Results 861-880 of 1,354 for speaker:Robbie Gallagher

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Hospital Services (11 Dec 2018)

Robbie Gallagher: I, too, welcome the Minister of State. I raise the issue of waiting lists in hospitals. Unfortunately, records show that November was one of the worst months in history for overcrowding. I am sure the Minister of State will agree that that is very unfair for patients and their families, as well as the hard-working staff in the hospital network, to whom I pay great credit. As I am sure the...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Hospital Services (11 Dec 2018)

Robbie Gallagher: I thank the Minister of State for her response. Is there a timeframe for the review? When does the Minister expect it will be completed? We are aware that the Minister visited the hospital in July of this year and we met him that Saturday morning. We are disappointed he has not come back yet with his plans. There is a degree of urgency attaching to this. There are people lying on...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2018)

Robbie Gallagher: I welcome the Minister to the Chamber and thank him for his presence here. I will be brief in my contribution. Following on from the comments of my colleagues, I think it is important that, when we discuss healthcare, we always keep in mind the person at the centre and in this case that is the young woman. We always have to keep that in mind. Having said that, it is important that we...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Dec 2018)

Robbie Gallagher: I concur 100% with Senator McDowell. On a second referendum, as circumstances change, so too should people's opinions be allowed to change if they so wish. I sincerely hope that a second referendum will be the ultimate outcome and that UK citizens will have an opportunity to vote based on what they know today as opposed to what they were told was going to happen two years ago.Today, I wish...

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (5 Dec 2018)

Robbie Gallagher: I would also like to welcome the visitors to the Public Gallery. Like others, I sympathise with them on their plight although I know that they did not come in here to look for sympathy. They want solutions and answers to the situation in which they find themselves and that is the collective goal of this House. I look forward to the progress of the debate.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Closed-Circuit Television Systems Provision (4 Dec 2018)

Robbie Gallagher: I thank the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, for taking time from his schedule to be here. I wish to discuss closed-circuit television, CCTV, schemes and the delays being experienced in that regard. The Minister will agree that CCTV is an invaluable tool in the context of deterring people from engaging in crime or public disorder. In addition, CCTV can greatly assist the...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Closed-Circuit Television Systems Provision (4 Dec 2018)

Robbie Gallagher: I thank the Minister for his comprehensive response on the important issue of CCTV that I have raised. I have spoken to a number of local authorities and as far as they are concerned, this impasse continues to exist so I am a bit confused in that regard. Can the Minister confirm that the difficulties the CCMA were having are now resolved? Another issue that came up for smaller local...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Nov 2018)

Robbie Gallagher: I raise the plight of a substantial number of Garda recruits who have been badly inconvenienced and left out of pocket because of the last-minute decisions of Garda management. Thankfully, 200 new Garda recruits have just completed their training. They had been posted to different stations throughout the country. I understand nine were due to go to the Cavan-Monaghan division, four to...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Nov 2018)

Robbie Gallagher: I extend my deepest sympathy to the family of the young 40 year old man who lost his life tragically in Castleblayney town last night. I understand he is a family man with two young children and was at work when the tragedy happened. I can only for a minute think what that family is going through at present and the pain and suffering that lies ahead of them. The time of year and the fact...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Nov 2018)

Robbie Gallagher: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Nov 2018)

Robbie Gallagher: Tá súil agam go ngabhfaidh an Cathaoirleach mo leithscéal go bhfuil mo shrón plúchta inniu. I raise the plight of school secretaries. Everyone in the Chamber fully appreciates the great work school secretaries do throughout the country. Many schools could not operate without them. The problem we have is there is a two-tier structure for school secretaries. There...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Tenant Purchase Scheme (21 Nov 2018)

Robbie Gallagher: I thank the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy English, for coming to the Chamber. I would like him to outline the Government's plan to amend the tenant purchase scheme thus allowing Part V tenants an opportunity to buy their properties if they so wish. Most people, where possible, would like to own their own home and a home is also a very...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Tenant Purchase Scheme (21 Nov 2018)

Robbie Gallagher: Not everybody will wish to purchase their own homes, but for those who does it is heartbreaking that they are not allowed under current regulations. I know of a couple of cases in County Monaghan where there are Part V houses in a development alongside local authority properties. A person in, say, No. 5 may be allowed to buy out their house but somebody in No. 12 might not, and that is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Uptake of Apprenticeships and Traineeships: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)

Robbie Gallagher: We can get the answers to your questions first.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Uptake of Apprenticeships and Traineeships: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)

Robbie Gallagher: I am okay. I am happy with what has been covered.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Uptake of Apprenticeships and Traineeships: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)

Robbie Gallagher: I compliment the witnesses who have appeared before us today and at our previous meeting on their contributions, which have been thought provoking. We all agree that there is a great deal of work to be done in this area. It is vital that we do it sooner rather than later. We must take all of the points that have been made today and previously and put them together.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Nov 2018)

Robbie Gallagher: Today is International Children's Day and it acts as yet another timely reminder of the importance of looking after our young people as we know they are the future of our country.Unfortunately the children of 2018 face many more challenges than we faced in our daily lives when we were that age. I welcome the new anti-bullying programme that was launched today in four schools in County...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Nov 2018)

Robbie Gallagher: I concur with previous speakers on the draft agreement that was launched yesterday. It is fair that we acknowledge the input of everyone involved from all parties and none from an Irish perspective in reaching this point. Unfortunately, the story is far from over and it is a very fluid situation. I wonder where this draft agreement will go. If I was a betting person, I would not put too...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Business of Joint Committee (15 Nov 2018)

Robbie Gallagher: I second that proposal.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Uptake of Apprenticeships and Traineeships: Discussion (15 Nov 2018)

Robbie Gallagher: I thank the delegates for their presentations. I recently saw a European league table on which we in Ireland were very much in the bottom half when it came to the scale and diversity of the apprenticeships on offer. If we were to put the scale of the problem in perspective, the figures Dr. Jim Murray outlined are worth repeating. In the 2017-18 academic year the total apprentice population...