Results 4,181-4,200 of 6,412 for speaker:Gerald Nash

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Nov 2018)

Gerald Nash: I join with the sentiments expressed by my colleague, Senator Higgins, on the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. I participated in a ceremony in Drogheda organised by the Augustinian congregation there, a group of priests that does remarkable work with the community. It is a very progressive group which holds a very important remembrance service annually. It is organised by...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Nov 2018)

Gerald Nash: As I was saying, these reliefs are very important opportunities for ordinary working people such as bar workers, nurses, employed electricians, rail workers and others to claim back some small reliefs, for example for the purchase, cleaning or laundering of uniforms. I accept the reliefs have developed on a rather piecemeal basis over the years but now we understand Revenue is carrying out a...

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Second Stage (20 Nov 2018)

Gerald Nash: I cannot assure the Minister that I will be brief and I hope that she and the Cathaoirleach will indulge me. I am pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to this very important debate. I welcome the Minister and her officials who have worked very hard over many years to get to this point. In fairness, I also wish to give the Minister her due credit for sticking with this project. I...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Hospital Facilities (8 Nov 2018)

Gerald Nash: The capital programme for health projects, approved by the previous Government, included provision for a badly needed extension to the emergency department at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, my local hospital. The hospital has been synonymous with serious overcrowding. This project, worth more than €20 million, was a welcome addition to the health infrastructure in the area...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Hospital Facilities (8 Nov 2018)

Gerald Nash: I hope that health service staff in Drogheda and elsewhere in the north east, particularly staff across all disciplines at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, will be reassured by what the Minister of State said. The additional X-ray room is critically important if the full diagnostic capacity of the hospital is to work. We have additional new beds. As I said in my opening remarks, if a new...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Job Losses (23 Oct 2018)

Gerald Nash: Last Friday, the Authentic Food Company's plant in Dundalk went into interim liquidation. The staff of 180, some of whom have given up to 25 years of loyal service to the factory, look set to lose their jobs. The dogs on the street knew for some time that things were not right. Appeals from staff for clarity about the future intentions of the company fell, unfortunately, on deaf ears in...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Job Losses (23 Oct 2018)

Gerald Nash: I thank the Minister of State for his reply. Many of the details he has put on the record are available to the trade union and the staff. I reiterate my appreciation of the efforts made by the staff of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection to assist workers who find themselves in a dreadful position. They were aware for some time that something was not right in this...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Job Losses (23 Oct 2018)

Gerald Nash: -----and unamended then they will continue to do so. While I understand that this is not the Minister of State's policy area or field of expertise, I would like to hear his view on the matter as a legislator and public representative.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Oct 2018)

Gerald Nash: I thank Senator Devine for acknowledging my work on the issue which I raised and debated earlier with the Minister of State. Apart from the requirement to ensure the staff will receive the entitlements they are due, there is a bigger issue at play - showing respect for workers caught up in insolvencies where organisations simply believe they can get away with impunity, putting staff on the...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Oct 2018)

Gerald Nash: I would imagine-----

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Oct 2018)

Gerald Nash: Probably more pertinently in the opinion polls as well.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Oct 2018)

Gerald Nash: One of the important aspects of the original confidence and supply arrangement was the requirement that all arrangements between the Government and Independent Deputies on whom it depended for its support would be published, but we have seen no such material arising from that or evidence in writing to suggest the dirty deals that may have been done to buy the support of Independent Deputies.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Oct 2018)

Gerald Nash: That is something that should be of great concern to everybody who is interested in democracy and ethics. This is a matter not just for Fine Gael but for Fianna Fáil as well. I ask that it would focus clearly on those arrangements and demand that Fianna Fáil ensures that takes centre stage in the context of this renewed relationship I anticipate will happen.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Oct 2018)

Gerald Nash: As part of this much derided new politics, Bills have passed Second Stage in the Dáil and the Seanad that, at least under the terms of the confidence and supply arrangement, were supposed to move to Committee Stage within ten weeks of their Second Stage passage in both Houses. Unfortunately, approximately 200 of them have been sent to the place where Bills go to die, so to speak. I ask...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Oct 2018)

Gerald Nash: -----and not pretend that the Government agrees with all of these Bills. If they do not agree with them, they can vote against them. That is the best thing to do.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Oct 2018)

Gerald Nash: I also referred to insolvency.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Oct 2018)

Gerald Nash: I was not involved; I was a backbencher at the time.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Oct 2018)

Gerald Nash: Maybe as part of the renewal of the confidence and supply agreement.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Oct 2018)

Gerald Nash: We have done more than our bit for Ireland.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Oct 2018)

Gerald Nash: Yes.