Results 1,261-1,280 of 5,746 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister is dead right as anybody who was appointed to a board in this country is subject to scrutiny from either within this House, the Lower House or anywhere else one may wish to mention in society in general. I wish to put on the record, however, that chairpersons of boards are frequently brought in before Oireachtas committees and we have absolutely no say in whether their...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: The university is not here to defend itself.

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: My colleague, Senator Malcolm Byrne, made reference to how many inputs I made to pre-legislative scrutiny. I sit on two extremely busy committees, the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence and the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications. I was also sitting on the Joint Committee on Public Petitions at the time, as well as conducting normal day-to-day business. I did not...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: We could call the Leader into the Chamber.

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: The Senator is right. We could call in the Leader.

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: In fairness, if the Minister wants to, he could call the Leader in.

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister could ask to lift the guillotine.

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister is dead right. If I saw something going wrong, I would hold the Department in question to account. I have been trying to do that for the past two years with another Department and getting nowhere. In fact, the worst thing that ever happened to this country was the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924, where the Minister takes the fall but somebody else does the deed. That is...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: I am talking about Joe Citizen here, the people the Minister is talking about-----

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: -----who expect he will not write that cheque without having proper governance in place.At the end of the day, even pressure groups that contact us are citizens with a specific interest; I will accept that. I will put on the record today that I attended the TUI conference where the Minister was hailed as a hero by many; he really impressed them all. I hope they will still be as impressed...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: We do not have to.

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: I have just returned to the House. Speaking about academic freedom, I spent quite a lot of time in further education in Blackrock, as the Minister knows. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, we had the good fortune to attract quite a number of students from China. They were excellent in information technology, IT, and various other areas but in areas where they were asked to express an...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: I support Senator Higgins on amendment No. 6 in relation to the reference that “'student union' means a student union or other student representative body recognised by a higher education provider or by the Minister". I am involved in another area with a representative group which the Minister and the organisation in question have decided they do not want to recognise, yet they were...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: I would love to know what happened to that. I find it the most difficult thing. I was employed in teaching in 1995 and went straight into a permanent job with full hours. Less than two years later, colleagues were being employed for a couple of hours per week. I remember writing to the Minister responsible for social protection that teachers and lecturers teaching for one hour per day...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: That is it. The Senator is finished.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Jul 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: I welcome Ms Cara Hunter, MLA, and Dr. James Wilson to the House. It is great to see them here. I congratulate Ms Hunter on her election and Dr. Wilson on his support for that election. Last week we had the Air Navigation and Transport Bill 2020 before the House. I do not wish to rehash the debate but on 29 June, the Department of Transport issued a tender seeking an aviation consultancy...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 Jun 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: Decisions are made by Departments, particularly in regard to pensions. I know my colleague, Senator O'Loughlin, is deeply concerned about what I am going speak about now. The military service allowance is pensionable today but, at some stage, a decision was made that it would not be pensionable for those who were the early recipients of the allowance. Some sort of a deal was struck. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Safety Strategy 2021-30: Discussion (30 Jun 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: This is the advantage of white vans.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Safety Strategy 2021-30: Discussion (30 Jun 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: I join with what Senator Buttimer has said. I have met gardaí in all sorts of circumstances, for many a long year. The most recent time I met a garda was at 2 a.m., close to Lamb Doyles pub, when I was driving home. For the first time in 49 years, I was breathalysed. I am happy to say I passed, but it was a strange experience. I compliment the gardaí who are out on the beat and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Safety Strategy 2021-30: Discussion (30 Jun 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: It seems a bit ridiculous to have a van there at 8.30 a.m., when traffic is bumper to bumper. I have no difficulty with checking traffic on the N11. Speed on that road is especially fast, but surely it is not at 8.30 a.m. I complained some years ago about cyclists crashing the red light, because I was on the road. I did so on social media and, immediately, a challenge was put out to me...