Results 181-200 of 3,241 for speaker:Brian Ó Domhnaill

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Home Help Service Provision (22 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I thank the Minister of State. The HSE has provided the cost to me. Some €40 million would clear the backlog. It is unfair that there is no backlog if one lives in Kerry, north Cork, south Cork, Carlow, Kilkenny, south Dublin or County Louth. If one lives in Donegal, Sligo, Mayo, Galway or Cavan, there is a substantial waiting list. That is wrong. The HSE is a national...

Seanad: Brexit: Motion (22 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I will begin by congratulating the Government for the game it has played to date in representing Ireland's interests to the best of its ability.The Government and, particularly, the civil servants involved, the Minister of State and the Tánaiste deserve recognition because they wore the green jersey. Some people throw political jibes and criticise but that is the wrong thing to do on...

Joint Standing Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands: Seirbhísí trí Ghaeilge: An Roinn Leanaí agus Gnóthaí Óige (20 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Tosóidh mé leis an bpointe deireanach a d'ardaigh an tUasal Fay, is é sin an fóram a rinne sé tagairt dó. Tá fochoiste ag baint le fóram na luathbhlianta seo ina bhfuil ionadaí ó Foras na Gaeilge, Gaeloideachas, Údarás na Gaeltachta agus trí Ranna Rialtais atá ceangailte leis an fhoghrúpa sin. Más sin an obair...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I welcome the Minister of State back again. I support the amendment, which I think is important. There were a number of grouped amendments but I refer to amendment No. 7, which impels the board to ensure that this issue is dealt with rather than allowing it to deal with the issue casually or selectively. The reputational damage of the drugs issue in the greyhound industry has gone...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I beg the Acting Chairman's pardon, but I got the amendments mixed up. I referred to the drugs issue, but I should have referred to artificial insemination, the subject of section 26. The matter relates to these amendments, particularly amendment No. 7.

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Yes. I will table a number of additional amendments on Report Stage to deal with the artificial insemination of greyhounds. The Irish Greyhound Board received a legal opinion from Mr. Ross Aylward, senior counsel, on 27 February 2013. His legal opinion was sought on the use of frozen semen in the sector. It reads as follows:There is no escaping the need to apply the two year death limit in...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Frozen semen from the father of that dog dates back to 1992.

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: That dog is dead; therefore, the regulations have been flouted.How can anyone have confidence in an organisation that flouts its own regulations? The five licensed operators are turning themselves into multimillionaires by creating a cartel within the sector. There is no level playing field, but we do not have to recreate the moon to deal with this issue. All we have to do is replicate...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I want to speak to my amendments Nos. 8b and 8d. I touched on the issue of drugs in the greyhound racing sector earlier and the nature of these amendments is to try to strengthen the integrity of this sector because it has been marred with drug abuses. The abuse of drugs in greyhound racing is either to make the dog go faster or to slow it down, but it has other unintended consequences for...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: It is a matter of public record anyway.

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I accept that but I am quoting from a newspaper article.

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I accept that.That gentleman is not the only one. As I said the other day, numerous people travel across the water, fill their dogs with drugs, race them on tracks in the United Kingdom, following which they are banned for perhaps six months, a year or a lifetime, as in the case I mentioned, yet, the following week or perhaps before the end of it, they are racing the same dogs on a track in...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I thank the Minister of State. I understand where he is coming from but I do not necessarily agree with it. Both of these amendments are under section 27, which concerns the administration of substances to greyhounds, where it says that: "The Board may, after consultation with the Minister, make regulations for the control restriction, prohibition or administration of substances". I do not...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: My second amendment does not take away the discretion from the control committee. What I am suggesting is that there would be a minimum period of four months. The dog could not race after two or three days, as outlined by Senator Ruane, in that the dog could run around the track, the stuff could be sweat out of the system and the dog tests negative. This is wrong. We need a minimum period...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Great.

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I move amendment No. 8b:In page 26, line 24, to delete “residue limits for” and substitute “strict zero tolerance limits for all class A”. I am moving the amendment because one has to have zero tolerance to have transparency. Thresholds and grey areas do not work and do not represent best international practice. We are trying to clean up a sector here and this...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I move amendment No. 8d.In page 27, line 39, to delete “until” and substitute “for a minimum period of 4 months and until”.

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Under Standing Order 62(3)(b) I request that the division be taken again other than by electronic means.

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: On section 30, I have a question about the licences or permits approval. While this section deals with definitions, my query is on the number of licences or permits issued for artificial insemination, AI, units, in terms of the way they are issued and regulated. Does the Minister of State have any information on that?

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Okay, that is fine.