Results 1,521-1,540 of 4,178 for speaker:Paul Gavan

Seanad: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Second Stage (24 Mar 2022)

Paul Gavan: The Minister of State is very welcome. It has been four years since the Tutty report came out. We finally have legislation which will hopefully reach its final Stages soon. It is welcome that this legislation deals with the concerns expressed in that report, but I am critical about the time taken to get to this point. This Bill implements the key recommendation of the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Foreign Conflicts (23 Mar 2022)

Paul Gavan: I welcome the Minister of State. His colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, has quite correctly described Yemen as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. It is one I have regularly raised in the House. Since 2015 a brutal war has been prosecuted on the Yemeni people by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The death toll around the crisis is truly shocking. A total of 377,000...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Foreign Conflicts (23 Mar 2022)

Paul Gavan: That is quite an extraordinary statement. There are approximately 400 words and not one word of condemnation of the Saudi dictatorship. It has killed 400,000 people and there is not one word of condemnation. I asked the Minister of State for an explanation as to how we sent a Minister of State there touting for business just as it was ready to execute another 81 people. The Minister of...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 Mar 2022)

Paul Gavan: I want to raise the issue of housing and again call for a debate in that regard. I live in a beautiful village called Castleconnell in Limerick, which had a population of 2,100 in 2016 and it is probably heading for around 2,500 now. Under the current plan for the village, between now and 2028, we are going to get five additional public houses – not pubs, but houses. That is what...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 Mar 2022)

Paul Gavan: It is a Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael run council and has been for years.

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Compensation) Bill 2021: Second Stage (22 Mar 2022)

Paul Gavan: I welcome the Minister of State. Sinn Féin will support this Bill, which repeals and replaces the Garda Síochána (Compensation) Acts 1941 and 1945, which are the basis for dealing with Garda compensation claims. The main aim of the Bill is to provide a new compensation scheme for malicious injuries, including fatal injury inflicted upon gardaí in the course of their...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Paul Gavan: I have to take the Acting Chair up on that point. There is a degree of repetition but we are on Committee Stage and we are looking for a good, positive response from the Minister. If we get it, I imagine the debate will be curtailed pretty quickly.

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Paul Gavan: If we do not get that positive response, each of us here, across all party lines, has the right to stand up and fight for these workers and farmers because this is the opportunity we have. With all due respect, I ask the Acting Chair to drop the point on repetition because it is very much dependent on the Minister's response.

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Paul Gavan: We will not back away.

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Paul Gavan: I appreciate that. It is not good when 15 minutes into a three-hour debate the Acting Chair is asking us to shorten our contributions.

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Paul Gavan: Yes-----

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Paul Gavan: -----but we did not get the answers we wanted.

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Paul Gavan: We did not get the answers we wanted and I will demonstrate this now by moving the conversation on. I will repeat exactly what the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, said on the previous occasion with regard to compensation for the workers. He said the legislation provides for statutory redundancy. That is what the law of the State provides for. He then went on to say there is capacity in the...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Paul Gavan: I thank the Minister of State for his response. I have a couple of queries to try to tease things out a little further. The Minister of State spoke about "extra payments" and funds for retraining and reskilling. I do not think I am misquoting him. First of all, I want to acknowledge that he is trying to be constructive. I am not trying to be difficult, but "extra payments" can mean...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Paul Gavan: I apologise to the Minister of State. Unfortunately, I had to take an urgent family call. I was not here when he responded. It is for that reason I need to ask the question again. He may very well have answered it. The clarity I am seeking is in respect of his confirming that there will be an enhanced redundancy package for the workers and that it will be based on additional weeks' pay...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Paul Gavan: I thank the Minister of State for his response and his understanding that I had to step out. I am disappointed, however, because I am making a clear distinction. I am not asking the Minister of State to negotiate here in the Chamber; I am asking him to agree principles of negotiation. A long-established principle of negotiation in industrial relations is that the allocation of an enhanced...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Paul Gavan: I want to come back to the Minister of State on this again because I can understand why people are so worried. To be clear, I do not think I am splitting hairs. The difficulty is that, over many years when the State let people go, it established and respected the principle of an enhanced redundancy package. One example is what has happened regarding the terrible job losses in Shannon...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (10 Mar 2022)

Paul Gavan: I will raise two issues today. The first refers back to yesterday's Order of Business and the fur farming Bill. All of us want to see an end to fur farms as soon as possible. It would be helpful, now that we have a break for the next week or two, if the Minister would engage directly with the affected farmers and workers. I still have a real concern, which I know is a cross-party one, to...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Mar 2022)

Paul Gavan: I had the pleasure of attending the original London Irish soccer club, Tottenham Hotspur, on Monday evening. It was very moving to see the ceremony beforehand in support of Ukraine. There was a fantastic song from local schoolchildren and huge solidarity from supporters of both clubs. However, the topic of conversation before and during the match was the appalling stance of the British...