Results 1,141-1,160 of 5,962 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: It is worrying. It is a situation where an investigation has taken place and where key witnesses were not interviewed. The Minister should be concerned about that.

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: That is a bit of a cop-out.

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: No. I am not asking the Minister to confirm whether or not something was wrong. I am just asking him, as an ordinary citizen, if he would be concerned.

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: It is hard to get the best system in place when dealing with a certain section of the Department. I fully appreciate what was in the letter the Minister sent to me, that he cannot have hands and eyes on everything. However, there is a complete reluctance on the part of the Department to engage with and be answerable to this committee. What are we here for if we are not to hold oversight on...

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 cannot have due process if people will not answer letters I send them or if they do not explain questions I ask them. I asked a simple question which comes under the Minister’s remit. How many trips are done by the search and rescue helicopters for patient transfers to hospitals? Are we paying for those outside of the contract? Nobody is prepared to answer that question....

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 know the Minister for a while and I know him to be a decent, honest and forthright man. That does not equate with the Eamon Ryan who has just spoken now. We have a situation where this is a contract that is already in place. Helicopters are flying patients from the Aran Islands into Galway. I am being told by whistleblowers that the cost to the State is astronomical. If that is true,...

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 sorry; will the Minister repeat that?

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 contract was for €500 million over ten years, which is €4.2 million per month, and we are paying close to €6 million per month. I need to know where the extra money is going. The public have a right to know.

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...