Results 81-100 of 1,016 for at speaker:Paul Gavan

Seanad: Situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories: Motion (18 Oct 2023)

Paul Gavan: ...this motion. First are the tactics of landing us with an amendment to the motion literally after the Order of Business was due to begin, which would not allow us to table any amendments to that amendment. What that does, in effect, is prevent us from debating key amendments that we believe are crucial to achieving the balance people are talking about. I will tell the House exactly what...

Seanad: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Second Stage (18 Oct 2023)

Paul Gavan: It is always good to see the Minister of State. I am grateful to have the opportunity to say a few words on this important Bill. I shall start by saying how pleasantly surprised I am to find out that Senator McDowell's nephew was one of the co-authors of a book that was recommended to me. I will certainly go out and buy it at lunchtime. It seems to be very timely in its concerns about US...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Low Pay Commission Recommendations on the National Minimum Wage: Discussion (18 Oct 2023)

Paul Gavan: To clarify, the people who wrote in had an ideological objection to the idea of a minimum wage. They did not identify themselves as minimum-wage workers at any point.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Low Pay Commission Recommendations on the National Minimum Wage: Discussion (18 Oct 2023)

Paul Gavan: I am really surprised at Mr. Courtney's responses here today. I have to be very frank with him.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Low Pay Commission Recommendations on the National Minimum Wage: Discussion (18 Oct 2023)

Paul Gavan: There was no written submission from a minimum-wage worker asking not to have a pay increase. There was not one. Mr. Courtney should at least acknowledge that today. I am going to move on. I apologise as I am taking up way too much of my colleague's time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Low Pay Commission Recommendations on the National Minimum Wage: Discussion (18 Oct 2023)

Paul Gavan: I will hand over to Deputy O'Reilly at this point.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Oct 2023)

Paul Gavan: As I will not be here on Thursday, I want to talk about what is happening in Gaza today. I will start with two quotes. I think we all received the first last Thursday from the mission of the state of Palestine, which wrote to us: We reject the practices of killing civilians or abusing them on both sides because they contravene morals, religion and international law. We renounce...

Seanad: Final Report of the Independent Scoping Exercise into the Circumstances Surrounding the Death of Mr. Shane O'Farrell: Statements (17 Oct 2023)

Paul Gavan: I commend the previous speaker for her passion and the fact she spoke the truth for all of us. We will all repeat this message for the next while. I begin by welcoming Jim and Lucia here this evening. I cannot imagine what sort of day you have had. I watched the Dáil debate earlier. For the second time, you have heard effectively the same message from the Minister. I commend the...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare (Dogs) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (5 Oct 2023)

Paul Gavan: I really welcome the opportunity to have this debate this morning. It is a topic that unites all of us in many ways. Anyone who has a dog will know that it kind of changes you afterwards in terms of how you see the world. I thank the Deputy Leader, in particular, because I know she gave the commitment that we would have a further hearing with regard to this Bill. I acknowledge that in the...

Seanad: Visit of Slovak Delegation (4 Oct 2023)

Paul Gavan: Relatives' organisations across Ireland, Members of this Chamber and the Dáil, the Irish Government, all the political parties in the North, the British Labour Party, representatives across the EU and the US, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and other human rights organisations are united in their opposition to the British Government's Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy...

Seanad: Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023: Second Stage (4 Oct 2023)

Paul Gavan: The Minister is very welcome. I will begin by welcoming a number of guests who are here in the Chamber specifically to hear what the Minister has to say. They are all from the Fórsa trade union. We have Jim Mitchell, assistant general secretary, Niall Shanahan, external communications director, and a host of workers from the Garda civilian staff. I will tell the Minister where they...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Oct 2023)

Paul Gavan: This morning I had the pleasure of meeting former comrades from the SIPTU trade union alongside people from Age Action Ireland, the National Women's Council of Ireland, the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament and Active Retirement Ireland.They are all part of the Pension Promise campaign. These very effective campaigners brought us the Stop 67 campaign before the most recent election. That...

Seanad: Control of Exports Bill 2023: Second Stage (3 Oct 2023)

Paul Gavan: It is always good to see the Minister of State. This Bill, which seeks to update the legislation to control the export of dual-use items that can be used for civil or military purposes, is extremely important to make sure that certain products will not end up in the wrong hands, to be used to cause injury or death in regional conflicts or to violate human rights in third countries. Because...

Seanad: Control of Exports Bill 2023: Second Stage (3 Oct 2023)

Paul Gavan: Yes, absolutely we will. It has been our party policy for years. It is not good to facilitate US bombing or attacks on other countries. Neutrality is where we should be at and that has always been our position. I cannot go on without mentioning the human rights violations, violence and death by the apartheid state of Israel on the people of Palestine. It was so disappointing that Sinn...

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by An Taoiseach (28 Sep 2023)

Paul Gavan: I welcome the Taoiseach. I believe that his recent remarks stating he believes we are on the path to unification and that there will be a united Ireland in his lifetime reflect the views of most of the people on this island. His attendance and speech at the Ireland's Future event in the 3Arena last year was a significant moment in the debate on constitutional change. There is, of course, a...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (27 Sep 2023)

Paul Gavan: When I came back this time last year the first item I raised on the Order of Business was housing because of the horrendous state of the housing crisis. As we all know, it has got much worse since then. I will stick to the facts. The July homeless figure that I quoted last year was 10,568, including 3,137 children. In July this year it had gone up to 12,847 homeless people, including...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Sep 2023)

Paul Gavan: First, I express condolences to our colleagues in Fianna Fáil on the very sad death of Damien O’Reilly. I also wish a warm welcome to the Superintendent here today. I am lucky enough to be one of the representatives in this Chamber in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In that regard, I have written two reports on the tragedy that continues to unfold in...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Second Stage (26 Sep 2023)

Paul Gavan: On behalf of Sinn Féin, I mostly welcome the Bill and what it intends to achieve. Modern technology such as body cameras can help the work of An Garda Síochána as it tries to keep our communities safe. I will mention the issue of Garda resources first because it has had a lot of attention recently with violent incidents around the capital highlighting how people do not feel...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Jul 2023)

Paul Gavan: I wish the Cathaoirleach, the Leas-Chathaoirleach, the Leader, the Deputy Leader and all of our colleagues a good summer after what has been a fairly intense year. I thank them all for their courtesy and patience at all times. I thank the staff, including Martin, Bridget and the whole Seanad team, for the incredible job they do. I include in that all of our ushers and the huge team of...

Seanad: Situation in Israel and occupied Palestinian territory: Statements (12 Jul 2023)

Paul Gavan: I welcome the Minister of State. I listened carefully to his statement and I do not disagree, as such, with anything he said. However, the key message I would like to get across to him today is that, right now and for some time since, words are not and have not been enough, not when we see the horrors being inflicted on the Palestinian people. Patricia McKeown of the Irish Congress of...