Results 61-80 of 174 for long speaker:Robbie Gallagher

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Employment Permits (22 Sep 2021)

Robbie Gallagher: ...worker permit quota in September but they are still awaiting official word on where exactly that stands. Compounding matters is the fact that the employment permit application process is currently taking over ten weeks. With respect, that is too long and adding to the stress being felt by these employers. These delays in the application process, along with problems I mentioned in peat...

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (15 Jul 2021)

Robbie Gallagher: ...the IFA, who played a role in trying to progress the matter. Age Action was also very much to the fore in trying to find a solution. For some families the nursing home is the only option for long-term care. Nursing homes deserve great credit for the role they have played in trying circumstances during the battle with Covid. I acknowledge the role they played in that regard. I also...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Water Services (6 Jul 2021)

Robbie Gallagher: ...early date for that. The old adage holds that if it is not broken, we should not fix it. That springs to mind in the context of water services provided by local authorities. Having said that, as long as the views of staff are respected and as long as they are happy - ultimately, with the terms and conditions put in front of them - then I fully support them. The service they have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Civil Liberties during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Discussion (22 Jun 2021)

Robbie Gallagher: ...message, and the Government must listen as well, that as far as I am concerned there must be clarity on this because it is putting everyone in an awful position. It is unfair to businesses that have been through so much for so long. Even for members of the public who have been hemmed in for the last 18 months and who are going out to have a bite to eat and one or two glasses of wine or...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Robbie Gallagher: ...all sectors, be they urban or rural. Farmers have legitimate concerns. Farmers have always responded and have always done their bit. They will always do what needs to be done. It is not that long ago, and I remember it well, when good farming practice was to remove hedgerows, to drain wetlands, and to get rid of weeds from the land. Now we want to preserve and recreate hedgerows, we...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Perjury and Related Offences) Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (15 Jun 2021)

Robbie Gallagher: I welcome the Minister of State back to the Chamber. I compliment our erstwhile colleague, Pádraig Ó Céidigh, on his excellent work on this area. I know the long hours he put into the Bill. As he is from a business background, he was acutely aware of the difficulties caused by not having proper legislation dealing with this area. On a side note, I was sorry to learn that he...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Jun 2021)

Robbie Gallagher: ...dose of AstraZeneca was originally 12 weeks but I understand there are recommendations the gap can be reduced to 8 weeks. I appreciate that was the medical advice at the time, but 12 weeks is a long time when we compare it with four weeks for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. When people received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the advice was that, after four weeks, they were...

Seanad: Civil Legal Aid (Exclusion of Value of Free or Partly Free Board) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (31 May 2021)

Robbie Gallagher: ...on that, when, as outlined by Senator Higgins previously, people will have an opportunity to make submissions to the review. When will that review take place? Does the Minister have a date in mind for it? How long will the review last? When can we expect the recommendations that flow from that review to be enacted and implemented? In Fianna Fáil, we are quite proud of the fact...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (10 May 2021)

Robbie Gallagher: ...Houses of the Oireachtas, the Seanad and the Dáil, and the staff of both Houses get behind the people of Arranmore's campaign by giving a fiver, so that we too could purchase two vaccines, which will go a long way in helping those who are in most need? After all, at the end of the day, no one is safe until everyone is safe from Covid-19.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Apr 2021)

Robbie Gallagher: ...it be rolled out on a pilot basis across different sectors as we try to aid reopening. Meanwhile, other countries, including our closest neighbour the UK, have been using antigen testing for a long time now. Indeed, many businesses that I know in County Monaghan in the transport sector and meat plants were using antigen testing as far back as last August and found it to be a very useful...

Seanad: Criminal Procedure Bill 2021: Second Stage (19 Apr 2021)

Robbie Gallagher: .... Some of our learned colleagues in the Chamber do it on an almost daily basis, but for the ordinary citizen and his or her family, it is a stressful experience. This legislation, when enacted, will go a long way towards minimising that, which is to be welcomed. The Bill will provide for preliminary trial hearings in Irish law for the first time. These hearings will enhance the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (29 Mar 2021)

Robbie Gallagher: Along with many other people in the country, I watched as our international soccer team went down 1-0 to Luxembourg at the weekend. It was a hugely disappointing result. I looked across the Border and our friends in the Northern Ireland soccer team are on a similar run where they cannot seem to buy a win either. It raises the question many people are asking me that perhaps now is the time...

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Impact of Brexit on Business Sector: Discussion (29 Mar 2021)

Robbie Gallagher: ...has been to the Border counties many times and knows food production, particularly in Cavan and Monaghan, is a very important and key industry for us. Many jobs depend on it. I wonder about the long term. It is difficult to get a true picture, as Ms Sinnamon touched on earlier, because many businesses were trying to adjust to Brexit and then Covid came along. Many of them are probably...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Road Projects (22 Mar 2021)

Robbie Gallagher: ...required for local road repairs because of Covid-19 restrictions. I would like the Minister to issue guidance to local authorities that they are behind schedule with their roads programmes. Perhaps now with the evenings getting long, having longer daylight hours and coming into the summer months, local authorities would use that time wisely to catch up on the backlog of works needed...

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Cross-Border Healthcare Directive: Discussion (8 Mar 2021)

Robbie Gallagher: ...has been a very successful programme since its inception. It was a bit slow to get off initially but once it took off, the demand for the scheme has been phenomenal. Many people languishing for long periods on waiting lists found an avenue through the cross-border directive to access care, with 98% of them looked after on the island, which was a big advantage for those who had to travel....

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Engagement with Committee for the Executive Office, Northern Ireland Assembly on Impact of Brexit (2 Feb 2021)

Robbie Gallagher: ...to the South. Although there is a transitional arrangement in place from now until the end of the year, which I welcome, I see it as a window of opportunity for us to expand on that and put a more long-term process in position. I am confident that we will manage to do so. We, as a committee, could shortlist two or three issues that we can see progressed. A cross-Border healthcare...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (1 Feb 2021)

Robbie Gallagher: ...we, the taxpayers of the country, must pick up the tab for a €2 million fine for the delays in putting the directive on the Statute Book. Will the Minister of State comment on the reason for the delay? How long will be devoted to addressing this legislation? I fully support the idea of it passing Second Stage this afternoon. Realistically, when can we expect the legislation to...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Jan 2021)

Robbie Gallagher: I too wish the Cathaoirleach, Martin, all the staff on the Leinster House campus and, indeed, Members a healthy and happy new year. I would like to raise the issue of the long-term future of the cross-border healthcare directive. This scheme has been a significant success since it was introduced in June 2014. To emphasise how popular it has become, in 2014, only seven people were...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Dec 2020)

Robbie Gallagher: ...families face into another Christmas without their innocent loved ones, I appeal to all those who are in a position to help these broken families find the truth to do so. The families have waited long enough.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Nursing Homes Support Scheme (2 Dec 2020)

Robbie Gallagher: .... I thank her for taking time out of her busy schedule to be here this morning to discuss the nursing homes support scheme. Calls for the overhaul of the fair deal scheme have been made for a long time. Many people have been calling for a new scheme which would ease the crippling burden that is currently on small farm families and small businesses. As the Minister of State is aware,...