Results 21-40 of 5,746 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Mar 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I am wondering today about the woman who is in a queue in some consultant's room awaiting a diagnosis which tells her she has breast cancer, or that her child, husband or brother has cancer. I also wonder about the mother who is at home today with an autistic child who cannot get a place in school, or the young couple who have had their dreams dashed to the ground because they will never see...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Mar 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I understand that but it reflects on us, a Chathaoirligh, in that, if the Dáil is doing no business, we can do no business. At the end of the day, this has to stop. The public elect us. I know people say Senators are not elected by the public, but we are by default. I plead with all sides to set aside this nonsense and get on with the work of running this State. We need housing,...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Mar 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Hear, hear.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Mar 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I join with my colleagues who spoke about the man who was invited to the White House on St. Patrick's Day. What an insult to the Irish people to bring somebody over there who had been forced to pay a young woman €250,000 for the horrific way he treated her, and to watch a female in the White House introduce him and say how delighted, proud and fitting it was for this thug to speak to...

Seanad: Health (Scoliosis Treatment Services) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (19 Mar 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister is welcome to the House. This is my first time to meet her in this House and I offer my congratulations on her elevation. I heard the Minister interviewed on a recent RTÉ programme. She came across as a person who is not prepared to take any old answer. She came across as an assertive and committed Minister. One of the problems with the position she holds is that when...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Mar 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I want to briefly talk about the move by the Government on the triple lock. It is important to point out that no Bill has been published yet. It looks very much as if the debate will go on until the summer because it will take at least that long before the Bill comes before the joint committee and, from there, through Parliament to be debated. It is a matter of great concern that the...

Seanad: Statute Law Revision Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (6 Mar 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I second the amendment.

Seanad: The Diaspora: Statements (5 Mar 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I congratulate the Minister of State on his elevation and on his return to Leinster House. I am glad to see that he is involved in this area because he brings an energy with him in whatever area he works in. I look forward to seeing his progress as he works through this. My interest in the diaspora is the people of my generation who left Ireland. I travelled on the boat. We travel...

Seanad: Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Accidents) Bill 2024: Second Stage (4 Mar 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Some of them.

Seanad: Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Accidents) Bill 2024: Second Stage (4 Mar 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: As a fellow Galwegian, I am proud to welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am very happy with his elevation to the post. They could not have picked a better man. Having said those nice things, I will now launch into what I came to say. I served as a member of the transport and communications committee. This paperwork I have in front of me comprises the submissions that were...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 Mar 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: It is no secret that I am on the other side of the triple lock debate. The triple lock is like having your children come to you to ask if you mind if they go on summer camp, and you say that you are sorry but they will have to go up the road and ask the neighbours, and if the neighbours say it is okay, then they can go. We are a sovereign state. We were a proud sovereign state until 2001,...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Feb 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Yesterday, I spoke on neutrality and the triple lock, and I want to return briefly to that issue. The Tánaiste, Simon Harris, is about to bring forward legislation on the triple lock and there is a lot of discussion and debate among wider society about this terrible thing that is going to be brought about by the Government. There are many misconceptions that the triple lock was always...

Seanad: Response to Storm Éowyn: Statements (26 Feb 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister is welcome to the House. I congratulate him on his elevation. I believe there is now a requirement for a statutorily based overarching emergency management structure in Ireland. Storm Éowyn had a devastating impact throughout Ireland. It had a destructive impact on our critical national infrastructure, especially our electricity grid and water resources. Three weeks...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Feb 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: There has been a newfound interest in defence in this country. This weekend, there was not one publication that did not have an opinion piece of some sort expressing a view on where defence should be at. They were written by various people. It is a matter of serious concern to me that people in this House and the Lower House find themselves speaking on such things as the triple lock and...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Feb 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Over the past four years, I have spent considerable time expressing my concerns about the search and rescue, SAR, contract that was being negotiated at that time. The Leader will be aware as a Galwegian that the former GP from the Aran Islands has expressed her deep concern that Shannon is now not able to provide 24-hour, 365 day, SAR services.It is only open from 8 o'clock in the morning...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Feb 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I would ask Members when they speak, to speak into the microphones. I am deaf and we put in a loop hearing system here, which is very good, but if a Member holds notes in front of the microphone, I cannot hear the Member. I ask colleagues to bear in mind that there may be more people deaf in here, not just me.

Seanad: Election of Leas-Chathaoirleach (19 Feb 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I too will take the same position as my colleagues and will not participate in today's election. I find it deeply regrettable that we find ourselves in this situation. We have two excellent candidates. I was not aware of Senator Flynn's emergence into the competition until this morning. I had committed to Senator Byrne, a very fine Senator and a wonderful parliamentarian; both of them...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Feb 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Hear, hear.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Feb 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: There has been some discussion here of the storm and the response to it. I published a document some time ago that I also circulated to Members of the House. I will circulate it to Members again. It is about the requirement to have a statutory-based, overarching emergency management system in the State. We are one of the few states in Europe that does not have a statutory emergency...

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries and Ministerial, Parliamentary, Judicial and Court Offices (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (13 Feb 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister State is welcome to the House. I am aware of the fact that, on one side, we have a parallel process going on where we have a number of judicial cases on this issue and, on the other side, we have a transparent process being entered into by the Government. On the basis that it is transparent and open, I welcome that. As to my colleagues who have cases down in the High Court, I...