Results 5,001-5,013 of 5,013 for speaker:Victor Boyhan

Seanad: Waste Management: Motion (22 Jun 2016)

Victor Boyhan: I wish to share my time with Senator Norris.

Seanad: Waste Management: Motion (22 Jun 2016)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome the Minister to the House. This is an important debate and I thank Sinn Féin for tabling the motion before us today. That motion calls for the annulment of a statutory instrument, to be specific. There has been a lot of wandering off during this debate onto other issues on the Order Paper, previous debates and debates that we may have in the coming days. As I said a number...

Seanad: Waste Management: Motion (22 Jun 2016)

Victor Boyhan: There are no takers.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Jun 2016)

Victor Boyhan: In most of the media today, there have been comments that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government is proposing to instruct local authorities to introduce charges for civic bring centres. This is rather odd, as it is meant to be Government policy that we allow and empower local authorities to make decisions over their affairs and operate within their budgets. This is...

Seanad: Health: Statements (21 Jun 2016)

Victor Boyhan: I will be very brief. I will not even be one minute. Firstly, I congratulate the Minister on his appointment and thank him for yet again coming into the Seanad. There is clearly not much mention of the National Treatment Purchase Fund in the programme for Government. In the past it has demonstrated itself as being a very able, efficient and very focused group. Under this new Government...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Jun 2016)

Victor Boyhan: I received two letters and three telephone calls in the past two days relating to the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire. It has been said on numerous occasions that a totally new hospital was to be built there. It was then said that there were setbacks and that it was to be an extension. On his next visit to the House, could the Minister for Health give us a...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jun 2016)

Victor Boyhan: Will the Leader considering inviting the Minister, Deputy Simon Coveney, to the House to explain and give some rationale regarding a proposal that was announced in the national media yesterday about the provision of €200 million for a critical infrastructure fund? We know we have a social and affordable housing crisis in this country. Everyone in politics and public life knows that,...

Seanad: Election of Leas-Chathaoirleach (15 Jun 2016)

Victor Boyhan: I endorse what Senator McDowell said, first in respect of the call for a secret ballot for these positions. That is very important and valid. It has happened in Dáil Éireann, why should it not happen in Seanad Éireann? That is a challenge to all of us as Senators with our respective contacts and parties. Senator Craughwell is neither an undertaker nor a caretaker but has...

Seanad: Poverty and Homelessness: Motion (15 Jun 2016)

Victor Boyhan: First, I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House and giving his time. I appreciate that he is busy. It has been a good debate on homelessness and the provision of homes. Both the motion and the amendment are valid and I do not see any reason not to support both. That is my view.

Seanad: Poverty and Homelessness: Motion (15 Jun 2016)

Victor Boyhan: There are many Senators who have personally experienced at first hand the issues in local authorities. I am disappointed to say that the local authority I come from, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown, which would be considered perhaps one of the most affluent parts of the country, built six houses last year. There are 5,500 people on the housing list, many of whom are families. That is not a...

Seanad: Poverty and Homelessness: Motion (15 Jun 2016)

Victor Boyhan: Why did the previous Government introduce a tenant purchase scheme when, for example, the local authority from which I have come has built six houses and when we know there are hundreds of people already applying and qualifying to purchase these houses? Forget about the principle of selling or not selling. We will be forced to sell more houses than we are building. What guarantee is there...

Seanad: Poverty and Homelessness: Motion (15 Jun 2016)

Victor Boyhan: There are social implications for the children and there is exposure and vulnerability for families. There are also issues of child protection and safety, as they are hauled around the streets and into hostels before going back to councils, humiliated. We need to support people with other difficulties, such as disability and adult literacy problems, who come to housing agencies. A woman...

Seanad: Election of Cathaoirleach (8 Jun 2016)

Victor Boyhan: It is a great pleasure for all of us today, sitting here observing what is happening. We all have taken a long journey. We have come here with our own experiences, traditions, cultures and challenges and I agree it is a day of celebration. I thank Senator Norris for his words, which were, in some ways, provocative. However, many of them need to be examined. No doubt we have looked at...