Results 5,521-5,540 of 5,763 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Feb 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: The issue must be discussed in the light of the debate in the Dáil yesterday. The Attorney General sometimes gets it wrong and when that happens, the State must carry the cost of erroneous advice. Court actions to rectify where the law is wrong frequently end up in the Supreme Court. This is a very costly place to have to go and the public carries the cost. Is the legal advice the...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Feb 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Yes; I am getting there. The advice in question had come from the Office of the Attorney General, Ms Máire Whelan, and cleared the material on the website and in the booklet, "But the Supreme Court found this week that elements of the website and booklet were 'not fair, equal or impartial'". There is also the question of the advice given in 1999 about the Aliens Act. It is my...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Feb 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I am coming to the end. These courts may make decisions on the constitutionality of any disputed matter and, as such, the advice of the Attorney General can be assigned no more weigh than any other advice available at any given time. I ask the Deputy Leader to hold a debate on the role of the and weight assigned to the advice provided by the Attorney General on legislation.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Feb 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: They got it wrong in 1999.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Feb 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: The Attorney General is the only practising barrister in the office.

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Feb 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: Given my rather short experience of Bills passing this House, it would be great if the Minister of State can have a word with the Minister for Justice and Equality about the 1998 and 2000 Acts and the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act and she can bring forward these issues. I appreciate they fall outside the scope of the Bill before the House but apparently the Minister of State has...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Feb 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I would like to cover some matters not included in this Bill. We have the perfect opportunity now to address not just the issue of gender identity recognition but other areas where discrimination against transgender persons occurs. Articles 2 and 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights guarantee the right to life and security of every person. In spite of this, many transgender people...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Feb 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I move amendment No. 33: In page 23, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following: “(6) A certified copy, a copy or a certified extract of an entry in the register of gender recognition shall not disclose the fact that the entry is contained in the register of gender recognition.”.

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Feb 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: There are opposing views but the majority of people I have met are very much in favour of not splitting up a family. I have two children. I am not sure about the Minister of State. I love my two children who have forgiven everything I have ever done to them. They have forgiven every mistake I have ever made and every decision I have ever taken. The children of one transgender person in...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Feb 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister of State is a man of his word. What he has just announced is heartening but still leaves an element of doubt, which is regrettable. In respect of Attorney Generals taking advice from other eminent senior counsel, I long for the day when an Attorney General will actually publish its advice for the country to see and tell us which eminent counsel provided assistance. I get very...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Feb 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: There are people who desperately need this. In the context of what Senator Norris was talking about, I am far from convinced that the marriage equality referendum will be passed. It has been said that 80% of the people are going to support it but the chances are that 40% of that 80% will sit at home and do nothing.

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Feb 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: As Senator Norris has said, unless we, as legislators, actively go out and drive the referendum, it is possible, if not likely that it will be defeated because huge forces will be gathered to try to ensure that it does not pass. We cannot bank everything on the possibility that there will be a review at some stage in the future which will allow us to revisit this particular section of the...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Feb 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: For the first time, I understand the difference between a classical graduate from the honourable house of Trinity and a poor economics graduate from the London School of Economics. While I will try to follow that contribution, it will be rather difficult to do. On behalf of all the groups that have made representations to me on the single requirement of the Bill, including Amnesty...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2015: Second Stage (4 Feb 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I will not need five minutes. This is my first time to address the Minister of State, Deputy Nash, in the House. I am delighted to meet him. As a trade unionist, I welcome the Bill. Anything that would streamline the process for employees who find themselves in difficulty with their employers has got to be welcomed. With the Irish Congress of Trade Unions I have a number of areas I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: National Strategy and Framework for Higher Education: Higher Education Authority (4 Feb 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank Mr. Boland and his team. At the outset, I compliment Mr. Boland on his availability to anybody who wishes to discuss the strategy at any time. His energy sometimes amazes me. He has been available to the unions and to various conferences nationwide and I compliment him on that. I am a little concerned by the requirement for mergers before the establishment of technological...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Feb 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: It would have been the way forward. I ask the Leader to arrange to have a report from that group as soon as possible. With respect to Senator Quinn and the banks, I am absolutely astonished by the fact that the banks in this country are screwing hard-pressed middle-income earners by not reducing interest rates, while at the same time dropping prices, offering switching incentives and...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Feb 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I call on the Leader to bring to the House as quickly as possible the issue of Seanad reform. The fact that I am standing here is a result of the need for Seanad reform. That was the reason I ran for election in the first instance, not expecting to be elected. I am here now and I am quite upset that we have a reform group working which has not made contact with any Member of this House...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Feb 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I find myself in the position where, if forced to, I would support the Bill because there are people sitting here who have waited 20 or more years. This little country of ours inflicted so much pain and suffering on children. Down through the generations we turned a blind eye to everything that went on in this country. Today we have a chance to lead the world in the area of gender...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Feb 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: I would love to be able to use some of the very eloquent words that have been used here today in some of the very moving speeches. All I can really say is that puberty is the most confusing time in one’s life. It is a long time ago since I went through puberty but I still remember it and it will haunt me to the grave. Could one imagine being forced to come to that age in life in a...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Feb 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: We are putting in this extra barrier.