Results 18,181-18,200 of 26,924 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Direct Provision: Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality (1 Apr 2015)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I do not reject it, because I have not seen it. My question was whether it concerned the Minister of State that a credible player like the Irish Refugee Council has withdrawn from the working group on the basis already alluded to by Senator Ó Clochartaigh. To my mind, that raises serious questions about what is going on in the working group. I have no doubt that there are other decent...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Direct Provision: Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality (1 Apr 2015)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I also asked about another matter. Ultimately, these decisions come back to the Minister of State. I take the point about bringing like-minded people together, which is fair enough. We need to do that urgently because we are 15 years too late, but then it comes back to the Minister of State. Some details are up for discussion about how exactly we do the right thing and that there may be...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Direct Provision: Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality (1 Apr 2015)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I applaud the Minister of State's faith. However, faith is one thing but there should be a determination to achieve certain results which I do not think are open for discussion. That is the point I am making. Some things are open for discussion, but others are not. I do not see how we can justify the system the Minister of State has inherited. In fact, he has clearly said we cannot...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Direct Provision: Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality (1 Apr 2015)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I, too, welcome the fact that we are having this discussion. I give credit to the Minister of State for at least enunciating the need to radically change the situation but I give most credit to the people in the asylum process who fought on the issue and demanded justice. However, before we throw bouquets at ourselves for the fact that we are discussing it, we must deliver. I hope we all...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Direct Provision: Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality (1 Apr 2015)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I am only asking whether it is being discussed.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Direct Provision: Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality (1 Apr 2015)
Richard Boyd Barrett: That is a pretty big one.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Direct Provision: Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality (1 Apr 2015)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Given that the transcript has been passed on to it, I hope the group will seriously consider an amnesty as a minimum remedy for the wrong done to people. The other issue on which we have touched that is unacceptable is the veil of secrecy and lack of transparency and oversight in terms of what has been going on in direct provision centres, which have been excluded from the normal inspection...
- Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (1 Apr 2015)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I did not tie anything.
- Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (1 Apr 2015)
Richard Boyd Barrett: After appeals.
- Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (1 Apr 2015)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I know.
- Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (1 Apr 2015)
Richard Boyd Barrett: It is what is in the Bill. That is the point I am making. The implication is that doctors are lying and writing false testimonies on a large scale. I do not believe that for a minute. Even if there are a small number of abuses, the idea that the Government would frame the legislation on the presumption that large numbers of GPs are lying is rubbish. It is an absolutely unacceptable way...
- Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (1 Apr 2015)
Richard Boyd Barrett: In fairness, the Minister of State does.
- Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (1 Apr 2015)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I have certainly had to think long and hard about my attitude to the final vote on this Bill, and I had to consult colleagues. This is because a trick is being played with this Bill. The trick is to smuggle in a very regressive measure under the cover of one that is marginally progressive. I find that sort of politics quite dishonest. It is a way of trying to blackmail the Opposition into...
- Order of Business (1 Apr 2015)
Richard Boyd Barrett: This morning, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, made a very significant announcement in Limerick this morning to journalists about social housing. The announcement was not made in this House, despite the fact the housing crisis is probably the most serious social emergency we have in the country. Will the Taoiseach explain why he did not...
- Order of Business (1 Apr 2015)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Is it the intention of the Government to have the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, come to the House and explain what he said to journalists?
- Order of Business (1 Apr 2015)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Will there be a debate in this House on it?
- Order of Business (1 Apr 2015)
Richard Boyd Barrett: That is why I am asking the Taoiseach.
- Order of Business (1 Apr 2015)
Richard Boyd Barrett: We want a debate on the strategy.
- Order of Business (1 Apr 2015)
Richard Boyd Barrett: There is no action. This is bogus. There is no action except in Limerick.
- Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Report Stage (1 Apr 2015)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I do believe the Minister of State but I do not believe the Government's intent in terms of this legislation. We have all seen, in practice, what is going on. The Government needs to get its head around what is going on and the actual intention of this legislation. When one looks at this issue in the round one begins to wonder if the thought process behind this Bill is to shave a...