Results 1-20 of 5,918 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the witnesses for presenting this morning and for their submission. I will cut straight to the chase. This is the second time we have had the representative body here, and the second time we have heard negative reaction with respect to conciliation and arbitration. Conciliation and arbitration is the lifeblood of representation. Will Mr. King describe what they expect from...

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: On the issue of pensions, there is evidence of senior gardaí having to go to the local welfare office and stand behind people they brought to court three weeks before they retired. We need a whole session on pensions and I ask that that be arranged. Given the meeting we had on the Air Corps with the Department of Defence and what we have heard today, our report must point out the...

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Forgive me if I cut in on this for a moment. On the issue of the business case the Secretary General adverted to, the study group that was put together to look at the air traffic controllers consisted of her own staff. If a business case was needed, and the report was a business case in itself, her own staff could have produced it very quickly. We need to bear that in mind. I am sorry for...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Today is the first opportunity I have had to stand in solidarity with the Bosnia-Herzegovina Association of Ireland to commemorate the genocide at Srebrenica, the 30th anniversary of which passed on 29 June. In making that statement, I want to recognise what has become for me the normalisation of the war in Ukraine. Ukraine has slipped down the agenda and is not seen as the genocide that...

Seanad: Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (9 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I welcome the Minister to the House. This is the first time I have addressed him since his elevation. I congratulate him on his new post and I think he is doing a fine job where he is. I rise today to speak on behalf of ISME. My lovely speech has been ruined because several people have already adverted to ISME's critique of the Bill. Nonetheless, I feel obliged to put the association's...

Seanad: Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (9 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: -----which benefits from maintaining Ireland's astronomical levels of defamation litigation. Even as claims fell to 289 cases in 2024, this remains higher than the 250 cases in England, as already pointed out. There is no judicial justification for this disparity. The Courts Service's annual report only scratches the surface. Defamation actions generate an estimated €30 million to...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner’s Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Second Stage (9 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Am I not next according to the list?

Seanad: Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner’s Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Second Stage (9 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: The list I have says the Independents are first.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner’s Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Second Stage (9 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I am sorry. Senator Rabbitte should proceed.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner’s Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Second Stage (9 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I welcome the Minister to the House. This is the first time I have addressed him in his current role. I congratulate him on his position. Before I get into reading my notes, one of the questions that crosses my mind when I come across a case like John O'Meara's is why the State forces a family to go the whole way to a Supreme Court judgment in order to fix something that was morally...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner’s Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Second Stage (9 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: That will give me plenty of time to think while the Minister is gone.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner’s Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Second Stage (9 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: To get back to where I was, there are anomalies in the system. Much of what I wanted to say has already been delivered by the Minister in his own speech, so I will not go into the historical background of John's case. However, there are anomalies in the system. We are very privileged in this country to have the civil servants we have working in Departments. I firmly believe there is no...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Some great stories have been told in the past few days about the capture of the MV Matthew and the drugs haul in 2023. What a fantastic story it is. If anybody has not read it, please go to The Journal and read Niall O’Connor’s description of the capture of that ship. We pulled together the agencies of the State, namely, the Garda, the Revenue Commissioners and the Defence...

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: State-sponsored.

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Well, let us not waste time on that then. We will move on.

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Come on now. I specifically said, if the witnesses want a referendum, it should empower all three sections of the Oireachtas, namely, the President, the Seanad and the Dáil. Rather than looking to an outside agency, you would look inward. Mr. Kelly quotes the United Nations. What about regional deployments? The triple lock prevents us from participating in regional deployments,...

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: On that we agree.

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: I said it on the floor of the Seanad.

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Jul 2025)

Gerard Craughwell: Does Ms Ní Bhriain honestly think that if there is all-out war, our little island will be left alone?