Results 1-20 of 1,954 for speaker:John Gilroy
- Seanad: Fourth Report of the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection: Statements (7 Jun 2011)
John Gilroy: I welcome the Minister. Being here probably makes her rueful and a little nostalgic. I welcome the report under discussion. As my party colleagues stated, it contains many fine and excellent recommendations. We now wish to see resources put in place that will give expression to those recommendations. I welcome the recommendations warmly, particularly those on mental health, although I...
- Seanad: Mental Health Services (7 Jun 2011)
John Gilroy: I welcome the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs who is finding it very difficult to leave us today. Perhaps it is because of the previous position she held. I wish to draw the Minister's attention to the situation in Cork city and county which has huge implications for public policy at national level. The reason I am bringing it to the attention of the House is not only that I am from...
- Seanad: Mental Health Services (7 Jun 2011)
John Gilroy: I thank the Minister for her very thorough response and acknowledge the amount of work done at departmental and agency levels and among the voluntary community. I am disappointed we cannot find money to continue this lifesaving programme. Part of the programme has a research function but there is a practical element to it also. It is a local on-the-ground service. Suicide clusters are...
- Seanad: Jobs Initiative and Competitiveness: Statements (8 Jun 2011)
John Gilroy: I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. I have noticed that many of the Opposition speakers in this House and virtually all of them in the other House begin their contributions by quoting long lists of negative statistics about the country. While we do not want to delude ourselves about the difficulties facing small and medium-sized enterprises and we want to recognise that these...
- Seanad: Order of Business (9 Jun 2011)
John Gilroy: During the Adjournment debate last Tuesday night which was ably facilitated by the Leas-Chathaoirleach I spoke about a funding problem affecting a suicide prevention initiative in Cork. Unfortunately, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs could offer no comfort to me on the matter and it seems funding will not be restored. During my contribution at that time I made clear my intention...
- Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Second Stage (15 Jun 2011)
John Gilroy: I welcome the Minister of State. I wish to share approximately three to four minutes of time with Senator O'Keeffe.
- Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Second Stage (15 Jun 2011)
John Gilroy: The Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 is welcome in the main. All Members are satisfied that the air travel tax has been suspended. In a country that relies so heavily on tourist numbers, the aforementioned tax introduced by the previous Administration was rather regressive and ill-conceived and its abolition has the potential to give Ireland a tremendous boost. In conjunction with this...
- Seanad: Fair Deal Nursing Home Scheme: Statements (Resumed) (16 Jun 2011)
John Gilroy: I wish to share time with Senator Mary Moran.
- Seanad: Fair Deal Nursing Home Scheme: Statements (Resumed) (16 Jun 2011)
John Gilroy: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, to the Chamber. It is great to see my constituency and party colleague, friend and neighbour in the House. We could perhaps sort out this matter over a cup of coffee in Blackpool shopping centre. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the fair deal scheme, which since its introduction in 2009 has been portrayed and widely viewed as the solution...
- Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)
John Gilroy: It is difficult to know where to start. Perhaps I should start by commending the Opposition for their valiant efforts in finding something to criticise in a VAT reduction. I am new to this Chamber, but I am not new to the English language. It is with some disbelief that I hear Senator Byrne opposing VAT relief in section 2 and proposing that we extend the VAT relief to the construction and...
- Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)
John Gilroy: I will be brief. It has been stated that the art of revenue raising is akin to plucking a goose, with the objective being to get as much down as possible with the least amount of hissing. The Opposition is determined that the goose will hiss loudly and, for the record of the House, I wish to correct one or two of the figures that have been suggested. While I do not like to mention Senator...
- Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)
John Gilroy: No, it is not.
- Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)
John Gilroy: I can take the contrary view and can explain to the Senator how these figures are wrong. If the entire 0.6% charge applied over a â¬2.3 million pension fund became payable on the portion of money that was being drawn down at the time it was being drawn down, then the Senator's figures are correct. However, this, of course, is not the way it will work. The levy is being applied-----
- Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)
John Gilroy: If I may-----
- Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)
John Gilroy: The 0.6% levy of course will be spread across four years of the entire life of the pension fund and, consequently, the purpose of quoting such figures is to make the goose hiss very loudly indeed.
- Seanad: Housing Market: Motion (22 Jun 2011)
John Gilroy: I welcome the Minister of State. I have placed a moratorium on myself to prevent me from criticising Fianna Fáil for the time being but I will find it even more difficult to stick by that if I do not hear a less belligerent contribution from Senator Power. She has made one sensible comment, in that nobody has a monopoly on outrage or sympathy in regard to this issue. It is probably all...
- Seanad: Fire Stations (22 Jun 2011)
John Gilroy: Is there such a thing as a point of information?
- Seanad: Fire Stations (22 Jun 2011)
John Gilroy: I just wondered. The Minister's reply was the longest "No" in the history of the Seanad.
- Seanad: Order of Business (23 Jun 2011)
John Gilroy: This was a good week for the Seanad, and an important week. The debate on yesterday's Private Members' motion by the Labour Party was particularly good, with some excellent contributions, and it is heartening to see an all-party consensus developing in this regard. I welcome Fianna Fáil's offer to come up with some further ideas and perhaps even some legislation. I also note with interest...
- Seanad: Order of Business (23 Jun 2011)
John Gilroy: It was fully answered last night.