate this awful Bill to see to it that it is changed into something worthwhile or the Government wakes up and scraps it altogether.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: Which statement was factually incorrect?

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: Were Standing Orders breached at any stage?

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: On a point of information, the Leader is entitled to make his opinion known. However it is the job of Senators to oppose legislation and try to correct it when it is wrong.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: We have done nothing but use the parliamentary procedures available to us.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: The Leader has a hard neck.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: Looking at the methodology we are talking about using here, it is quite similar to what is used for appointments in the education system. Where a deputy principal is appointed as a principal, his or her post cannot be advertised until it has been vacated. The backfill works its way down the line. It is my experience that it can take up to 18 months to clear a backfill of this nature. With...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: We have two fairly immovable objects here confronting one another. I ask the Minister to think about where we are going here. This Bill is not going to fundamentally change the way we appoint judges because, as the Minister has admitted himself, the Constitution cannot be trumped by the Bill. I do not know why we are pushing the legislation through if we really wanted to change the...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: I will stick to the amendment. I will leave it at that and I will be interested in the reply by the Minister. Perhaps my colleague, Senator McDowell, might have more to say.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: It was merely analogous.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: I want to go back to the issue of the period of time involved. I disagree with the Senator's suggestion that it can be done in a shorter period.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister has sat on interview boards in his capacity as a public representative, and on VECs and other boards, and he will know that the first thing a board has to do is sit down and agree the advertisement. In this Bill, we are dealing with the top legal minds in the country so we have to be very careful that every "i" is dotted and every "t" crossed so that the advertisement does...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: A board the size of the JAAB needs to agree to hold interviews on a particular date and the Minister knows that getting an agreed date is always a problem. Some candidates are not available on the appointed day and a second date has to be set up and this is why I believe Senator McDowell is being optimistic. It could take as many as four months to make just one appointment and if there is a...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: This is going to cause mayhem. I saw junior people in the public service appointed to senior positions, leading to the suspicion that it was to avoid the trickle-down effect of which Senator McDowell speaks, and to avoid having to fill a vacancy in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal or the High Court by appointing somebody from the academic world. The next thing that happens is that the...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: I totally accept the Minister's bona fides here and that he truly believes what he says. However, that will not matter the moment this Bill is passed into law because it will no longer be within his gift to control how this legislation is used by the commission. It will no longer be within his gift to tell the commission what to do or to prescribe how long it should wait after advertising a...