Results 21-40 of 5,475 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: Seanad Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I beg the Minister of State's forgiveness as with my novice status, I forgot to recognise him formally. I agree with Senator White. I only needed nine politicians to sign a nomination form and it took me the best part of 12 weeks to get them so I cannot begin to understand how difficult it must be to get past the most discerning group of politicians one would ever find. I would not...

Seanad: Seanad Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: We should be examining the process of educationalists and people involved with culture electing people to the education and cultural panel. People involved with the trade union movement and in business should be involved with the labour panel, for example. Those involved with agriculture should have a say in who is elected to the agricultural panel. I would like to see some reform of the...

Seanad: Seanad Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: That is outrageous.

Seanad: Seanad Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister of State has referred to the fact that the Taoiseach will put a group together to consider this issue. I am naturally suspicious of groups put together by anybody, anywhere, anytime. Should a group be put together, it must include Members of this House and, second, the names of the proposed members must be placed before us to be debated. For far too long decisions have been...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Further Education and Training Strategy: Discussion (12 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I welcome the delegations. I am sorry I had to leave, but there was a division in the Seanad. It is no secret that I am a product of the further education sector and that I am always looking over my shoulder at the staff of the old VEC schools who gave us the sector we have today. The system was not planned and grew organically. We owe a significant amount to teachers and principals,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Further Education and Training Strategy: Discussion (12 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I wish to address something that Mr. Lavelle mentioned. I omitted to compliment the community education and adult education systems, which do a fantastic job in preparing people. Ms Hartley pointed out that SOLAS had yet to discover a matrix by which it could measure non-certified programmes. We all agree that, for a fair percentage of people, non-certified programmes lead on to certified...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Permanent TSB (12 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I will go back to the issue of tracker versus variable mortgage rates. Mr. Masding should correct me if I am wrong. One could have two next door neighbours working at exactly the same job, in exactly the same value home, with exactly the same mortgage, with one on a variable rate and the other on a tracker rate, and the difference in repayment could range to several hundred euro per month,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Permanent TSB (12 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I will make one last point. Mr. Masding spoke about the bank's loan-to-value rates and where the value is higher than the loan, there is a reduced rate available. He has worked on that. Is that something the bank will offer to its traditional variable rate mortgage holders? Will the bank now review those who are on variable rate mortgages and accept that it needs to help them by cutting...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Permanent TSB (12 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: Has Mr. Mitchell any opinion with respect to the suggested 20% deposit when it comes to purchasing a new property?

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I want to address the issue of teachers as addressed by Senator Paschal Mooney. We are at a very delicate stage in negotiations between both sides which have moved a considerable distance such that not a lot divides them. I would hate anything to be said by anybody at this stage that would derail what are very sensitive negotiations. The teachers of Ireland have driven the economy to where...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: When the Deputy Leader uses Scotland as an example, she should be aware that schools there pulled out of the system.

Seanad: Commemoration Planning: Statements (13 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I compliment the Minister on the document produced today. It is not too late; in fact, it is rather timely. Sometimes, if the lead-in is too long, we can miss some of the important issues. Last year we saw commemorations of the 1913 Lock-out. When I attended the events at the GPO, the general public were incensed at being left standing outside for over 45 minutes while a few dignitaries...

Seanad: Commemoration Planning: Statements (13 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: Will the Minister remember the groups that do not have PR consultants? Some poor unfortunates cannot afford them.

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: On the issue of what happened at the weekend I was appalled by what I saw. I believe there is still a crime of incitement in this country and I believe that those who bring people onto the streets have a responsibility to ensure that those people behave themselves properly. What went on at the weekend in this country does not reflect the democracy in which we live. I am sick and tired of...

Seanad: Horizon 2020: Statements (18 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I welcome the Minister of State. I hate to be the one to put a bit of a damper on things with my comments and hope I am wrong. For the first two years of Horizon 2020 I understand that €15 billion will be laid aside. The Seventh Framework Programme had nearly €11 billion in 2013 which did not include funding for a competitiveness and innovation framework but that is now...

Seanad: Horizon 2020: Statements (18 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: My colleague, Senator Quinn, suggested there should be a one-stop-shop. One of the things that I have found about funding in this country is that there is a multiplicity of funding sources and sometimes it becomes so confusing that one loses track of where one is going. Therefore, I support the call for a simple one-stop framework to access funding. Higher education institutes will be the...

Seanad: Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme: Statements (18 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: The first thing we tell young people when they get a job is to get a pension. We tell them the pension will guarantee their comfort in their old age. As we get older, we become vulnerable. I am particularly aware of it as I get older myself. It is totally unacceptable to hit the most vulnerable people in our society. These people have already been hit. Any of them that invested in blue...

Seanad: Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme: Statements (18 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: Why was it allowed to?

Seanad: Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme: Statements (18 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: Have the trustees been replaced?

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: It is funny that I wish to discuss exactly the same issue. I still hold my belief that we do not need to soften the mortgage market but I take on board the suggestion that we would be able to insure 10%. However, I ask the Leader to set aside time to debate the private rental market because unless we control the rental market, as the mortgage market becomes tighter, rents will only go up....