Results 721-740 of 5,746 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the witnesses for coming here today. We spoke before they came down. It is a pretty daunting prospect to come into this place and face the music. Their presentations were fantastic and I thank them both for that. I am going to go through a few things here. Whichever of the witnesses thinks themselves best suited to pick up on each might do so. The first matter impacts Ms...

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Ms Cronin has made her point really well. When we are talking about day care centres, particularly for elderly people, nowadays you very frequently find couples who are 40 or 50 years married when one becomes frail and needs respite. The person looking after him or her also needs some time to themselves and this is where day care centres come into their own. I am sure we will hear about...

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Unfortunately, the public watching this cannot see the Visitors Gallery is full. These are people who travelled hundreds of miles to be here today to hear the petition being heard. The story Ms Curtis tells about Cork is typical of the other two that are here today. We have public representatives here at local authority level. Nobody engages with them anymore. Decisions are taken...

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I appreciate that.

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: You did a good job the last time you had them in, Chair.

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I wonder whether there age discrimination going on here. Leaving aside Ms Curtis's issue, we are talking about respite care and day centres in particular. It is old people generally who use them and it is young people who are making decisions about the future of these organisations. The whole thing is ageist.

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Is Ms Mullins going to make a presentation?

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: No, I am finished with Ms Curtis at this stage.

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Those who are viewing probably cannot see the document. There are great big lumps of black on the pages. The only word I can see on one page is "post". That is very helpful. It is the most insulting document that has ever been published by anybody. A public representative in the Gallery gave me this document today. To send it out shows a total level of arrogance beyond belief. Ms...

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: A Chathaoirligh, I rest my case at this stage. It makes me so angry to hear about Loughrea, Ms. Curtis's place in Cork and to talk about St. Brigid's again. Somebody said to me some time ago that the St. Brigid's thing was politically motivated. I do not believe that for a second. The signatures Ms Mullins and the campaign have cannot all be people from one party.

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I am going to give the floor to the people who are closest to it. Deputy Mattie McGrath is here and Deputy Cahill is here.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Most committee members will have received an email in recent days about the public service performance report for 2022. It was published on 11 July 2023 and it claims to be a key milestone in the parliamentary budgetary cycle, providing a valuable opportunity for sectoral committees to engage constructively in a more structured calendar with parliamentary oversight of the budget process. It...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Decarbonisation Strategy for Aviation and Shipping Sectors: Minister of State at the Department of Transport (12 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Sorry, a Leas-Chathaoirligh, do I get a chance to ask any questions?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Decarbonisation Strategy for Aviation and Shipping Sectors: Minister of State at the Department of Transport (12 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I appreciate that. I had a couple of things I had to deal with.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Decarbonisation Strategy for Aviation and Shipping Sectors: Minister of State at the Department of Transport (12 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Thank you very much, a Leas-Chathaoirligh. The Minister of State is welcome to the committee. He is new in the job, so I am not aiming any of my comments in particular directly at him. When we talk about aviation, sustainability and all of these things, as far as I am concerned, that includes everything from the moment I leave my house until I am in the air. I am really disturbed by...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Decarbonisation Strategy for Aviation and Shipping Sectors: Minister of State at the Department of Transport (12 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I think the Leas-Chathaoirleach will find that SAR is both aviation and maritime.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Decarbonisation Strategy for Aviation and Shipping Sectors: Minister of State at the Department of Transport (12 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I do not intend to discuss the court case. I did say to the Minister of State that I expect him to respond to me outside the meeting. We are entitled to a response. The SAR issue is before the courts, as my colleague has pointed out. The issue is that for two and a half years, we tried to get officials from the Minister of State's Department to come before the committee and answer...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Decarbonisation Strategy for Aviation and Shipping Sectors: Minister of State at the Department of Transport (12 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Maybe the decarbonisation might come in the SAR area from the new contract for AW189 helicopters, which we were told a year ago were not suitable for the Irish situation. I am going to leave it at that because it is not fair on the Minister of State, who is only new in the job. I ask him to come back to me with answers. I do not expect them to be given here, in a public forum.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Decarbonisation Strategy for Aviation and Shipping Sectors: Minister of State at the Department of Transport (12 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: The Department has been very forward-thinking in some areas, such as with the introduction of electric buses. Then somebody drops the ball and we find there are no charging points. There are 100 buses that cannot be used at the moment. I do not know who is responsible for these things, but they point to a failure on our part, as members of the committees, to exercise oversight. The reason...