Results 501-520 of 1,253 for speaker:John Crown

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) (Amendment) Bill 2014: Second Stage (14 May 2014)

John Crown: It is for these reasons that I espoused a very fundamental reform of the Seanad which, if it had been enacted, would have given us one nationally elected Chamber based on universal franchise. It would have afforded an opportunity for people who are not heavily politically partisan in their orientation and involvement to come in greater numbers into the Chamber. Realism dictates that the...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) (Amendment) Bill 2014: Second Stage (14 May 2014)

John Crown: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I have great pleasure in supporting and seconding Senator Barrett's Bill. I believe Senator Barrett, more than any of us, represents the epitome of the intention of the Seanad - that is, to bring expertise unencumbered by the discipline and requirements of political party membership into the halls of Parliament where it can be brought to bear in...

Seanad: Abduction of Nigerian Children: Motion (13 May 2014)

John Crown: As a parent with three children, including two daughters, I cannot but feel on a very human level the desperate tragedy playing out here and the uncertainty of the families of 200 children who do not know what conditions their children are being kept in, what depravities they may be subjected to, what their ultimate fate will be and whether they will be reunited with their families. On that...

Seanad: Abduction of Nigerian Children: Motion (13 May 2014)

John Crown: I did not realise I would be called next. Would it be out of order to ask for another Senator to be taken first? I am collecting my thoughts. Do we have time?

Seanad: Order of Business (8 May 2014)

John Crown: On a point of information, do I take it I would have the Deputy Leader's support for such a motion?

Seanad: Order of Business (8 May 2014)

John Crown: I acknowledge Deputy Shatter's true reforming zeal, the technical expertise and the enthusiasm he brought to the reform process in the Department of Justice and Equality. He showed skills in that area that could be learned by many others throughout government in this country. I think he saw current problems as problems to be fixed and not as something to wring one's hands and say "We cannot...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 May 2014)

John Crown: I welcome all my colleagues back; it is good to see them all again. I am fairly upset about two health administration related issues which have come to light during the break. One was the announcement that the HSE was sponsoring a symposium by Professor Kaplan of Harvard for 300 assorted HSE employees on the question of value for money, and paying the professor, it is rumoured,...

Seanad: Protection of Children's Health from Tobacco Smoke Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (17 Apr 2014)

John Crown: I thank the Minister as I know he will use his personal influence to ensure the Bill travels expeditiously. I hope that at some stage before the summer, I will have the opportunity to thank him and the President when he signs the Bill in the presence of Fionn O'Callaghan, who provided much of the inspiration for the Bill, on the evening when the protections it contains are enshrined. He was...

Seanad: Protection of Children's Health from Tobacco Smoke Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (17 Apr 2014)

John Crown: Is it too late to propose an amendment to the Bill?

Seanad: Protection of Children's Health from Tobacco Smoke Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (17 Apr 2014)

John Crown: I was amusing myself by working out how much of the original Bill had been left and thought I would give a brief graphic demonstration of the deletions made. I would also like to give a graphic demonstration of what is left of the original Bill. What is left of the Bill is "Be it enacted by the Oireachtas as follows". In keeping with the spirit and intent of the Bill and the co-operation...

Seanad: Protection of Children's Health from Tobacco Smoke Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (17 Apr 2014)

John Crown: Was it the Minister's decision that the Title of the Bill should be changed? Could we not even have it left intact? I ask for clarification. Is it the same Bill or a new one?

Seanad: Protection of Children's Health from Tobacco Smoke Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (17 Apr 2014)

John Crown: The two year gestation period of the Bill corresponds to an elephantine gestation period, if I remember my biology correctly. The Bill has already achieved my principal aim and that of Senators Mark Daly and Jillian van Turnhout, with Mr. Shane Conneely and other staff, that it provoke debate and have an educational role. People became aware of the real and proximate risk to the health of...

Seanad: Protection of Children's Health from Tobacco Smoke Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (17 Apr 2014)

John Crown: I agree with the amendment which we will accept. I stress that at a time when the legislative agenda is at an all-time low, the arguments for advancing the Bill in the coming term are overwhelming. This was one we had hoped would have been protecting children in the summer of 2012. We urge the Minister to take it on as a personal project and ensure his officials prioritise it. Let us get...

Seanad: Protection of Children's Health from Tobacco Smoke Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (17 Apr 2014)

John Crown: I thank An tAire and his staff for the effort that has gone into getting these Report Stage amendments which my co-sponsors, Senators van Turnhout and Daly, and I accept. We wish to see the Bill get through as quickly as possible and we understand the reasons for the fundamental change in the nature of the Bill for clarity's sake. The reason we did it this way was that we thought, perhaps...

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Certain Matters relative to An Garda Síochána and other persons) Order 2014: Motion (16 Apr 2014)

John Crown: I warmly welcome the Taoiseach to the House. The assistant commissioner, John O'Mahoney, reassured us there is no question of what has been described as a culture of non-enforcement of penalties being tolerated by the Garda Síochána but we must wonder how it comes to pass that there are now three separate inquiries into the activities of gardaí. How has it come to this? I...

Seanad: End-of-Life Care and Bereavement: Motion (16 Apr 2014)

John Crown: I do not normally do this, but I will read a brief article which was written a few years ago by Dr. Ken Murray, an American general practitioner. I found it extraordinarily informative and moving. It is one everybody looking at changing policy on end-of-life care should read. He wrote:It's not a frequent topic of discussion, but doctors die, too. And they don't die like the rest of us....

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Apr 2014)

John Crown: Yes.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Apr 2014)

John Crown: I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, come to the House to clarify the position on water tax. I am not naive; water is not free and, ultimately, comes from nature. The provision of infrastructure to deliver it safely to people's houses incurs a cost and society...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Quarterly Update on Health Issues: Minister for Health (3 Apr 2014)

John Crown: The information Mr. O'Brien has given is very helpful and I thank him very much for it. I seek clarification. Does he regard the primary problem not as the actions of the doctors but perhaps - I am trying to think of the most discreet and diplomatic way of putting this - the board being a little bit economical with some of the facts?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Quarterly Update on Health Issues: Minister for Health (3 Apr 2014)

John Crown: I am not attacking our medical schools.