Results 4,161-4,180 of 5,762 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: Second Interim Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matters: Statements (17 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: I must ask the Senator to conclude.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Public Transport Provision (16 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the Minister for recent correspondence on the issue I raise. While I was pleased to receive a comprehensive account regarding some public transport projects being funded from the Exchequer capital transport envelope, I am disappointed it is proving difficult to draw a clear line between investment in the greater Dublin area and the rest of the country, specifically Cork city and...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Public Transport Provision (16 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the Minister for his comprehensive answer. I suppose that when we are talking about capital investment and projects such as this one it might be helpful to publish figures upfront for the various metropolitan areas or large urban areas outside the greater Dublin area. The Minister will be aware of the number of times people like him and me, who live in the capital, are accused of...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: Tonight's "Prime Time" programme will feature a piece on the Defence Forces. I commend PDFORRA and RACO on their excellent work on behalf of their members. The Leader will be aware that neither of these two representative bodies has the full rights of a trade union and therefore they are extremely limited in what they can and cannot do. Anybody watching what is going on at the moment hears...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: We need a director of national security.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: He will take advice from the Attorney General, but that is a position Senator McDowell held.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: I am not for a moment-----

Seanad: Order of Business (16 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: Soldiers are living in poverty.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: They would not do so. No soldier would ever go on strike.

Seanad: Migrant Integration Strategy: Statements (16 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: I was fortunate enough to bump into the Minister of State prior to departing for Ragusa on a 40 hour round trip to Sicily to look at migrant reception centres there. I commend the Minister of State and his Department on putting this strategy in place, for it has not arrived a day too early. The crisis of migration across the Mediterranean is in its infancy. I was shocked by the numbers I...

Seanad: Migrant Integration Strategy: Statements (16 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: -----and take him to parts of Dublin where children attend national and secondary schools in which there is not one white child. They are all migrants. Why do I say this? I say it because we have a problem. It is not the Minister of State's problem. This was in place a long time before he was in place. We have ghettoised-----

Seanad: Migrant Integration Strategy: Statements (16 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: I will conclude in two seconds. We have ghettoised the problem. We have racism growing at a phenomenal rate and cultural issues in our schools. The absolute rejection of things such as sex education in our schools was reported to me recently. These are issues coming down the line. I wish the Minister of State well with the migrant integration strategy and congratulate him on bringing it...

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Engagement with Representatives of the Transport Sector (11 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the witnesses for attending today, particularly Mr. Sean Kennedy who flew in for this meeting. Open skies exist between the European Union and the United States. Should the United Kingdom decide it does not want to be part of that, is there an opportunity for Ireland to become the European hub for transatlantic flights? There is a suggestion that British Airways has been...

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Engagement with Representatives of the Transport Sector (11 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: One of the witnesses said in relation to Border posts that it might be necessary to alter railway stations. Is that a contingency plan that is in place now? Hard or soft, once there is a Border, immigration plans can be implemented at any time.

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Engagement with Representatives of the Transport Sector (11 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: I agree with Senator McDowell, anyway.

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Engagement with Mr. Eamon Gilmore (11 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank Mr. Gilmore for being here today. I am sure there are many other things he could be doing apart from sitting here, but we feel that his experience on the international stage is vital. I will deal first and foremost with the referendum issue, if I may. I firmly believe that Britain, a country that fought in two world wars, will not back down even if they realise that their current...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Semester - National Reform Programme: Discussion (10 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the gentlemen very much for coming here this afternoon. Reference was made to corporate tax and volatile tax, and the use thereof. Does the ESRI see any benefit in using windfalls from these taxes to deal with crises like, for example, the housing crisis that exists now in the country? We cannot guarantee these taxes into the future but could we use what is there to meet immediate...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Semester - National Reform Programme: Discussion (10 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: Regardless of what option is taken in terms of third-level education, it is my view that education is a public good and there should be no system of charges for it. Leaving that aside, does the witness agree that the third-level institutions, driven by budgets, are driving the need for third-level education on the academic side? In the Finnish model, one can come through either the academic...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Semester - National Reform Programme: Discussion (10 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: Our distinguished guests did not appear before the committee to listen to political wrangling between parties. There must be an election in the air. We want to hear their expert opinions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Semester - National Reform Programme: Discussion (10 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: The notion of in-work poverty seems to work its way through everything Ms Murphy has said this afternoon. My own term for it is "living in income poverty". There can be nothing more soul-destroying than picking up one's cheque at the end of the week, or the end of the month as the case may be, to find that all one has is enough to make ends meet, with absolutely no spare cash whatsoever. ...