Results 4,941-4,960 of 6,020 for speaker:Martin Conway

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Nov 2013)

Martin Conway: I did not interrupt the Senator.

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Nov 2013)

Martin Conway: It makes all graduates equal, a badly needed development. It is a significant reform in the right direction which we should be embracing. We should offer to facilitate the legislation in this House. If we need to sit extra days in the run-up to Christmas to facilitate getting this legislation through, then we should. It would be a good day for the Seanad. I admire the Government for...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Nov 2013)

Martin Conway: I take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the briefing we are to receive from Mr. Kieran Staunton, which Senator Mark Daly was instrumental in organising. The plight of the undocumented Irish in the United States can easily be forgotten on this side of the Atlantic. Given that a minimum of 50,000 of our citizens are affected, however, it is an issue that should always be at the...

Seanad: Adjournment Debate: Direct Provision System (19 Nov 2013)

Martin Conway: I assure the Minister of State that I am not shooting the messenger. However, I believe the Minister has made the wrong decision on this. There is nothing as powerful as transparency. Of course appropriate protocols would have to be put in place to which people who participated in such visits would have to adhere, and of course there are child protection criteria. Any Oireachtas Member...

Seanad: Adjournment Debate: Direct Provision System (19 Nov 2013)

Martin Conway: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, to the House. I am not a wholehearted advocate of direct provision as a means of housing people who are seeking asylum in this country, many of whom are in a distressed state. I have been to two of these centres and was not at all impressed with what I saw. We have responsibilities and duties as a State to respect and protect people...

Seanad: Adjournment Debate: Direct Provision System (19 Nov 2013)

Martin Conway: They had prior notice.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Nov 2013)

Martin Conway: I welcome Ms Jody Blake back and it is great to see her. We were inquiring for her all the time she was away. Thank God it is a sunny day and she is back. I would like to pass on my sympathies to Senator Eamonn Coghlan, as I did personally this morning at the mass. We all got a great shock at Senator Jimmy Harte's accident. We are all praying for him. I have no doubt Jimmy has huge...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Nov 2013)

Martin Conway: It behoves us all to endorse, encourage and support it. I would like the Leader, using his good offices, to establish what kind of timeframe we are looking at in order to get an answer from the Government, in particular the Minister for Health, as to when the change Joe Brolly is seeking will become Government policy.

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Nov 2013)

Martin Conway: I welcome the announcement by Ryanair that it plans to bring an additional 500,000 passengers through Dublin Airport. With the 300,000 passengers it has committed to bring through Shannon Airport and the 200,000 it plans to bring through other airports, this will mean that Michael O'Leary's airline will bring more than 1 million additional passengers into Ireland in 2014. This is proof that...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Nov 2013)

Martin Conway: The Gathering has been a remarkable success. Small events and festivals have flourished the length and breadth of the country and contributed in no small way to attracting additional tourists. The Gathering will also have an impact in 2014 because the word spread throughout the world that Ireland was a place to visit. Michael O'Leary has to be commended for delivering an additional 1...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Nov 2013)

Martin Conway: I congratulate colleagues who took part in the Oireachtas fashion show in aid of motor neuron disease last night. Senators Trevor Ó Clochartaigh and Eamonn Coghlan, as well as all the ladies, looked fabulous. Senator Hildegarde Naughton even gave us a bar of a song. It was a great night for a very worthy cause. Well done to all. Will the Leader arrange a debate on the sections of the...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Roadworthiness Testing (12 Nov 2013)

Martin Conway: I thank the Minister for his comprehensive reply. I will bring it to the attention of the Irish Road Hauliers Association which I am sure will come back with a response in due course.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Roadworthiness Testing (12 Nov 2013)

Martin Conway: I have been contacted by a number of road hauliers who are struggling at the moment. Part of the problem is the fact that their vehicles are off the road because business is so poor. They are concerned that a road worthiness certificate will only be issued for six months. There are also delays in the issuing of commercial roadworthiness certificates. I raise this issue in an effort to...

Seanad: Science Week: Statements (12 Nov 2013)

Martin Conway: The debate on this very important subject has been most enlightening. I agree with Senator Sean D. Barrett that for a smart country and smart people, we were quite dumb in 2008. There are, undoubtedly, individuals within the economy and our society who are extremely smart. Unfortunately, many of these extremely smart people are going abroad to find their feet. There must be an effort to...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2013)

Martin Conway: I noted a recent article on the Swedish penal system and the fact that the number of people committed to prison in Sweden has dropped by 1% a year since 2004. In 2001 and 2012, the rate decreased by between 6% and 12%. The decrease is to such a degree that four prisons and a remand centre there have been closed down. This has come about because of determined penal reform, education...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2013)

Martin Conway: The biggest problem with the bereavement grant that existed until now was that it was a universal payment. People who had very generous pensions and had accumulated significant resources qualified for the funeral grant. It is important to point out that even today if somebody is in financial difficulty they can go to their community welfare officer and get a payment similar to the funeral...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2013)

Martin Conway: This is an important section which reflects the genuine effort by the Minister to deal with what Senator David Norris rightly described as an extremely difficult situation. I would not necessarily disagree with the Senator when he attributes the difficulty to capitalism. We had a right-wing government in this country for 14 years and a particularly right-wing Administration for nine of...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2013)

Martin Conway: Indeed.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2013)

Martin Conway: I find it quite difficult to take on board lectures on this issue from Fianna Fáil Senators when such bizarre situations were permitted to arise under previous Administrations. I have given only one example of the types of anomalies that arose. At the same time, we have cases such as the 62 year old man who came to my office recently who, because his wife is a public servant and is...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2013)

Martin Conway: No, what I am saying is extremely relevant.