Results 4,841-4,860 of 6,020 for speaker:Martin Conway

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Feb 2014)

Martin Conway: I support Senator O'Brien's call for more Government interaction to deal with the pending Aer Lingus situation. Anyone who subscribes to a pension would feel that after so many years' work, their pension entitlement should be there for them. We need to distinguish between average pensions people contribute towards all their working lives and the astronomical gold-plated pensions of senior...

Seanad: Mental Health Services Provision: Motion (19 Feb 2014)

Martin Conway: Senator Mullins is not only one of the most decent, honest and hard-working people in the Seanad, but in both Houses. That someone has put him in this invidious position is appalling. His request is simple - he seeks an independent review of the methodology used to make the decision referred to. The Houses have had plenty of independent reviews during the past three years. The least that...

Seanad: Mental Health Services Provision: Motion (19 Feb 2014)

Martin Conway: There are honourable, decent Senators. Michael Mullins is one of them.

Seanad: Mental Health Services Provision: Motion (19 Feb 2014)

Martin Conway: It is the least he deserves.

Seanad: Mental Health Services Provision: Motion (19 Feb 2014)

Martin Conway: Not at all.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Feb 2014)

Martin Conway: The information put on the record of the House by Senator Whelan, and supported by Senator Kelly, is of a serious nature. I would like to hear answers to the matter they raised. It is incumbent on the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland to make a public statement clarifying the position today, not tomorrow or next week. I agree with the sentiments of all colleagues on all sides of the...

Seanad: Free Speech, Homophobia and the role of the State Broadcaster: Motion [Private Members] (18 Feb 2014)

Martin Conway: I would like to sound a positive note. The Minister is genuine in terms of his position on this issue. There is a need to move on from what happened and to learn from the mistakes that were made. Those mistakes have been well articulated. I agree with colleagues on all sides who were somewhat dismayed at the speed with which RTE coughed up money in this instance. A significant number of...

Seanad: Free Speech, Homophobia and the role of the State Broadcaster: Motion [Private Members] (18 Feb 2014)

Martin Conway: Members of the force will not entertain the type of behaviour in question. The Judiciary is also on the side of decency. What we need to do is engage at primary and secondary school level and offer educational courses in awareness, etc., to ensure future generations will not be obliged to put up with what Senator Norris has been obliged to endure over the years in this so-called tolerant...

Seanad: Recent Flooding: Statements (12 Feb 2014)

Martin Conway: I apologise to the Minister of State that, unfortunately, I will not be in the Chamber for his responses later as I have to go down to the west to the wind and the rain. I acknowledge the fact he was the only one from the Government at the beginning who realised the seriousness of this problem. He was the only Minister who went on the public airwaves after the disaster inflicted on the...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Feb 2014)

Martin Conway: I know we will have a debate later on flooding and I thank the Leader for organising this very quickly after the last debate. If possible, will the Leader convey to the Minister of State ahead of his presence in the Seanad this afternoon that we would like a breakdown of the €70 million that will be allocated county by county? There is some uncertainty about that. There has been a...

Seanad: Public Sector Reform: Statements (11 Feb 2014)

Martin Conway: I welcome the Minister. Actions speak louder than words. He will have been in government three years, or 36 months, next month. It is not a very long time in the overall context when one takes into account reading into a brief, holidays, etc. What has been achieved must be celebrated and acknowledged. It is of international significance. We began in a programme with our reputation in...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Feb 2014)

Martin Conway: As the justice spokesperson for Fine Gael in this House, I am, like many others, very concerned about what was revealed on Sunday concerning the Garda Ombudsman Commission. To be quite frank, I was most disappointed to hear the statement from the Chairman of the Garda Ombudsman Commission on the evening news yesterday. I felt sorry for rank and file gardaí with the mention of the Garda...

Seanad: Charities Sector: Statements (4 Feb 2014)

Martin Conway: 10.30 a.m. tomorrow.

Seanad: Charities Sector: Statements (4 Feb 2014)

Martin Conway: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire go dtí an Teach. In recent weeks and months, the charities sector has been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. The tradition of charitable giving in this country goes back generations. We are a nation of givers, going back to the people who went out as missionaries all over the world. Our achievements in international peacekeeping are one...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Feb 2014)

Martin Conway: I wish to thank the Leader for organising a debate on the recent flooding incidents last Thursday week. I thought it was a very suitable and informative debate, although I would have preferred if the Minister, Deputy Hogan, or the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, had been in attendance but the Minister of State, Deputy Costello, who was in attendance, certainly took our views on board....

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Jan 2014)

Martin Conway: In 2014 we will mark the 1,000th anniversary of the death of the former High King of Ireland, Brian Boru, in the Battle of Clontarf in Dublin.

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Jan 2014)

Martin Conway: I hope 2014 will also provide an opportunity for people to learn more about and become more familiar with Ireland's mediaeval history and spread knowledge of it to visitors to Ireland. This is an important year and given that the High King's birthplace was in Killaloe, County Clare-----

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Jan 2014)

Martin Conway: ----- and that Dromoland Castle is the ancestral home of the O'Brien family, I suggest the Leader, in consultation with the Cathaoirleach and the Committee on Procedure and Privileges, investigate the possibility of Seanad Éireann holding a once-off meeting in Dromoland Castle in April or May in symbolic commemoration of the death of the High King of Ireland 1,000 years ago.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Garda Reserve (28 Jan 2014)

Martin Conway: This is not even a supplementary question, but in fairness to whatever civil servant drafted that reply, I do not believe he or she got the concept behind my proposal. It is most likely that the Garda Síochána Act 2005 will be amended in any event in light of events at the Committee of Public Accounts and so on. When that happens, I will propose that a role in law be prescribed...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Local Authority Staff Numbers (28 Jan 2014)

Martin Conway: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, to the House.