Results 541-560 of 1,028,016 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Thomas Gould OR speaker:Brendan Howlin)

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: Is that in these terms, in primary legislation?

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: If I may finish the point, we have evolved to allow ever greater freedom. There was a total ban on anybody in a public service job being involved in politics, and that has evolved to apply to a certain rank. I am not suggesting we allow any political involvement among our Defence Forces, but we have to meet the principles that were agreed on in as unrestrictive a way as possible. That is...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: Absolutely.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: I did not say that; I am saying that what applies in the public service is not as restrictive as what the Tánaiste suggests. That is my judgment on it.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: We are not talking about-----

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: -----Secretaries General; we are talking about enlisted men.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: Let us not-----

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: Let us not ascribe base motives to each other.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: That is what the Tánaiste has just embarked upon.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: Then he is ascribing base motives.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: The Tánaiste either is or he is not.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: But nobody is suggesting that.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: The Tánaiste should answer the questions rather than make charges about people.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: I am not trying to be all things to all people.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: The Tánaiste said that I am here a while, and I recognise a debating tactic when I see one. He created a straw man so he could knock it down. It is not proper for the Tánaiste to say that I suggested I want to erode an apolitical public service. Nobody suggested that. I am saying that an evolution is happening. I have tabled amendments over the years to allow for association...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: This is an association, not individual members. The Bill states, "2A. (1) An association shall not—"

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: An association-----

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: Does the Tánaiste think it right that an association, in saying the association should exist, etc., should not make a public statement or comment concerning a political matter or matter of Government policy?

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: But-----

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: Of course.