Results 81-100 of 199 for long speaker:Fintan Warfield

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by An Taoiseach (18 Nov 2021)

Fintan Warfield: ----- in the South, Irish citizens overseas and to graduates from all third level institutions. Focusing on that reform alone is to shirk our responsibility for radical Seanad reform. It is long overdue that we take action on this reform.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Fintan Warfield: ...get their applications in before SHDs are banned. I have drawn parallels with co-living and the botched ban on co-living. I do not need to do so again at this hour of the night. This is another long goodbye to bad policy. It is an invitation to get applications in. Primarily, we do not accept that developers should be able to continue with SHD applications until the middle of next...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021: Second Stage (10 Nov 2021)

Fintan Warfield: ...the process open for planning applications until June 2022. As my colleague Deputy Ó Broin pointed out, some applications will continue until October with the possibility of legal action late into 2022. It is another long goodbye for bad policy. While I commend the ultimate banning of co-living, it took a very long time. We were dealing with co-living decisions still being made...

Seanad: Progressing Disability Services for Children and Young People: Statements (9 Nov 2021)

Fintan Warfield: .... Much of this has been discussed here but it is apparent that there were a large and growing number of children on the waiting list for an assessment of needs, with many having waited for very long periods. I know once-off funding of €7.8 million was provided in June 2020 to address the issue. Overdue assessments of need stood at around 6,500 in June 2020. By September of this...

Seanad: Dyslexia Awareness Week: Statements (6 Oct 2021)

Fintan Warfield: ...creates is unhealthy. It is even more ridiculous that dyslexic students have to fight every year for reasonable accommodations to sit their examinations, such as scribes and readers. Sinn Féin has long advocated for reform of State examinations. There is a need for the curriculum to be more reflective of how different types of students learn and for a more holistic approach to be...

Seanad: Bullying and Sexual Harassment in Third Level Institutions: Motion (21 Sep 2021)

Fintan Warfield: ...in particular, experience sexual harassment and sexual violence at third level. I commend the Union of Students in Ireland, USI, on its work, research and campaigns on this issue, and on being, alongside others, the driving force behind cultural change in this country over many decades. Students have been at the forefront and running educational campaigns around consent, which I will...

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Second and Subsequent Stages (16 Jul 2021)

Fintan Warfield: ...plan is unworkable. I do not need to tell the House that young people put their lives on hold to protect older people and their families and friends. They did that to reduce the risk of getting long Covid, as the previous speaker outlined. Many of us have met or know people who have had to endure long Covid. Young people sacrificed their personal freedoms. They had to listen to...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2021)

Fintan Warfield: ...no obligation for An Bord Pleanála to consider Government policy. It needs only have regard to Government policies. If an order to comply under section 29(1) was given, An Bord Pleanála shall comply as long as the order is given before the planning application is lodged. The Minister should not leave the decision to chance when there are options available to make an airtight...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (No. 2) Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2021)

Fintan Warfield: ...which sought to link rent increases to inflation. On five separate occasions in the previous term, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil voted against rent certainty. This linking of rent reviews to inflation was a long battle between the then Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, and former Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan. The key change here,...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2021)

Fintan Warfield: ..., and regions, and (b) set out the Ministers’ proposals and policies for supporting the workforce, employers and communities in those sectors, households, communities, and regions.”. We have had a long conversation about this in that this amendment seeks to put just transition policies and principles at the heart of the climate action plans. Climate action plans are...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2021)

Fintan Warfield: I am disappointed the Minister will not accept either of these amendments. I know we have had a long discussion. I was here for it. I did not weigh in at the time, but it is outrageous the Bill does not contain a definition already.The original Bill also lacked a single mention of just transition. The version we have now mentions it but does not define what it actually is. I urge the...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Solar Panels for Public Buildings, Schools, Homes and Other Premises) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (28 Jun 2021)

Fintan Warfield: ...on the scale that we need them, but it is not sufficient. The other enabling factor, as we have spoken about, is the microgeneration support scheme and that it is fit for purpose. Many people have long-championed the roll-out of solar panels and microgeneration. A colleague of mine in the Dáil introduced a Microgeneration Support Scheme Bill, whereby suppliers would have to pay the...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Fintan Warfield: I move amendment No. 10: In page 4, line 32, to delete “(if any)”. I will not speak for long on this amendment. It is about removing the ambiguity that exists in this part of section 2 to make it more straightforward and clear. I look forward to the Minister's response.

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Fintan Warfield: ...reflection of what is happening by widening the number and scope of businesses which will be obligated to keep this information about their employees. I do not think this is a huge burden. In the long run it is important for us to have this data. We need a truer reflection of the inequality that exists in the workplace and I do not think we will have pushback from industry. We are...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (18 Jun 2021)

Fintan Warfield: ...once the minimum cost-rental designation period comes to an end and that the Minister must revoke it, given the mandatory meaning of "shall" in section 39. The minimum period is at least as long as the cost calculation period of 40 years, which we have debated and in which respect amendments have been accepted. The provision in the Bill builds in what is essentially an automatic end to...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (18 Jun 2021)

Fintan Warfield: I still believe this undermines the long-term benefit of cost-rental. I am worried about the tenant who may have been in a property for 40 years. What will happen after that period?Will they face a market rent or, worse, eviction? Senator Higgins has spoken about international investors. There is no obligation on them to act in the interests of tenants, in contrast to AHBs. What will...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2021: Second Stage (14 Jun 2021)

Fintan Warfield: ...data for future policy formation. Women predominantly take on more unpaid work than men, such as caring and household work. Women reduce their hours at a higher rate than men and spend nearly 60% longer than men on unpaid work per week, according to an EU study.Implementing gender pay gap reporting will raise awareness among employers, employees, policymakers and the wider public. The...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Fintan Warfield: I move amendment No. 51: In page 15, to delete lines 5 to 7. The "long stop date" goes against the fundamental principles of affordable purchase or rent. If the initial equity is not recouped in 30 or 50 years, it effectively remains there as a charge for whenever the house is sold on. I would like to get the Minister of State's view on that. Is this amendment grouped with amendment No. 52?

Seanad: Right to Housing: Motion (4 Jun 2021)

Fintan Warfield: ...about meeting the needs of workers and families and fixing a catastrophic market failure, then we need to double capital investment from €1.4 billion to at least €2.8 billion. By public housing I mean social housing, affordable cost-rental, which Sinn Féin has long supported, and affordable cost-purchase, all on public land and delivered by local authorities, approved...

Seanad: Right to Housing: Motion (4 Jun 2021)

Fintan Warfield: ...Taoiseach gave a commitment in the Dáil on Wednesday to prevent that increase. However, let us be honest, we need to ban rent increases for three years because renters are being fleeced. Sinn Féin has long supported Home for Good and I commend its campaign. This Fianna Fáil motion calls for a right to housing to be inserted in the Constitution, but it is two years since...