Results 61-80 of 5,972 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (9 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: -----which benefits from maintaining Ireland's astronomical levels of defamation litigation. Even as claims fell to 289 cases in 2024, this remains higher than the 250 cases in England, as already pointed out. There is no judicial justification for this disparity. The Courts Service's annual report only scratches the surface. Defamation actions generate an estimated €30 million to...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner’s Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Second Stage (9 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Am I not next according to the list?

Seanad: Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner’s Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Second Stage (9 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: The list I have says the Independents are first.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner’s Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Second Stage (9 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I am sorry. Senator Rabbitte should proceed.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner’s Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Second Stage (9 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I welcome the Minister to the House. This is the first time I have addressed him in his current role. I congratulate him on his position. Before I get into reading my notes, one of the questions that crosses my mind when I come across a case like John O'Meara's is why the State forces a family to go the whole way to a Supreme Court judgment in order to fix something that was morally...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner’s Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Second Stage (9 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: That will give me plenty of time to think while the Minister is gone.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner’s Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Second Stage (9 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: To get back to where I was, there are anomalies in the system. Much of what I wanted to say has already been delivered by the Minister in his own speech, so I will not go into the historical background of John's case. However, there are anomalies in the system. We are very privileged in this country to have the civil servants we have working in Departments. I firmly believe there is no...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Some great stories have been told in the past few days about the capture of the MV Matthew and the drugs haul in 2023. What a fantastic story it is. If anybody has not read it, please go to The Journal and read Niall O’Connor’s description of the capture of that ship. We pulled together the agencies of the State, namely, the Garda, the Revenue Commissioners and the Defence...

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: State-sponsored.

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Well, let us not waste time on that then. We will move on.

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Come on now. I specifically said, if the witnesses want a referendum, it should empower all three sections of the Oireachtas, namely, the President, the Seanad and the Dáil. Rather than looking to an outside agency, you would look inward. Mr. Kelly quotes the United Nations. What about regional deployments? The triple lock prevents us from participating in regional deployments,...

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: On that we agree.

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I said it on the floor of the Seanad.

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Does Ms Ní Bhriain honestly think that if there is all-out war, our little island will be left alone?

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: No, it was not. We provided safe passage for the Allies right through the Second World War.

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Thousands of our people died - thousands.

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Two minutes is a very short time. I must draw attention to the comments Mr. Kelly made about elected representatives. We live in a democracy and that democracy means every one of us sitting around this table was elected. We put ourselves forward for election and we take all the insults and social media that goes with that. To come in here and sit before us and undermine and diminish the...

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Yes. The witnesses came in and made a statement about 264 of 284 resolutions passed by the United Nations Security Council. When was the last time the United Nations Security Council authorised a peacekeeping mission? They speak about the United Nations General Assembly. It has been established here by the academics and military that have been here prior to the witnesses that first,...

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: ----- and the transportation of weapons across our airspace. How do we know they are there? We cannot see them. It is a nonsense argument.

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: How do we stop it?