Results 941-960 of 5,754 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Accidents) Bill 2022: Minister for Transport (22 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: The first thing someone entering into a contract to buy a house in the morning would do is look at the previous contract and then decide whether mistakes were made along the way and if those mistakes should be debated and discussed in order to learn from them and move on. If we want to transfer patients from islands to hospitals, for example, and that was not in the previous contract, we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Accidents) Bill 2022: Minister for Transport (22 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister would want that service in the next contract as opposed to it being paid for outside the contract.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Accidents) Bill 2022: Minister for Transport (22 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I am not asking the Minister to have negotiations.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Accidents) Bill 2022: Minister for Transport (22 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister surely has an opinion on what his ideal service would look like. By the way, it is because of the marine accident investigation unit that we have a good search and rescue service.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Accidents) Bill 2022: Minister for Transport (22 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Surely the Minister wants the contract to be right and to address all the issues. God knows, I have raised enough issues with him over the last two years. We want the issues addressed and a system of which we can all be proud and for which we are not paying through the nose.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Accidents) Bill 2022: Minister for Transport (22 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Look at what the British have. They paid €1.6 billion for 18 helicopters over 12 bases, two fixed-wing aircraft and other technology. In our case, the contract has gone to tender at €1.3 billion and we are talking about five helicopters and perhaps one fixed-wing aircraft, although I am not sure about that. That is roughly €250 million more per station than what the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Accidents) Bill 2022: Minister for Transport (22 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister might forgive my frustration at this. There is a perception that all I want is the Irish Air Corps to fly search and rescue. Let me put on record that I know it cannot do that right now. I know the decision has been made and is done. I just want the next one to be right.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Accidents) Bill 2022: Minister for Transport (22 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: To go back to the report that has not been published, as an elected Member of the Oireachtas, I find it offensive that reports are withheld from Members. If elected members have a problem with respect to the confidentiality of a report, we should have sanctions in place to deal with people who leak reports. That is my view. For oversight to take place, every rationale that is provided to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Accidents) Bill 2022: Minister for Transport (22 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I will leave it at that for the time being. I thank the Minister for his time.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Public Sector Pensions (21 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. He will be aware that I have spoken on issues relating to my electorate, county councillors, for many years.I am delighted to see some of them present in the Public Gallery having travelled all the way from Donegal over the mica issue. It is something we have to take on board. It is not for the good of their health that these people...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Public Sector Pensions (21 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I came in here with some degree of hope. I am going out more depressed than I came in. We are creating a dangerous precedent. The public service has always been based on the fact that when staff come to retire, they get a lump sum based on current salary. I am mindful of my career, where I started work as a private soldier and will finish on the single pension scheme as a teacher. At the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Ukraine War: Ambassadors of Ukraine and Moldova (21 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: The ambassador and her team are more than welcome. I thank them for a most comprehensive report. I will begin with a positive and take time to congratulate Ukraine on its ability to develop a mobile phone application that allows its citizens to engage with Government and Government services in the middle of a war. It is an incredible feat of bravery and tenacity by the ambassador's people...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: And no ball.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Thank you. All is forgiven. On 15 July 2021, the report of the independent review group into the siege of Jadotville was brought to the Seanad. The Minister at the time was quite taken aback by the response he got to that report. To say it was welcomed coolly would be to understate the situation. It was rejected by this House and by most who spoke. The Minister in his summing up stated,...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I beg the indulgence of the Chair. There is a rumour out there that the judicial review that Leo Quinlan and I took into the independent review group was struck out by the courts. We agreed to strike out the case because the Department of Defence gave us what we looked for except for the fact the independent review could not be adjudicated on by the courts because it is not a statutory...

Seanad: Teacher Supply and School Places: Statements (15 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank Senator Keogan for sharing her time. As the Minister of State knows, when I was first elected to the Seanad, he and I stood in this House side by side. I congratulate him on his appointment; it is the first time I have met him in his official capacity. We destroyed education when we changed the contract for teachers at secondary and further education levels by substituting hours...

Seanad: Teacher Supply and School Places: Statements (15 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: It is not the education-----

Seanad: Teacher Supply and School Places: Statements (15 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: It is the teaching profession.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Aviation Policy (Resumed): Regional Airports (15 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I live in Dublin and fly from here, but I wish I flew from Shannon, Cork or one of the other regional airports. The presentations were impressive and some of the most positive I have seen at this committee. My colleagues are from the regions and have more pertinent questions to ask, but I support everything for which the witnesses are looking. I have seen Shannon and Cork. I will see the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: First, I wish to express my condolences to the family of Acting Sergeant Major Declan "Doc" O'Connell from the Curragh. Sadly, he is the second from the Cadet School in recent times to lose his life. They are going through tough times down there. Last week, I spoke about the helicopter that was forced to land in Derry as a result of an emergency declared by the pilot. I got a reply from...