Results 1,801-1,820 of 5,749 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank our guests and my colleagues who have covered most of the areas already. I will deviate slightly. There has been a lot of talk about sustainable energy, renewables and so on. Recently, a relative of mine purchased an electric car. I believe the carbon footprint of manufacturing that car would not be any different from that of manufacturing a fossil fuel petrol or diesel car. We...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank Mr. Burke for his reply. It was an honest one. I tire of listening to those who take the moral high ground speak of reducing carbon footprints and the like on the planet and moving the cost of global warming from the rich western world to the poorer parts of the world. The policies need to change in that they need to have a massive human rights aspect to them. When it comes to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: No, I fully accept what Mr. Burke says and thank him. If the EU has policies in place on biofuel to ensure there is minimum impact on the humans of this world, we need to hear an awful lot more about it and maybe hear about it at the same level as we hear about the need to reduce global warming and our carbon footprint on the world. Maybe we need to start hearing also about the humans of...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Oct 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I advise colleagues that RTÉ's "Nationwide" programme at 7 o'clock this evening will feature a film on what it was really like to be at Jadotville. Everybody here should watch it. I will not say any more on that matter because it is sub judice. I am sure the Leader is aware that many of us are receiving emails concerning a statement she made in this House on 14 October. I fully...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Oct 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: We must have a national conversation about those who have decided, for whatever reason, that they do not wish to be vaccinated. The Government must step into the frame and provide the education and information required to deal with this issue of people who are genuinely afraid of vaccines. Early in the summer, I stated I was due to have an AstraZeneca vaccination and that I was...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (20 Oct 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister is anxious. I do not agree with my colleague, Senator Higgins, because we should not put in anything that will constrain us because we do not know what will happen in the future. There has been a lot of talk about European armies and the like so this debate is an opportunity to convey that there is no possibility of a European army where there is not an independent European...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (20 Oct 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: We saw how Ireland's ability to train with other armies around the world benefited us recently in Kabul. When our people went on the ground out there, they knew people on the ground there and were able to interact with them, and that is really important. I agree with certain restrictions on how troops might be used overseas, but Kabul is an example of how quickly things can change and a...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (20 Oct 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: Force commanders have a certain amount of control over our troops on the ground but a senior liaison officer from the Irish Defence Forces is always on the ground, and if a force commander is trying to bring us into something in which we should not be involved, the senior liaison has a route straight back to the Minister's office and it can be stopped at that point. I am not, therefore, sure...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (20 Oct 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I am a little concerned at what is being proposed. Force commanders, whether they are on a UN mission, EU mission or any other mission that has been jointly agreed, are constrained by the criteria set out in the mission. If, by some manner or means, we have a force commander who runs wild and decides to undertake something that was not in the mandate, then it falls to the senior Irish...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I concur with the sympathies expressed by the Cathaoirleach to the family of Sir David Amess. On Thursday evening, I called to my grandchildren - I know the Leader has young children - and the excitement in my six-year-old granddaughter’s eyes when she sat me down to tell me she was going to read me a story and, as she read me the story, the excitement in the four-year-old sat beside...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Oct 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I welcome the addition of 800 gardaí announced in the budget and 400 civilian staff who are to be recruited by An Garda Síochána, however, this is in sharp contrast with the situation in the Defence Forces. The paltry €35 million allocation in the budget for the Defence Forces for next year will only cover the increase in salaries as result of the most recent round of...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Oct 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: At the outset, I wish to remember Paddy Moloney, who sadly passed away earlier today at the age of 83. Paddy was a great ambassador for Ireland and for Irish music. Chinese aggression towards the democratic island of Taiwan is intensifying and should be giving rise to concerns that China will try to take over the island by force. We have already seen how Beijing used a heavy-handed approach...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Oct 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: The Leader needs to take a bow. As Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, she motivated and led her Department through what must have been the greatest crisis it ever faced. We must recognise that as well.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Oct 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: On 28 May this year I brought a Private Member's motion to this House on Ireland's search and rescue service. During the debate on this motion, I raised a number of matters of great concern regarding the oversight and corporate governance of the current search and rescue, SAR, operator, CHC Ireland DAC.The recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General has completely vindicated my...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Oct 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I am a bit deaf, so you will have to speak up.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Oct 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: Everything I am putting out here is in the public domain.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Oct 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I hate to say it, but I did not hear one word of what you said. I will have to plug myself in again.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Oct 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I am fully aware of that. I am not referring to an individual; I am referring to a company.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Oct 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I did not name him.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Oct 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: Okay, moving on. The next contract, the one to which I am now referring, was signed off at Cabinet at the last Cabinet meeting. The business case for that was put together by a company called KPMG, which is well known to us all. KPMG brought-----