Results 3,621-3,640 of 5,749 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Mar 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: We need to be brave. I make no apology whatsoever to the public for the job I do. Nobody in the public, apart from the extremely rich, pays class K PRSI contributions. My court case was settled a couple of weeks ago and the councillors that took that case with me were looked after. Ultimately, however, we did not succeed in having class K PRSI banned. It is all very well for us sitting...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Mar 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: I am not afraid to speak on our terms and conditions of employment and if the Leader is brave enough to call a debate on it, I will take it on head on.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (29 Mar 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: A town in the Leader's good county has decided to remain dry.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (29 Mar 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: None of us would.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (29 Mar 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: In fairness, the reporting of the trial that has just ended will deter many young women from coming forward, and that is really sad.

Seanad: Councillors' Conditions: Statements (29 Mar 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: I welcome the Minister of State. Before I get into what I have to say-----

Seanad: Councillors' Conditions: Statements (29 Mar 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: -----I have to say the Minister of State's commitment to this issue is honourable. I am not sure where the logjam is, but I believe that the Minister of State wants to solve it. It is important to put this debate on councillors' pay, terms, conditions and employment, or the lack thereof, in context. There is no master-servant relationship. They are not employees. It is the same with the...

Seanad: Councillors' Conditions: Statements (29 Mar 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: In the same debate, the then Minister of State acknowledged that the annual representational payment was not fully commensurate with the workload of councillors. Having been a local authority member, I am sure that the current Minister of State would agree with that. Indeed, we could not pay them. As my colleague just pointed out, it is a 24-7 job. One councillor told me that he could not...

Seanad: Councillors' Conditions: Statements (29 Mar 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: I realise that the Minister of State, as a Kilkennyman, might have a difficulty kicking a ball. However, what he can do is learn how to kick a ball. If he is not able to kick a ball, then we will give him a hurley and he can play the ball but, for God's sake, he must play the game and start to look after the people who get him elected. In a couple of months' time, when the Minister of...

Seanad: Councillors' Conditions: Statements (29 Mar 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: I would hate that to happen.

Seanad: Councillors' Conditions: Statements (29 Mar 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: I have placed the Minister of State on the spot. He knows where he stands and what is expected from him. I wish him well as he goes forward.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Impact of Transparency on Negotiations in the Institutions of the European Union: Dr. James Cross (28 Mar 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank Dr. Cross for coming before us. It was a most interesting presentation. If those of us on the outside looking in and arguing for greater transparency had access to every document related to the European Union, would we be able to cope? It is my view that we probably would not. From Dr. Cross's use of the website, is it meta-searchable? Can we cross-reference one search word to...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Mar 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: Will the Leader invite the Minister for Health to the House to discuss addiction services in Cork, his city? I have read his comments on the area and the need for treatment centres and the setting aside of beds in the mental health unit for those who are entering detoxification, and his words on the need to amend the Mental Health Act 2001 to include addiction. I have had representations...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Mar 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: Shortly before I came in here today, I watched Leader's Questions in the Dáil. In particular I watched the debate on the proposed expulsion of a member of the Russian diplomatic community. I am shocked, to say the least, that we have decided to expel a diplomat from the Russian Embassy. To my memory, we have never engaged in anything to do with incidents that have happened in other...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Mar 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: Indeed, I would like to see whether there is anything worth being involved in from an espionage point of view in this country.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Mar 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: I was given a briefing on this matter similar to that given to party leaders. The other issue that I wish to talk about briefly is adult education and guidance services and the tremendous job those involved have done throughout the worst years of the recession. They have dealt with 52,000 people each year. I do not know whether we fully respect the work that is being done in adult...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Mar 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: We do not know who produced it. Solidarity extends to Brexit-----

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Mar 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: Are architects already working on it?

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Mar 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: Nobody hires an architect to design a house and then has a chat about it.

Seanad: An Bille um an Séú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht 2018: An Dara Céim - Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2018: Second Stage (27 Mar 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: In all honesty, I would rather be standing anywhere else than in this Chamber. I have thought long and hard about whether I would make a contribution at all. Unlike most of my colleagues here, I lived through the 1983 referendum and saw what it did to Ireland and Irish society. As the Minister spoke about where this legislation would go and the plans regarding things like sex education,...