Results 161-180 of 1,019 for at speaker:Paul Gavan

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Inclusion of Apprentices) Bill 2023: Second Stage (3 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: I welcome the Minister of State. I commend my colleagues from the Labour Party for tabling the Private Members' Bill. It is a worthy Bill and gives us an opportunity to debate something that we all know is an issue in Ireland today, namely, low pay. Low pay is a real problem in our country. We know this. We know the statistics show that we have one of the largest proportions of workers...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Apr 2023)

Paul Gavan: I begin by touching on that last subject, because I watched back proceedings yesterday evening from my hotel and I am sure I am not the only person who was genuinely dumbstruck at the unbridled arrogance on display there. It was just appalling and was meted out to people from all parties at the meeting. It was totally unacceptable. Senator McDowell makes a valid point, namely, we at times...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Apr 2023)

Paul Gavan: Senator Craughwell makes a fair point as well. Miriam Lord's description of said civil servant as "the prince of permanent government" struck a bell. It is not acceptable for any civil servant to come in and react in that way. We have a right to ask questions and receive answers, and that did not happen yesterday. The main issue I raise relates to a group of men called the Murphy 4....

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Apr 2023)

Paul Gavan: They were dismissed because they asked for negotiation of their being underpaid by €4.50 an hour in relation to the sectoral employment order, SEO, specifying the legal rates that should apply for skilled jobs such as those at the plant and across Ireland. Their boss came in after half and hour and simply told them they were all suspended. The management suspended all the workers and...

Seanad: Regulation of Lobbying (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (20 Apr 2023)

Paul Gavan: The Minister of State is welcome, as always. I give the Bill a partial welcome. The lobbying regime has come in for strong criticism in the past. There has clearly been a revolving door between Government and big business. The Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO, has long called for reforms and made numerous submissions to Government. Unfortunately, Government long ignored these...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Apr 2023)

Paul Gavan: I want to raise the issue of housing once again. Last week I spoke to a really impressive a young woman working for an NGO that engages with all of us here in the Oireachtas. She had returned from Europe where she had completed a PhD. She has been living at home with her parents for the last eight months because even on a decent salary, she could find nowhere to rent. What she said to me...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Second Stage (19 Apr 2023)

Paul Gavan: ...scheme excludes people who, as infants, spent less than six months in a mother and baby or county institutions. Second, the controversial legal waiver remains. Third, no agreement on remuneration with religious orders or pharmaceutical companies has ever been reached. Fourth, boarded-out children have been completely excluded from the payment scheme and enhanced medical card. It is...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 Mar 2023)

Paul Gavan: I will begin by saluting Noel Murphy and by thanking him for his support, courtesy and patience. What an incredible 40 years of service. On behalf of the Sinn Féin group, I want to wish him a very long and happy retirement. Tomorrow is Show Racism the Red Card day. I remind people of that and I encourage everybody to come and support it through their choice of clothing for tomorrow,...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (29 Mar 2023)

Paul Gavan: Senators may have seen the report that the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, released today on the deficit of hospital beds across our health service. Right now, we are 1,000 beds short. The ESRI also recommends we add an additional 300 beds per year after that as well. It will come as no surprise to anyone from Limerick, given the horrendous state of the hospital for years now...

Seanad: Housing: Statements (29 Mar 2023)

Paul Gavan: I am the first person to mention the shocking number of people who are homeless. I welcome the "Hear, hears". That is grand. Of course, the figures are getting worse under the Minister's watch every month. When he was in a supply and confidence arrangement, he was quite clear that a figure of 7,000 homeless people was not acceptable. We are now heading to double that figure.It is a...

Seanad: Housing: Statements (29 Mar 2023)

Paul Gavan: We will call it a base target; I am not going to row over that. There are several problems with the target or base target, however. First, the circular the Minister sent to the councils was too rigid in its application. For example, he insists that a notice to quit must be given in writing before the council can commence the process of purchasing a house. I am aware that councils believe...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (28 Mar 2023)

Paul Gavan: I wish to raise the issue of Palestine again. It is an issue to which I constantly return because, unfortunately, the situation continues to worsen.Last year was a deadly one for Palestinians, with 171 of them being killed by Israeli forces and settlers, including more than 30 children. Some 49 people, of whom 17 were children, were killed during the Israeli assault on the besieged Gaza...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 Mar 2023)

Paul Gavan: I wish to raise a matter that was missed in the news yesterday for the most part. The European Committee of Social Rights has produced a very important report detailing that Ireland is far from compliant in basic labour law. Indeed, we come out as one of the worst countries in western Europe. It highlights the lack of a right to collective bargaining. It highlights, in particular, the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Legislative Process (22 Mar 2023)

Paul Gavan: It is always good to see the Minister of State. Having said that I must express my disappointment that nobody from the Department of Health was available today. This is the second time the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, has declined an invitation to the House to talk to me about an important issue. Whether he is dealing with an important matter of the State or whether he is washing his hair, I...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Legislative Process (22 Mar 2023)

Paul Gavan: It is not the fault of the Minister of State; I accept that entirely. She has been handed a script, which I think she will acknowledge is entirely inadequate. It tells me nothing that I did not already know having attended the meeting of the Joint Committee on Health on 18 January. It is extremely disappointing because we need to know when this Bill will be introduced. The Minister is on...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Mar 2023)

Paul Gavan: I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that non-Government motion No. 9 be taken ahead of non-Government motion No. 1. I will read that into the record. It may be useful to do so for colleagues. The motion reads: "That Seanad Éireann calls on the Rehab Group/Enterprises to implement the recent Labour Court recommendation which called on Rehab to honour the long-standing...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Hospital Overcrowding (9 Mar 2023)

Paul Gavan: I wish to put on record that I am more than disappointed that the Minister for Health is not present. He has bottled it because he knows he has no answers to the issue I will raise in respect of University Hospital Limerick, UHL. I am interested to hear the response of the Minister of State who is from Limerick. He may be aware there is considerable divergence between the official HSE...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Hospital Overcrowding (9 Mar 2023)

Paul Gavan: I thank the Minister of State. The point is that the divergence between these figures is such that the HSE figure is simply incredible. I have a huge concern that twice in this Chamber over the past month, the Minister for Health rejected the INMO figures. He insisted there were just eight people on trolleys on 1 February when he was here and he told me that I did not have my homework...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Mar 2023)

Paul Gavan: I join with others in wishing everybody well on this International Women’s Day. I too wish to bring up the issue of housing and the appalling decision by this Government to end the ban on evictions. Like Senator Clonan, I was really struck by "Prime Time" last night and by "Morning Ireland" this morning. A woman called Grace spoke on "Morning Ireland" this morning and she said: "I...

Seanad: Good Friday Agreement and Windsor Framework: Motion (8 Mar 2023)

Paul Gavan: The Minister of State is very welcome. I welcome this debate and the constructive points made on all sides of the Chamber. When I reflect on the Good Friday Agreement, I am always reminded of the words of Nelson Mandela. Although he was, of course, talking about his own country at the time, he very famously said that it is always impossible until it is done. That phrase very much sums up...