Results 81-100 of 5,754 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Oct 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: I join with my colleague, Senator O'Loughlin. Andrew was a very fine soldier and his wife, Deirdre, was a very fine soldier. It was very sad being in Kildare on Sunday and seeing a number of people outside his house. It was a massive gathering. I could not make it to the funeral yesterday. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam. Iran looks like it is about to make an attack on Israel. It...

Seanad: Budget 2025 (Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform): Statements (1 Oct 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. It is a happy day for people in the Government because there is something for everybody in the audience and we should all be cheering. However, it would be remiss of me to stand here today and not find something wrong. From that point of view, budget 2025 has proved to me that Ireland is not a poor country by any measure. Indeed, our economy...

Seanad: Budget 2025 (Finance): Statements (1 Oct 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: This is the first time I have addressed the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, since he was elevated to the role of Minister of State. He must be delighted with this budget today. I am dreading his Instagram account. He will be standing in front of housing estates all over south County Dublin talking about the great job he has done. In fairness, the budget is a good one. It would be...

Seanad: Budget 2025 (Finance): Statements (1 Oct 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: Better yet, instead of doing 1%, why did we not just take a whole tranche of people - the lower paid - out of that altogether? Lower-paid people are struggling. We need the people who work in jobs in the catering industry or in various support roles in hospitals and places like that. Why did we not just take them out of the USC altogether instead of benefiting people who can well afford to...

Seanad: Budget 2025 (Finance): Statements (1 Oct 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: I cannot help it if Fianna Fáil members were briefed on that last night. That is another day’s work, however. The bottom line is that the 2013 pension reform has to find its way into the manifestos of parties going forward for election because it is detrimental to the public service and absolutely detrimental to front-line services. I ask for the Minister of State’s...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Sep 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: Hear, hear.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Sep 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: My colleague, Senator Higgins, referred to the movement of weapons through Irish airspace. When asked about policing our airspace in a recent RTÉ radio interview, the Tánaiste replied that it would not be feasible in the Irish context. Will the Leader bring the Tánaiste to this Chamber to explain why he, as Minister for Defence, does not believe it is feasible for a sovereign...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Sep 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: He needs to explain what he meant by-----

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Sep 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: -----not feasible in the Irish context.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Sep 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: We need him in here.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Sep 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: It is a pity the leaders of the country are not.

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: At least in Dublin they put them upstairs.

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: I will start off by saying that Mr. Deering has a fantastic staff in the Office of the Ombudsman. There have been two occasions in my life where I had to engage with his office and on one of those occasions the office could not assist me and the official that was dealing with me was fantastic in the way he explained the situation. That is so important when one is under pressure and needs an...

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: I mentioned the telephone conversation and I personally had one with Mr. Deering himself. I did some work in Limerick in Citizens Information and very often we would get people who were in an extremely frustrated and angry state of mind and we had to take the time to get them to calm down and explain the case. Not everybody can put his or her case in writing. Some people have great...

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: That is fantastic. Nowadays, it is not uncommon when someone books a hotel to get an email asking him or her to rate their experience when they get home. Does the Office of the Ombudsman do that? Back in the day when I used the office - it was an awfully long time ago, let us not go back there - we were still using snail mail and were certainly not using email. Does the Office of the...

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: Am I okay for time, Chair?

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: The other thing that bothers me - and certainly from within here it is a problem and if so, it must be a problem for the Office of the Ombudsman - is trying to nail down the lead Department. We find that in so much of what goes on in our society, one part of it belongs to one Department and another part to another Department and trying to get to the person who should answer the question is...

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: I note the number of complaints fell between 2022 and 2023. Was that possibly due to people having little more to do with their time due to having to sit at home during Covid?