Results 4,061-4,080 of 5,013 for speaker:Victor Boyhan

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jul 2018)

Victor Boyhan: -----until the GRECO report is published by the Government. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, would have stood up in the Lower House to demand accountability and transparency but today I challenge him. He is aware, like all Ministers, of the GRECO report. We need to see it and decide for ourselves what is in it. Let it not come back to haunt us in two weeks or...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome the Minister to the House. He was not here earlier when Members had a fairly heated debate about the Group of States Against Corruption, GRECO, report but I will leave him with one line before turning to talk about the amendments. The Minister or members of the Government might reflect on the GRECO report tonight, which I understand to be a very significant report. It has been...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Victor Boyhan: Fianna Fáil has told me that it is looking for someone.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I urge the Minister for Justice and Equality to call the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport's bluff and let him walk. Does the Minister for Justice and Equality think that the other boys in the same group will walk? I firmly believe that they will not walk the plank with him. I urge the Government to stand up to him and I say that because it needs to be said. All the journalists...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Victor Boyhan: Let us wait and see.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Victor Boyhan: Fine Gael has a long tradition in law and order, and of supporting and respecting the Judiciary. If Fine Gael wants to make a stand then it can do so and allow a judge or a member of the legal profession to be considered for appointment to chair the commission.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I wish to tease out some points. I am somewhat taken aback by what the Minister said because he did caution Senator Craughwell and said he would be a bit disappointed. Rightly or wrongly, he gave the impression — he will have an opportunity to clarify this — that he had sight of, or knowledge of, the report. Did someone else have sight of the report and say he or she had...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Victor Boyhan: The Minister might also confirm the date it was received in his Department?

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Victor Boyhan: Did his Secretary General receive this report? Did he bring it to the Minister's attention? Communication seems to have been a bit of a problem in the Department of Justice and Equality historically. I hope there is not another issue, challenge or problem that is going to affect the Minister. Can he tell us whether any official in his Department tipped him off, notified him or told him of...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (27 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I am grateful to the Leas-Chathaoirleach for the selection of this Commencement matter. I warmly welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Damien English, to the House. He is always very welcome and it is always good to see him. I thank him for taking up my invitation to make a statement on the possible further expansion of the local infrastructure housing activation fund, or LIHAF, scheme....

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (27 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I thank the Minister of State for that comprehensive report. I welcome the fact that the call for the funding will be issued later this week. From what the Minister of State stated, I am not quite sure it will be exclusively to fund State lands or public lands. Let us not get caught up on whose they are. They are public lands. The real controversy is that we have vast tracts of State...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I had intended to speak on one matter, but I will first touch on the issue of housing raised by Senator Ardagh. When the Minister of State, Deputy English, took my Commencement matter on the local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF, this morning, he stated that he would this week announce a second round. That is positive news and should be acknowledged. In conjunction with local...

Seanad: Education (Digital Devices in Schools) Bill 2018: Second Stage (27 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I support the legislation. I welcome the Minister to the House and acknowledge his work on digital technology. He has been very conscientious and vocal about same. I also acknowledge that he published a circular that requires all schools to consult parents, teachers and students on the use of smartphones and tablet devices in schools, which is important. We need to have a tripartite...

Seanad: Summer Economic Statement: Statements (27 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: We will work with the order as it stands.

Seanad: Summer Economic Statement: Statements (27 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: With a little flexibility.

Seanad: Summer Economic Statement: Statements (27 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I do not want to cut in on the time but I will share with my colleague, Senator Marshall.

Seanad: Summer Economic Statement: Statements (27 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: Yes. The Acting Chairman might indicate when I have one minute left. I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, to the House to discuss the summer economic statement. I note the importance of maintaining a broad tax base which generates sustainable revenue streams necessary to fund public services. It is important to remember that we live in a...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I wish to raise three issues. There was much discussion in the media over the weekend about the Council of Europe and the anti-corruption body known as GRECO, the Group of States against Corruption. I do not want to pre-empt what I hope will be a lively and engaging debate on the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill next week, but suffice to say it is reported in the press that the Chief...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: I feel that I should be in the Seanad voting against the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport's Judicial Appointments Bill but I will not do so. I welcome the Minister, Ms Hurley and Mr. Kelly to this meeting. The reports are very interesting although I have not read them in great detail. There is a lot of meat in them and a lot to glean and learn from them. However, it is very...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Jun 2018)

Victor Boyhan: Today is World Refugee Day, which honours the strength and courage of refugees and encourages public awareness and support of refugees and people who have had to flee their homeland because of conflict and natural disaster. It is a good reason to have a World Refugee Day and stand in solidarity with such people. Today we received a report from Mr. Brian Dawson, the communications manager of...