Results 5,761-5,780 of 8,649 for speaker:Seán Crowe

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Possible Exit of UK from European Union: Colm McCarthy (10 Feb 2015)

Seán Crowe: I welcome Mr. McCarthy. We are usually accused of navel gazing but today we are gazing into a crystal ball. The debate is interesting. If Britain were to leave the European Union, it would be a disaster for Ireland. Senator Terry Leyden says the British would be mad to do so, but there is also the expression about mad dogs and Englishmen out in the midday sun. Britain might well take...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Possible Exit of UK from European Union: Colm McCarthy (10 Feb 2015)

Seán Crowe: That was my point. Would it be possible to line up people for the idea of Ireland’s unique situation, not just historical but also the impact on trade as part of the divorce settlement?

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Ministerial Travel (10 Feb 2015)

Seán Crowe: 493. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide further details on his proposed trip to Palestine and Israel; if he will be visiting Gaza; and if the dates for the visit have been confirmed. [6064/15]

An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Uimh. 2) 2014: An Dara Céim [Comhaltaí Príobháideacha] - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (No. 2) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (6 Feb 2015)

Seán Crowe: I thank my colleague, Deputy Brian Stanley, for bringing forward the Bill. In January 2013 the first ballot of the members of the Constitutional Convention saw delegates vote in favour of lowering the voting age from 18 years to 16. At the end of March 2013 the first report of the convention called on the Government to hold a referendum on a reduction of two years in the voting age. In...

Topical Issue Debate: Drugs-related Deaths (5 Feb 2015)

Seán Crowe: I raise this issue today not to score points but to highlight the scale and nature of the problem and possible ways to address it. The number of drug-related deaths is unacceptable. I have a personal interest in this issue in that I know of many people whose deaths were drug-related. In one week alone I attended church services for three people who died directly from drugs. I know that...

Topical Issue Debate: Drugs-related Deaths (5 Feb 2015)

Seán Crowe: According to the Health Research Board’s national drug-related deaths index due to poisoning by alcohol and other drugs between 2004 and 2012, a total of 5,289 people died. That is the size of the population of a small town. Is the Minister shocked by these figures? Why is this issue not being discussed? It certainly is not being reported on in our newspapers. I do not know if it...

Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2015: Second Stage (Resumed) (4 Feb 2015)

Seán Crowe: Like other speakers, I welcome this debate on this long overdue Bill. In my view, the Government has enabled and even empowered vulture funds. The sale of loan books to unregulated entities was the policy of this Government. The only reason this Bill is being introduced is because the citizens affected campaigned and lobbied on this issue. The sale of IBRC was a brutal, calculated sale...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (4 Feb 2015)

Seán Crowe: It is appalling that the state would respond by executing two prisoners it had in custody. What happened to the individuals involved is barbaric, but for the state to respond in the way it did is also barbaric. I would support that rider on the letter.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (4 Feb 2015)

Seán Crowe: I have to leave at 3.30 p.m. as well as I am speaking in the Dáil.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Bilateral Relations and the Activities of Boko Haram: Ambassador of Nigeria (4 Feb 2015)

Seán Crowe: We are all very concerned about the conflict in northern Nigeria and the Boko Haram atrocities. We were all shocked to hear that a female suicide bomber had blown herself up in the northern Nigerian city of Gombe minutes after President Goodluck Jonathan left a campaign rally there. According to police and hospital reports, at least one person was killed and 18 were injured in the blast....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Bilateral Relations and the Activities of Boko Haram: Ambassador of Nigeria (4 Feb 2015)

Seán Crowe: There are many questions there, but it is a broad list of questions.

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Overseas Missions (4 Feb 2015)

Seán Crowe: 80. To ask the Minister for Defence if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a Spanish soldier on UN peacekeeping duty was killed during Israeli shelling of southern Lebanon; if Irish soldiers on UN peacekeeping duty in the region have been affected by the recent attacks in southern Lebanon and the Golan Heights; and if new security measures are being put in place to ensure their...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Child Safety (4 Feb 2015)

Seán Crowe: 157. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her attention has been drawn to any schools using prone restraints on pupils who have autism and other complex needs; if her attention has been further drawn to the potential risks involved to pupils upon whom prone restraints are used; and if her Department will suggest the use of other viable and safer forms of behaviour support and...

European Debt: Motion [Private Members] (3 Feb 2015)

Seán Crowe: The motion asks the Government to support holding a European debt conference. The Taoiseach has bluntly rejected the idea. The Minister for Finance also seemed to reject it. He also said making debt more affordable was a better solution than writing it off. It makes absolutely no sense for the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance or the Government of a state with a debt-to-GDP ratio of...

European Debt: Motion [Private Members] (3 Feb 2015)

Seán Crowe: Read the history books.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: National Flag (3 Feb 2015)

Seán Crowe: 173. To ask the Taoiseach if the flag over Government Buildings was flown at half-mast on 23 January 2015 to mark the death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia; if his office decided this action; if he requested other Departments to do the same; and the number of times flags have been flown at half-mast over Government Buildings for the death of foreign leaders since March 2011. [4519/15]

Written Answers — Department of Defence: International Agreements (3 Feb 2015)

Seán Crowe: 355. To ask the Minister for Defence the specific details of the defence agreement that he has signed with the British Defence Secretary; if he will attend before the Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality to explain and debate the agreement; and if it will come before Dáil Éireann for ratification. [4818/15]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: National Flag (3 Feb 2015)

Seán Crowe: 496. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if the flag over his Department's building was flown at half mast on 23 January 2015 to mark the death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia; and if his Department requested that other Department buildings do the same. [4518/15]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Work Programme 2015: European Commission Representation in Ireland (29 Jan 2015)

Seán Crowe: I welcome the representatives. The Chairman has asked us to be fairly sharp in our questioning. We were told the Commission would be more political. As evidence of that, it has been described as the last chance Commission for bringing European Union citizens closer to Europe or we will fail, according to President Jean-Claude Juncker. Recently there was interference in the Greek elections...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Work Programme 2015: European Commission Representation in Ireland (29 Jan 2015)

Seán Crowe: I can do so if the Deputy wishes. We have had difficulties before with this herd mentality and people all thought the same about issues. There was criticism of that following the banking crisis, for example. Ms McGuinness, MEP, is in an important role relating to communications and it would be useful to have that conversation at some stage within this committee. In private session we...