Results 441-460 of 5,479 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Oct 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: There has been much talk about the capture of the drugs vessel off the coast of Cork. We rightly commend the Defence Forces, the Garda, the Revenue and everyone else who was involved on their work. There was fantastic co-operation across the board. However, have we thought about what would have gone wrong if there had been weapons on board that ship and the helicopter involved in the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Oct 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Senator Dooley mentioned pay restoration-----

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Oct 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: -----and the fact that barristers deserve it. He said politicians had their pay restored, but we have not. There are still long-term increments outstanding.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Oct 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Ours is the only profession with those outstanding. I am not afraid to say it in public. I do not care.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Current Issues Facing Members of the Defence Forces: Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (3 Oct 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the Cathaoirleach. If nothing else, we should have learned by now that we are the only country, apart from Malta, that does not have a full-time Minister for Defence. You cannot run a Department one day a week or one day a month. It just cannot happen. I would say to Lieutenant Colonel King that this sounds like Groundhog Day, but Groundhog Day was the same every day whereas the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Current Issues Facing Members of the Defence Forces: Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (3 Oct 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I will cut in for one second. I attended an intelligence and security forum in London that involved people from the American side - Senators and Congressmen - and politicians from all over Europe. The word used about the Irish Defence Forces was "horrified". They were horrified at the weakened state of our eastern flank, as the Americans put it and as the Europeans put it, our western...

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by An Taoiseach (28 Sep 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: How long do I have?

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by An Taoiseach (28 Sep 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the Taoiseach for being here and I will not take a lot of his time. There are two issues close to my heart and the first is the Defence Forces. We saw the wonderful operation off the south-west coast in recent days. We have to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to remunerating members of the Defence Forces. We have to rebuild the organisation, particularly...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Implementation of the Recommendations of the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Discussion (26 Sep 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: My first questions are for Lieutenant General Clancy. I welcome his support for the issue of the seagoing allowance for the Naval Service, which is important. On the issue of the working time directive, it appears to many of us that the talks have stalled. Will he comment on that and advise as to whether the Defence Forces are now recording the hours worked by their members in order that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Implementation of the Recommendations of the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Discussion (26 Sep 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Do the witnesses see benefit in a system similar to that the British have in which one-size-fits-all national pay rounds take place but then the defence people have a look at specific qualifications or skill sets and may recommend an additional premium for those who hold those skill sets, allowing them to move outside the national pay round? If the pay round is 5%, another 1% might be given...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Implementation of the Recommendations of the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Discussion (26 Sep 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Does Ms McCrum see a conflict of interest there?

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I would like to be associated with the various good wishes to Mr. Martin Groves and his team, who frequently work late into the night after we go away to have stuff ready for the following morning or day. It is truly appreciated. They also keep an eye on those of us who might stray into areas we should not every now and then.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I welcome the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence's tribunal of inquiry. One of the things it might do is clear up what should never have gotten into the public domain from the independent review group. The independent review group's report could have been one sentence: "We found prima facieevidence, which requires a sworn inquiry." Instead of that, we had a report, which was extremely...

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the witnesses for coming here today. We spoke before they came down. It is a pretty daunting prospect to come into this place and face the music. Their presentations were fantastic and I thank them both for that. I am going to go through a few things here. Whichever of the witnesses thinks themselves best suited to pick up on each might do so. The first matter impacts Ms...

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Ms Cronin has made her point really well. When we are talking about day care centres, particularly for elderly people, nowadays you very frequently find couples who are 40 or 50 years married when one becomes frail and needs respite. The person looking after him or her also needs some time to themselves and this is where day care centres come into their own. I am sure we will hear about...

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Unfortunately, the public watching this cannot see the Visitors Gallery is full. These are people who travelled hundreds of miles to be here today to hear the petition being heard. The story Ms Curtis tells about Cork is typical of the other two that are here today. We have public representatives here at local authority level. Nobody engages with them anymore. Decisions are taken...

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I appreciate that.

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: You did a good job the last time you had them in, Chair.

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: I wonder whether there age discrimination going on here. Leaving aside Ms Curtis's issue, we are talking about respite care and day centres in particular. It is old people generally who use them and it is young people who are making decisions about the future of these organisations. The whole thing is ageist.

Committee on Public Petitions: Closure of Vital Health Services: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: Is Ms Mullins going to make a presentation?