Results 3,881-3,900 of 5,013 for speaker:Victor Boyhan

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Jan 2019)

Victor Boyhan: This room is too cold.

Seanad: Climate Action: Statements (24 Jan 2019)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome the Minister to what is a challenging yet very exciting Ministry. I have no doubt he will excel as he does in most things. I genuinely wish him well. I will not repeat what previous speakers have said. It would be helpful if the Minister could circulate his speech because it is always helpful to have it. I came in thinking there was one but there is not one.

Seanad: Climate Action: Statements (24 Jan 2019)

Victor Boyhan: I know the Minister can wing it, and wing it well, but it would be helpful to reference it. What Senator Humphreys said was right in that it was a bit of a sham when we had Ministers coming into the House, darting in from the side, saying their piece and then running out. They did not have the courtesy to stay here and listen to the Members. I thought that was quite disrespectful. It is...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 Jan 2019)

Victor Boyhan: I endorse everything Senator Lawless said on the E3 visa legislation and I commend and thank him. We in this House owe him and others in both Houses of the Oireachtas a debt of gratitude. It is important work and it is continuing. I can see why the Taoiseach of the day appointed Senator Lawless. I wish him well with that and I hope we can use our connections to push the matter along. I...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 Jan 2019)

Victor Boyhan: That was good advice.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Irish National Election Study: Discussion (23 Jan 2019)

Victor Boyhan: First of all I want to thank the witnesses because they have done a very important piece of work. In advance of the meeting we saw the Irish national election study they were involved with. In their submission the witnesses raised a number of issues. The submission said that "Ireland has high levels of electoral integrity but equally these studies have highlighted areas of serious concern...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral and Referendum Reform: Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (23 Jan 2019)

Victor Boyhan: I thank the witnesses. I have read their submission and it made for interesting reading. I do not want to dwell too much on the past but nor do I want to look too much into the future. From the deliberations with both panels today, it is clear that something is going to happen. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to establish some sort of electoral reform. There is a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral and Referendum Reform: Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (23 Jan 2019)

Victor Boyhan: With the statutory process where the public notice is made about people being removed from a register, I gave the example of a woman who received no notice except for a letter a week beforehand. I have a copy of the letter on my desk and I contacted the authority. Are statistics kept with regard to such matters? Who keeps the registers? I have made inquiries but do the witnesses know the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral and Referendum Reform: Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (23 Jan 2019)

Victor Boyhan: Are they obliged to make the statistics public?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral and Referendum Reform: Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (23 Jan 2019)

Victor Boyhan: Why not? Someone needs to know. There needs to be a transparent process.

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

Victor Boyhan: I wish to speak about Bethany Home. We heard on "Morning Ireland" this morning that the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs was due to bring a memorandum to Cabinet this morning seeking a 12-month extension for Judge Yvonne Murphy to carry out her very important work, on which I commend her. We do not need a lesson here today to explain why things have gone way beyond the original...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Jan 2019)

Victor Boyhan: Does the Minister agree with that?

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Jan 2019)

Victor Boyhan: We have had a good debate. What Senator Bacik is talking about is gender opportunity quotas and I agree with that. Sometimes it is about the language we use. I agree with Senator McDowell that it has to be an appointment on merit alone. I accept what Senator Bacik says about gender opportunity quotas because that is an important issue but ultimately section 7 refers to the appointment on...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Dec 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I will not go into the Local Government Bill 2018 at this stage because we will have time tonight. The Minister of State, Deputy Phelan, made a good and positive suggestion last night, that we would have an all-day session in the Seanad on the role of local government with an emphasis on elected mayors, I presume executive elected mayors. I am aware the Leader was present for most of the...

Seanad: Local Government Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2018)

Victor Boyhan: Senator Buttimer referred to council and local government assets, an issue that is central to different parts of this Bill. We know from the reports of the Local Government Audit Service, which are published online, that virtually none of the 31 local authorities has a definitive, clear asset management system in place. That is one of the great anomalies in local government, which holds...

Seanad: Local Government Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I heard what the Minister said about the asset register but there are problems there which are documented on the website. The local government auditing services do an exceptionally good job across many local authorities. I suggest we festina lente- or hasten slowly - but I am happy to support the Cork-related aspects of this. I am not a fool. We have a confidence and supply agreement...

Seanad: Local Government Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2018)

Victor Boyhan: On a point of order, we have had a vote and moved on.

Seanad: Local Government Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2018)

Victor Boyhan: That is grand. I was just clarifying that.

Seanad: Local Government Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2018)

Victor Boyhan: On the amendment, and nothing other than the amendment, Senator Lombard has made a strong case for the review and spoke strongly in favour of Senator Grace O'Sullivan's amendment. I was always going to support Senator Grace O'Sullivan who has done a lot of work on this and made it clear what her objectives are. Senator Ó Domhnaill asks how we measure this. That is really important....

Seanad: Local Government Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I understand that sections 48 and 49 planning contribution levies are not specific to site development but for the greater good of infrastructure throughout the county and we should be mindful of that. It is not related directly to the development of a kilometre around it, for instance, but feeds into the central infrastructure. However, I will not say too much now as we will discuss all of...