Results 1,281-1,300 of 5,587 for speaker:Kevin Humphreys

Seanad: Heritage Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: If the Senator checks the Official Report, he will find that is what he said.

Seanad: Heritage Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: The Senator is a good farmer who knows a lot about farming. He obviously knows more than me. If he says there is a down week in August, I will accept him at his word. We should not be attacking our hedgerows. The last time this Bill came before the House, Senator Norris referred to hedgerows as larders. It does not make sense to cut down the hedgerows that feed the birds and mammals that...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Oct 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: It is with disappointment that I raise a matter relating to the housing crisis. I heard a contribution earlier in the Order of Business about 29 rapid-build social housing units to be built on a site off Mourne Road. The site was originally provided by the Sisters of Mercy on condition that housing for the elderly would be built on it. There is a clear crisis in the supply of social...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Oct 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: I second Senator Grace O'Sullivan's amendment. It is a very important Bill. These microbeads stay in the environment for decades, if not centuries, so I congratulate the Senator on bringing forward the Bill. Industrial relations in this country are disastrous at this stage. I thought it was quite hypocritical of Fianna Fáil to raise this issue considering it crashed and burned the...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Oct 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: The Government has an agreement with Fianna Fáil that is fundamentally cowardly. Fianna Fáil should have gone into a coalition Government instead of this myth that it is not in power or has no control and that if anything goes wrong, it is Fine Gael's fault and if anything goes right, it is Fianna Fáil's doing. We need leadership in this area. Otherwise, we will go into a...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Oct 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: There was a strategy under the previous Government.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Oct 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: I ask the Leader to call in the Minister for Health. I read in this morning's edition of the Irish Examinerthat four new maternity hospitals are needed across the country. Nearly on a monthly basis I have raised the shame that although we have agreement to build a new national maternity hospital at St. Vincent's University Hospital, Elm Park, we have been waiting ten months for planning...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Oct 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: The Senator should not make-----

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Oct 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: There is a conflict of interest here.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Oct 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: The Business Committee does not set the business in the Dáil either.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Oct 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: I first pay credit to the credit union movement because today is International Credit Union Day. I thank the movement personally because its members worked very closely with me in developing the micro-credit scheme. I hope the eventual outcome of the scheme will be the closing down of what I call the legal money lenders, who charge up to 130% interest rates to many people in deprived areas...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Oct 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: They are paying rent increases of up to 25% and at the same time must try to save for a deposit on a home. They are hugely disadvantaged. I welcome wholeheartedly the decision of An Bord Pleanála regarding Airbnb. Senator Denis Landy and I have highlighted this issue in this House over and over again. We have a housing crisis in the country and in this city in particular. Some 2,000...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Oct 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: However, we should not do it blindly and without discussion.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Mayoral Election (18 Oct 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this matter for discussion. The proposal for a directly elected mayor of Dublin has been knocking around since the mid-2000s. Credit is due to the former Minister for Environment and Local Government, Mr. Noel Dempsey, for taking an enlightened view on this issue. His successor, Mr. John Gormley, and my party colleague, Councillor Dermot Lacey, have...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Mayoral Election (18 Oct 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: No, with no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy English, I am very disappointed in the response. What I hear in that response is a kicking of the can down the road.The previous Ministers, Mr. John Gormley and Mr. Noel Dempsey, already outlined the powers. The fact we could have a directly-elected mayor for very little cost has been widely debated. However, democracy is not cheap....

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Oct 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: I want to raise with the Leader the actions by the Environmental Protection Agency in seeking a delay in the implementation of EU air pollution limits for Moneypoint power station and for other gas and fuel plants. The EPA has also pushed for an exemption that would allow the Edenderry power plant to exceed the new sulphur dioxide limits. In addition, the agency has opposed proposals for...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Oct 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: I am seeking clarity from the Leader and probably from the Seanad leader of Fianna Fáil as well in respect of the budget, in particular, social welfare payments. There seems to be some mystery over exactly when the payment will be made. We hear it will be in March. I am reminded of the old saying that we have yet to hear which March. Is it to be paid in the first week in March or the...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Oct 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: When will these measures be introduced?

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Oct 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: On a small point of order, if this House is to be taken seriously, then the past several minutes does not help. I know it is a difficult job to chair proceedings. However, if we want the public to take us seriously, we have to act in a serious way.

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Oct 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: We could get some in advance.