Results 5,321-5,340 of 8,986 for speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Contracts (18 Sep 2014)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: This is the same as a question the Minister dealt with earlier, but I want to develop it a little further. Undoubtedly, it is of considerable concern to the people of Ireland that we are involved in commerce with the arms business in Israel. I got the Minister's response to my letter. Regardless of the framework, we must make our own decisions in these matters.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Contracts (18 Sep 2014)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Normally I would not disagree, but I am thinking of Russia. Currently, we have sanctions against Russia and our agriculture sector is facing the same sanctions reciprocally. Another example is the sanctions against Iran. I am sure there are other countries that face sanctions now. There should be severe sanctions against Israel. The reason there are not any sanctions against Israel is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Contracts (18 Sep 2014)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: This is a helpful discussion. It shows the conundrum we face around our neutrality and our partnership with European countries that are members of NATO. It is destroying our neutrality when we take collective decisions. For example, we abstained on the vote in the UN on the need for a report into what one, being gentle, would describe as human rights abuses that were taking place in the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: UN Missions (18 Sep 2014)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: A number of issues have arisen in the media reporting of this in recent times which I have to put to the Minister. It has been reported that in one of the operations, but for the intervention of the Israeli Defence Forces, our troops would have been in a very dangerous situation. Will the Minister clarify what happened in that regard? It has also been reported that it was a United Nations...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: UN Missions (18 Sep 2014)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: We are very proud of the role the Defence Forces have played across the world under the United Nations and owe them a debt of gratitude. The problem with the UNDOF mission is that we had a debacle in the UN Security Council in issuing a response to the Syrian conflict. Moreover, the European Union's decision to remove the arms embargo on Syria created a serious difficulty. For this reason,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: UN Missions (18 Sep 2014)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 2. To ask the Minister for Defence his views that the UNDOF mission in the Golan Heights is still viable in its current format; his further views that the UN should review its mandate in this regard; and if Irish troops will be withdrawn from serving on this mission considering that the Golan Heights is now a conflict zone in Syria's civil war. [34812/14]

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Naval Service Operations (18 Sep 2014)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 12. To ask the Minister for Defence the position regarding Ireland’s naval base allowing non-manned aeroplanes or drones to land. [34539/14]

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Air Traffic Control Services (18 Sep 2014)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 14. To ask the Minister for Defence if he granted permission for two F16 jets to fly across Dublin on 30 August for an American football event held in Croke Park, Dublin. [34542/14]

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Official Engagements (18 Sep 2014)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 23. To ask the Minister for Defence if he will provide an update on his recent trip to the NATO summit in Wales. [34541/14]

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Ministerial Transport (18 Sep 2014)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 34. To ask the Minister for Defence if there are plans to maintain or replace the Government jet. [34540/14]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Redressing the Imbalance Report: Free Legal Advice Centres (17 Sep 2014)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: As the witnesses from FLAC may know, the context of its presentation today is that we are working on one of our public petitions that is challenging the secrecy of the Central Bank's financial regulator and the issue of accountability around the process and the outcome. Does FLAC have a perspective on that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Redressing the Imbalance Report: Free Legal Advice Centres (17 Sep 2014)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: On behalf of the joint committee I thank Ms Blackwell and Mr. Joyce for attending today's meeting and for engaging in a most interesting and wide-ranging discussion. We are very grateful to both of them for taking the time to meet the committee and we will take account of the exchanges in our deliberations. We will publish a report and of course we will have to deliberate on the petition at...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Redressing the Imbalance Report: Free Legal Advice Centres (17 Sep 2014)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: There is no database of decisions by the Financial Services Ombudsman. How can we, as legislators, be aware of the scale of the problem if we do not have the necessary statistics? For example, how can we identify if there is a problem in the hire purchase area or with personal loans?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Redressing the Imbalance Report: Free Legal Advice Centres (17 Sep 2014)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: People think of the Ombudsman as the impartial judge based on its translation from its Nordic origins. It is an independent arbiter that looks at the complaints, gives the body that is being complained about a chance to respond and then adjudicates and makes a recommendation. I know the witnesses have a number of recommendations in the report on the Financial Services Ombudsman. Would they...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Redressing the Imbalance Report: Free Legal Advice Centres (17 Sep 2014)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Yes, although I am giving some poetic licence.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Redressing the Imbalance Report: Free Legal Advice Centres (17 Sep 2014)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: If Deputy Kitt were in the Chair in the Dáil, he would not give such latitude.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Redressing the Imbalance Report: Free Legal Advice Centres (17 Sep 2014)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I thank Mr. Joyce for the outstanding work he has put into this report. I invite the members of the committee to ask some questions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Redressing the Imbalance Report: Free Legal Advice Centres (17 Sep 2014)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Apologies have been received from Senators Harte, Ó Clochartaigh and O'Keeffe. I remind everyone present, including members of the committee, media personnel and those in the Visitors Gallery to ensure their mobile phones and BlackBerry devices are turned off completely, or switched to flight or safe mode, because they interfere with the sound system, even if they are in silent mode....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: National Disability Authority: Chairperson Designate (17 Sep 2014)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: As Members we are being lobbied by the carer representative associations about cutbacks in recent years. In fairness to all Members, regardless of political perspectives, we have much empathy with carers. They do heroic work while giving love, support and sustenance to their dependants. We want to get to a position where these carers can be fully supported. Leaving aside empathy and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: National Disability Authority: Chairperson Designate (17 Sep 2014)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Another issue is the mobility allowance and the motorised transport grant. Both of those schemes were suspended because the Ombudsman found them to act outside the law with regard to equality legislation because they were not available to elderly people. When the Department considered the matter, the estimate to deal with it came to approximately €500 million and that would not be...