Results 3,841-3,860 of 8,984 for speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

International Protection Bill 2015: Second Stage (10 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: This Bill promised to ensure asylum seekers were treated with respect and humanity within a framework of more efficient immigration procedures and safeguards. While Sinn Féin welcomes these attempts, the Bill fails to achieve those aims. It fails to embed the principle of the best interests of the child and the attendant weaknesses which will potentially expose children to harm. It...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Public Sector Recruitment Panels: Public Appointments Service (9 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Before we commence, I remind everybody present to ensure their mobile telephones are turned off to prevent interference with the sound system. The purpose of today's meeting is to discuss protocols and procedures in regard to the establishment and management of recruitment panels by the Public Appointments Service, PAS. I am pleased to welcome Ms Fiona Tierney, chief executive officer of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Public Sector Recruitment Panels: Public Appointments Service (9 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: What level of oversight does the board have on closing panels and extending their duration?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Public Sector Recruitment Panels: Public Appointments Service (9 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Is it normal practice for the board to ask about the rationale for closing or extending a panel?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Public Sector Recruitment Panels: Public Appointments Service (9 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Obviously, not everybody on a panel will get a job in the public service or the Civil Service, but has Ms Tierney come across situations where persons on a panel have hopes but a new competition is run for new panellists? Has a complaint ever been made because people thought they had a chance but the creation of a whole new panel dashed their hopes? Has this ever been brought to Ms...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Public Sector Recruitment Panels: Public Appointments Service (9 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: It is just a general point.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Public Sector Recruitment Panels: Public Appointments Service (9 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I will rephrase the question. It is not that a person has an expectancy that he or she would get a job, it is that the person was on a panel. For argument's sake, let us say there were 200 people on a panel for a particular type of job in the public service, and without the knowledge or understanding of those on the panel, an invitation is issued for people to come onto a new panel....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Public Sector Recruitment Panels: Public Appointments Service (9 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I must state I have.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Public Sector Recruitment Panels: Public Appointments Service (9 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I have listened to all the witnesses' answers and in fairness, it has been an authoritative contribution throughout. However, I am unsure whether I received an answer with regard to the scenario in which a citizen has applied for a position in the public service and has been informed he or she is on a panel. Is one instructed clearly when the nature of that panel changes? I would imagine...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Public Sector Recruitment Panels: Public Appointments Service (9 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: This issue came through as a petition. While the joint committee does not address specific cases, members thought there was a general case. In addition, through my own role as a public representative, I have had concern expressed regarding people's sense that the framework under which they were operating in hope had changed. Obviously, nobody can have expectancy in this regard, as a panel...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Public Sector Recruitment Panels: Public Appointments Service (9 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: It is a process issue.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Public Sector Recruitment Panels: Public Appointments Service (9 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Very well; I believe that is everything. I thank the witnesses and I really appreciated their contribution today.

Order of Business (9 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The Taoiseach might be aware that there has been serious criticism of the International Protection Bill from all the non-governmental organisations, NGOs, that work with asylum seekers and refugees in the State. They are devastated about the missed opportunity and the failure to consult the working group on issues with the direct provision centres and the profound failures that have...

Order of Business (9 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: -----and understand. Will the Taoiseach ensure that the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill, which will deal with those issues, is introduced before the Christmas recess? There is serious concern that there will be two different legal realities on this island which obviously will have implications for the State. Will the Taoiseach address that before he calls an election? I urge him to do...

Leaders' Questions (9 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Communities in various parts of the State have been devastated in the wake of Storm Desmond with extensive flooding to homes and businesses. Earlier this morning, I read yesterday's transcript, which showed that 17 Government and Opposition Deputies from across the State raised the concerns of their communities in counties Westmeath, Roscommon, Cork, Kerry, Laois, Clare, Galway, Mayo and...

Leaders' Questions (9 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: As I said, yesterday 17 Government and Opposition Deputies spoke. Nobody has a monopoly of concern about this issue that affects communities across the west. The Deputies pointed out practical issues regarding the maintenance and cleaning of rivers and issues around CFRAM's flood risk management. The Taoiseach is very familiar with County Donegal. While Deputies spoke about flooding for...

Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: From the Seanad (9 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I am pleased to have another opportunity, by way of these amendments from the Seanad, to outline my perspective on the progress of this Bill since its introduction. I read with some intrigue the news reports in recent weeks, most of which entirely miss the point of what the legislation is about. Sometimes in these Houses we operate in something of a bubble and get caught up in policy and...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Wild Atlantic Way Project (9 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 203. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of an application from Donegal County Council for funding to further develop the potential of Malin Head in County Donegal, Ireland's most northerly point and a key location on the Wild Atlantic Way. [44271/15]

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: State Properties (8 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 183. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his views on the recent structural problems that have been discovered at the Department of Social Protection's offices at Buncrana in County Donegal, his plans to address these; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43726/15]

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: IDA Supports (8 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 210. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the status of the Industrial Development Agency Ireland's office in Letterkenny in County Donegal. [44140/15]