Results 5,621-5,640 of 5,752 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: Maybe the Minister should go back and have a look at it. Let us all try to find a way that we can guarantee ownership. We cannot guarantee ownership with this plebiscite. I would like the Minister to give a direct answer to Senator Cullinane's question. Is it possible for the Minister to introduce an amendment now or at some stage in the future or for any Minister to do so?

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: It is not a case of being the brave one. We saw Lisbon II.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: We did not like Lisbon I and we did not like Lisbon II. Are we going to have plebiscite one, two, three and four, until such a time as some future Minister gets the answer he or she wants? I have huge reservations about this. I support the Minister in trying to fund water but I cannot support this Bill without a referendum. While I would like to stay on my feet talking, I am just totally...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I tire of the manner in which things are done in this country. A constitutional referendum was proposed to ensure protection of the right of the people of Ireland to their water. Article 10.3 of the Constitution states: "Provision may be made by law for the management of the property which belongs to the State by virtue of this Article and for the control of the alienation, whether...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I can read the Constitution too.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I will leave that to Senator Landy. I am sure he is well capable of it. Did the Minister not learn anything from the protests on our streets?

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I am not sure the Minister did.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: Senator Barrett's amendment is being debated. At least it goes some way towards meeting the requirements that I would have had. I intend to ask Senator Barrett not to push for that today because I am going to see if there is a way I can reintroduce a wording similar to what I have in my amendment for a constitutional referendum. I will deal with the Cathaoirleach's office and some of the...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I join with Senators who have wished the Cathaoirleach and the staff of the Seanad a happy Christmas. I shall now refer to the letter I got from him this morning that ruled my amendment to the Water Services Bill out of order. It is for that reason, and for that reason alone, that I again call for us to amend the Order of Business and take the Water Services Bill off the Order of Business...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: Yes, I propose a formal amendment to the Order of Business. I regret doing so because all of us want to see the end of this Bill. The issue of a referendum for the Independents in the House, on which all of them have spoken, is a red line issue. The plebiscite to my mind is-----

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I formally request an amendment to the Order of Business.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (18 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister is welcome to the House. I suppose when he saw me standing he said it must be time to go home.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (18 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I criticised the Minister strongly for walking out of the Dáil when he introduced the Bill. I compliment him today on sitting through what must be a very tough time. I can see that he is anxious to get out of here. I also admire him for taking on the portfolio he took on for it was truly a poisoned chalice. Irish Water was established in 2013 and from the outset everything about this...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (18 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I knew a time in my life when all I had to eat one day was a sliced pan and three beetroots. I know what real poverty is like.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (18 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I am delighted to hear that because there are people who talk about €3 as if it was nothing.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (18 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I got a phone call this afternoon from a councillor in Tralee to tell me that the Vincent de Paul in Tralee handed out 1,000 food parcels. The Minister may pass that on to some of our colleagues The Minister is encouraging me to divorce my wife of 38 years because my neighbour is getting his water for €60 because his is a one-person household. I am paying €160 and the guy up...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (18 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister says the bonus structure has gone away. I would like him to address this today because we both know that one cannot take away a term or condition of employment without compensating those who are entitled to it. I am not one bit concerned about the top guys who are going to walk away with megabucks in their pockets. I am talking about the guys who are on €35,000 or...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (18 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: There are group e-mails, there are spam e-mails but some human somewhere has to make them initially.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (18 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: Somebody said something about scaremongering. I am delighted the Minister rejected the scaremongering by his Cabinet colleagues. I compliment him on that. There is no fairness in the charge. There is no fairness in anything this Government has brought in. We have only to consider property charges. Try living in Dublin and see how much the property tax is, then start paying for water. My...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (18 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: Hear, hear.