Results 5,401-5,420 of 5,752 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (27 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Like Senator Averil Power I have been sitting in my office for the past hour watching this debate. I am coming to the conclusion that there is a lack of tolerance by some of my colleagues. There is a lack of understanding of what equality is and what it means. I was fortunate enough in my own life to find somebody I loved and I have lived with that somebody for 37 years. It might just as...

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (27 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I am glad the Acting Chairman said he would put the question. It has come to the time to put the question. I have the greatest respect for my colleagues and their position but there comes a time when one has to stop flogging a dead horse and find a new one. Now is the time to do that.

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (27 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: On a point of order. To ask the Minister to provide legal opinion today is nonsense.

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: First and foremost, I support the call this morning with respect to the IMPACT special needs workers in schools. Slowly but surely, we have watched the education system being run down to a point where zero-hour contracts and contracts by the minute are almost the order of the day, and I would support IMPACT. I rise this morning in support of the call by the Dyslexia Association of Ireland...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I am totally opposed to the notion of being able to trace the original donor. I am thinking of the child because from the moment of conception using this system, the parents will be the mother and father, couple or mother to whom the child is born. I see the reason for being able to trace the genetic issues surrounding the donor.I can see no justifiable reason for being able to identify the...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: On a point of order, the Minister and her staff have been sitting here for the past four hours. In light of the fact that we have extended the debate by an hour, it would not be terrible to adjourn for ten minutes for a cup of tea.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I know, but we could have a break to allow the Minister to leave altogether.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I will take my flogging.

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: An Dara Céim - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister's day is coming to an end given that I am on my feet. I welcome the Minister and congratulate her on bringing before the House the Bill to put a referendum on marriage equality to the people in May. The legislation has been a long time coming and we might not have been here today but for the courage and conviction of Senator Zappone and her partner Ann Louise Gilligan, who...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Like previous speakers, I compliment both Irish national rugby teams on their victories, but I was saddened to see such a small turnout on Sunday for the excellent display of rugby by our female team. I congratulate them, given that it must have been difficult for the players to experience such a small turnout following the hype surrounding the men's team. They deserve great credit....

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Second Stage (24 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I compliment the Minister and her staff on this extremely complex Bill. I will not deliver an eloquent speech. There have been enough of those already. We have seen the two sides of the coin and heard the sort of debate that will come from this Bill. I want to take up Senator Crown’s last point on anonymity. I was blessed to be born into a family of 11. I came in the middle and...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Farm Safety: Discussion (23 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the witnesses for coming today. I am not from a farming background and the closest I get to a farm is when I drive past one but a number of issues concern me. Senator Cummins referred to the 96 deaths on farms in the past ten years. The terrible thing about a death on a farm is that a farm is a living thing and families have to go on living there after a fatality, frequently having...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Farm Safety: Discussion (23 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: May I mention two small issues?

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Farm Safety: Discussion (23 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Very quickly. First, on the quad bikes, we are now back where we were with tractors in the 1960s, with regard to what happens if one of those rolls over and a person is trapped under it. Second, I was referring to 12 to 15 year olds using heavy farm machinery on the land, not on the road.

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Farm Safety: Discussion (23 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I take the ICMSA's point about having so many days accident free. Maybe a sign like that is not quite the way of getting it across. However, I think there should be very visible signage around farms, in particular for people like myself who visit farms but who have no great knowledge of the dangers of the machinery, of slurry tanks and so on. In regard to the Irish Cattle and Sheep...

Seanad: Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2015: Second Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I want to congratulate the Minister for bringing in this legislation so fast to fill a loophole. In particular, I want to acknowledge the work that must have been done in his Department by civil servants burning the midnight oil to write this legislation. It raises some concerns for me that no doubt there are people employed all over the country now...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I support my former colleagues in St. Angela's College in Sligo, who are on strike today. I believe this strike has been brought about as a result of a failure to engage in discussion with respect to the takeover of St. Angela's College by NUIG. The issue I rise to speak on is one I had hoped I had put behind me many years ago and one I hoped I would never again have to face but late last...

Seanad: Ambulance Services in Dublin: Statements (10 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Mar 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I support Senator Power with respect to the Dublin ambulance service. Having had the pleasure or displeasure to travel in the back of ambulances run by both the health service and by the fire service, I have always been well looked after and I would be slow to change the existing system. I live where I live purely because it is close to St. Vincent's University Hospital should I need to go...