Results 1-20 of 5,444 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Oct 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: Tá an-áthas orm a bheith sa Teach seo inniu. Gabhaim míle buíochas le gach duine. I am extremely proud to be here. I did not expect to speak today and thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for the opportunity. Now that I am on my feet, I could not let the day go by without doing so. Everybody has complimented and welcomed me and spoken about my family. My wife, who is here,...

Seanad: Budget 2015: Statements (14 Oct 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the Minister of State for his kind words. I will try not to take too much time.

Seanad: Budget 2015: Statements (14 Oct 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I will share some time with Senator Healy Eames. I am disappointed on the education budget. I am particularly concerned that it may be masking a problem we are not seeing, that is, that a number of education and training boards, ETBs, around the country have sought permission from the Minister for overdraft facilities to pay their staff. I am aware of one ETB which is looking for...

Seanad: Budget 2015: Statements (14 Oct 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: It is outrageous that there are young soldiers sleeping in their cars. There are similar problems with young teachers on the bread line. I cannot finish without saying this - we will pay a considerable price in this country for what we are doing to education. In increasing the fees to go back to third level education, maintaining the employment control framework in the third level...

Seanad: Immigration (Reform) (Regularisation of Residency Status) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (22 Oct 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I am here to support Senator Norris's Bill but I did not intend to speak on it. The longer I was listening to the contributions, the more frustrated I became with what I was hearing. It seems that everybody in this House agrees we need a solution. Everybody in this House agrees that what Senator Norris has produced is a solution - maybe a...

Seanad: Immigration (Reform) (Regularisation of Residency Status) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (22 Oct 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: With all due respects, Senator Conway is saying:" Hear, hear" but at the same time he is knocking -----

Seanad: Immigration (Reform) (Regularisation of Residency Status) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (22 Oct 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: We should be working together to solve this problem. We should be doing it straight away. We should be giving these people hopes and dreams. I apologise for calling them "these people", they are our brother and sisters. We talk about technical issues. I am not long enough in this House to understand filibustering, but to me that is what is happening

Seanad: Immigration (Reform) (Regularisation of Residency Status) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (22 Oct 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: Let us get off the podium and move together. The issue can be resolved on Committee Stage. If Senator Norris has produced a diamond in the rough, which in all fairness, I would be rather surprised, let us polish it on Committee Stage and stop talking about reports that will arrive sometime in God knows when and get down to work together and solve the problem and solve it when we take a vote...

Seanad: Irish Water: Statements (5 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: On a point of order, I am appalled by what happened here this morning. Fifteen minutes of our valuable time has been lost. The Minister is now gone.

Seanad: Irish Water: Statements (5 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: Some 150,000 people marched at the weekend.

Seanad: Irish Water: Statements (5 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I would appreciate it-----

Seanad: Irish Water: Statements (5 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: -----if those on this side of the House were allowed to finish what they have to say.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I join my colleagues in remembering Armistice Day. I personally visited the Island of Ireland Peace Park in Flanders, where I learned that a Craughwell and a Quigley both died on the same day in Childer Wood. My mother being a Quigley and my father a Craughwell, I found it rather ironic. Having worn a uniform for ten years in two armies, I believe politicians make war and soldiers die. I...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: Perhaps, but I want to bring the matter forward and I ask the Leader to give it priority. It affects not just the Tralee residents. My discussions with the HSE tell me it is a problem in most urban areas in the country. Lead was first recognised as a contaminant in 2000 BC, and we are talking about it today. I ask the Leader to provide time.

Seanad: Suicide and Mental Health: Statements (11 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: There is a song that contains the following lines: ... suicide is painless, It brings on many changes.There is no doubt it brings on changes, although sadly none of those who have committed it has come back to tell us whether it is painless. I refer to the 2013 guidelines Well-Being in Post-Primary Schools, which were jointly prepared by the Departments of Education and Skills and Health,...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: The teaching unions and the Minister for Education and Skills appear to be at odds with each other. I hope this problem will be rectified in the near future. Both sides have moved a considerable distance and I hope they will move the rest of the way. I ask the Leader to arrange a debate on a scandal in the banking system. It appears a small number of mortgage holders, primarily those aged...

Seanad: Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (12 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I support Senators Barrett and Quinn. I have grave concerns about this Bill not specifying the educational institution I believe it has been designed to facilitate, namely, the Royal College of Surgeons. We already have one third-level institution in this country which is marketing its services on a for-profit basis and my fear is that some of the very high-powered international...

Seanad: Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Fifth Stage (12 Nov 2014)

Gerard Craughwell: I voted against this Bill at an earlier Stage and find it regrettable that it has proceeded this far through the House. We should be very careful in our dealings with the academic institutions of this country. With negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership ongoing, we are opening the door to foreign institutions coming here. In addition, while I accept the...

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

Gerard Craughwell: I am broadly in support of the notion of a Bill to reform the Seanad, although I have some serious difficulties with some of what is in this Bill. We are probably suffering from an Irish problem, which is that if we have not got it right first time we put it back on the shelf and wait 40 years before taking it down again and brushing the dust off it. Anybody who has ever been at school...

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

Gerard Craughwell: Having recently been elected to the Seanad I saw just how difficult it was even to get a nomination. My election was no triumph of democracy, it was a triumph of pragmatism. At the end of the day I thank God for that pragmatism, but if we are going to reform the Seanad let us start by tearing this Bill to pieces, rebuilding it and making it into something we can all work with.