Results 61-80 of 5,475 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: Tourism Industry: Statements (26 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Participation in Sport: Motion (26 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I hope the Minister will forgive me for arriving a little late. I am delighted that the last time Mayo carried a cup across the Shannon, my grand-uncle, Paddy Moclair, was on the team. I hope we do not have to wait as long again. I know people are tired and have put a long day in so I will be brief. I ask the Minister to consider bringing together education and sport. I am mindful of one...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I am quite disturbed by what we learned yesterday from the Governor of the Central Bank and I second Senator MacSharry's request for a debate on this issue. The European Central Bank, ECB, has decided it will not participate in the Irish banking inquiry. This shows a total disregard for the European concept of democracy. It looks like Mr. Draghi will not be dragged before the Oireachtas to...

Seanad: Situation in Middle East and Ukraine: Statements (27 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. This is the first time I have had the pleasure of addressing the Minister in this House. I thank him for the presentation he made today, which was measured, as one would expect from him. I am aware of the fact there are representatives from both Israel and Palestine here, so I want to say I have no idea what it is like to live in a place where, at any...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Insurance Schemes: Discussion (27 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I have but I will not hold him long. One of my relations has personal experience of the work done by his organisation and they are really good people. It seriously bothers me when I see banks repossessing properties and selling it for a price which the former occupant could afford to pay. That is slightly outside the insurance issue but does Mr. Maguire wish to comment on it before leaving?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Insurance Schemes: Discussion (27 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I welcome the witnesses. I have been thinking about average Joe Garda married to, or in some sort of relationship with, average Jo nurse who buy a house. At the mid-point on the scale their maximum borrowing capacity is €300,000, working on the basis of a 20% deposit requirement, which I support. It is a way of cooling the market. I am running a survey around the country of all...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Insurance Schemes: Discussion (27 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: -----makes perfect sense. Mr. Deeter mentioned that the Central Bank is moving to protect the banks. Surely it is moving to protect the consumers from themselves.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Insurance Schemes: Discussion (27 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: Having bought and sold 13 houses in my life, I am thankful to God that the financial people I dealt with ensured that I borrowed at a capacity at which I was able to repay. What Mr. Deeter says sounds great but if that had happened we would not be in the situation we are in now.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Insurance Schemes: Discussion (27 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: One of the things that has come back in the survey is that we should regulate rent. This would give young couples the time to build capacity. There is a lot of talk at the moment about putting in an additional subvention through the Department of Social Protection in rent allowances and the like. Dr. Lyons made the point that a 5% increase in rent allowance will probably cause rents to go...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Insurance Schemes: Discussion (27 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I am just wondering about the land banks that were built up by developers - those that are still solvent. Is that in some way influencing the supply side of the market where they are now trying to recoup their costs from that time, so we are getting an inflated price for the houses they are going to build in the immediate future?

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: On the teachers' strike, I support Senator O'Donnell's call for the Minister to come to the House. Nobody withdraws labour for the fun of it.

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I thought she had.

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I do not expect the Minister to come to the House to negotiate with the unions but we have to try to move the issues forward. Several thousand students are out of their classrooms today and that should not happen. There is no such thing as a low stakes exam. However, I would like to move on to the issue of John Corrie. May he rest in peace. He was born 43 years ago. I am sure a mother,...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: As someone who many would say has a big heart, I also have a tricky heart and as I have had to use the ambulance service on a number of occasions I know that lying in bed waiting for an ambulance is not something I relish. As stated yesterday in this House were I living in rural Ireland I would probably not be alive today. I would welcome a debate on ambulance services. I am particularly...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I have previously raised the issue of rent control in the House. The importance of rent control is now more obvious in the context of the issue of homelessness now in the public domain. I mentioned some days ago that I was conducting a survey across county councils. To date, more than 70% of the respondents have asked that rent controls be implemented. There is something fundamentally...

Seanad: Homelessness: Statements (3 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I have a written speech with some lovely statistics in it on homelessness. However, it really does not mean a whole lot. Homelessness is about life chances. As people speak here tonight, I think back on my life and I think back to a time in 1983 when our business went bust. Lady Luck is either with you or against you. I was on the brink of handing up my house, which would have rendered...

Seanad: Homelessness: Statements (3 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Homelessness: Statements (3 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Homelessness: Statements (3 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I apologise for interrupting the Minister of State. I ask him to comment on whether it would be possible for a cap or a freeze to be imposed on rents right now. Is that being considered?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Online Learning at University: Discussion (3 Dec 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I also thank our guests for attending. I am the product of a distance learning programme but, unfortunately, we did not have access to ICT when I was pursuing my studies. I engaged with WebCT in 1998 and moved on to Moodle in more recent years. There are two issues in which I am interested. Reference was made to blended learning. I am of the view that e-learning and online learning are...