Results 1,501-1,520 of 3,644 for speaker:Michael Collins

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (27 Oct 2021)

Michael Collins: I have been meeting with fishing organisations in south-west Cork, as well as Donegal, Galway and Wexford, over the past 12 months or more. These are people with more knowledge than myself, and every one of them has asked me to pose the Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill in the best way possible. I am trying to do that. However, it is not just that alone. This has been a...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (27 Oct 2021)

Michael Collins: The situation in which we find ourselves is a result of the Government trying to push through the Bill and the penalty points system. It looks as if fishermen on the water are damned if they do and damned if they do not. It seems that fishermen who are innocent will be landed with penalty points. Even if fishermen can prove their innocence, they will still be on their backs, as such. It...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (27 Oct 2021)

Michael Collins: It is not agreed without discussion.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (27 Oct 2021)

Michael Collins: I move amendment No. 5: In page 11, line 35, to delete “30 working days” and substitute “60 working days”.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (27 Oct 2021)

Michael Collins: As Deputy Pringle said, additional time is needed. Thirty days is a short period to try to put together paperwork. If you feel you are being wronged and there is a case to be fought, you might still be at sea, and you have to put together that case when you get back. When a fisherman goes to sea, it is for two weeks, most of the time. Some of them find it so difficult to make a living...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (27 Oct 2021)

Michael Collins: I move amendment No. 6: In page 11, line 37, to delete “30 working days” and substitute “60 working days”.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (27 Oct 2021)

Michael Collins: I move amendment No. 7: In page 12, line 17, to delete “on the balance of probabilities” and substitute “beyond a reasonable doubt”. The issue comes down to whether the innocence of a fisherman is taken into account. When we were talking about the proposed change from 30 to 60 days the Minister said we do not want to delay the application of points. That is...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (27 Oct 2021)

Michael Collins: I challenge this amendment.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (27 Oct 2021)

Michael Collins: I move amendment No. 9: In page 14, to delete lines 26 to 29 and substitute the following: “15J.(1) Subject to subsection (2), points assigned by the Authority to a master who is an Irish citizen are suspended when any appeal is pending and shall be deemed fully revoked upon successful outcome of any such proceedings, in respect of the infringement concerned.”. This...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (27 Oct 2021)

Michael Collins: I move amendment No. 11: In page 17, line 17, after “fee” to insert “(not exceeding €25)”. In the event of this very unjust Bill being passed by the Dáil, every fisherman and fisherwoman will have the right to appeal his or her conviction, especially if he or she is in the right. I asked the Minister about the recent near ramming incident off...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (27 Oct 2021)

Michael Collins: I find this astonishing, to be honest. The sea-fisheries Bill is going through but it does not have a set fee for people who want to appeal their conviction and penalty points. The Minister says he wants to be reasonable. He could not be more reasonable than by including a figure of €25. My worry is that while this Minister might want to be reasonable, the next Minister might not...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (27 Oct 2021)

Michael Collins: I move amendment No. 12: In page 17, line 23, to delete “30 working days” and substitute “60 working days”.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (27 Oct 2021)

Michael Collins: I fully agree with Deputy Browne in his question to the Minister. What is a serious infringement? I was talking about the near-ramming incident off Castletownbere earlier this year. Would that be deemed as a penalty point infringement under the laws that stand in other European countries? On several occasions I asked were penalty points applied to the Spanish trawler that day when it was...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (27 Oct 2021)

Michael Collins: The Minister referred to a determination penal. First, who is that made up of? Second, it has been set on rules based in Europe. Some European countries have different rules in comparison with others. Who will have the final say on whether a fisherman has committed a minor infringement or a serious infringement? That is a serious issue. Who will have that final say? Is the panel made...

Covid-19: Reframing the Challenge, Continuing our Recovery and Reconnecting: Statements (21 Oct 2021)

Michael Collins: I thank the medical staff who have been at the forefront and worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic in community hospitals and general hospitals. I commend them on their bravery despite the difficulties they have experienced. While these people are professionals, what they have seen must have been terribly traumatic for them. Often, they were away from their families and it must have...

Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Statements (21 Oct 2021)

Michael Collins: I am delighted to get the opportunity to speak on the 36th annual breast cancer awareness month. It is a major issue throughout the country. Many people have spoken today about the breast screening programme falling behind. I feel there is always a way around these things if we make the effort. As early detection is of such importance, one way of speeding this up might be to consider a...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2021)

Michael Collins: The SouthDoc overnight service in Castletownbere, which serves the people of Ardgroom, Eyeries, Allihies, Adrigole and Glengarriff, as well as Lauragh in south Kerry, has been non-existent for the past six weeks. In spite of numerous communications received from the Minister from Health, Deputy Simon Donnelly, during these weeks indicating that the issue had been resolved, the truth on the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (20 Oct 2021)

Michael Collins: I am seriously concerned about the ambulance service in west Cork. West Cork has four ambulances assigned to the area. One is in Castletownbere but is in Kerry all of the time, one is in Clonakilty and is dubbed the Cork city ambulance and two more are in the Bantry area but spend almost every day in every part of County Cork except west Cork, pushing great ambulance staff to the limit. In...

Autism Spectrum Disorder Bill 2017 [Seanad]: Second Stage [Private Members] (20 Oct 2021)

Michael Collins: Children with autism have suffered enough. Every Deputy is contacted by local schools seeking SNAs for children with autism and other disabilities. A school that rang me last week was seeking three SNAs for children with serious autism and various disabilities. It was offered just one part-time SNA. I was interested in what was said about a lack of action on the part of special...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (20 Oct 2021)

Michael Collins: 115. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if a passport will be expedited for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51469/21]