Results 141-160 of 915 for speaker:Aidan Davitt

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Local Authority Members (1 Dec 2016)

Aidan Davitt: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. This insult to councillors, which is the only way I can describe it, has gone on long enough. There is never a wrong time to do the right thing. I feel strongly about this. I call on the Minister of State to see that the Government stops playing with councillors. We are getting drip feeds in the newspapers every couple of months about expenses...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Economic Impact of Brexit: Discussion (Resumed) (6 Dec 2016)

Aidan Davitt: Cuirim fáilte roimh na hAirí Ó Muilleoir agus Hazzard. I have a query on the co-location of businesses. Shay Murtagh Precast Concrete Solutions is a large concrete provider based in the midlands which recently finished a massive project on the London city centre underground. The company also provides the materials for and builds flyover bridges, creating great employment in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Economic Impact of Brexit: Discussion (Resumed) (6 Dec 2016)

Aidan Davitt: I hope Creagh Concrete will be busy working on Casement Park in the near future. Do the Ministers envisage any scenario in which there might be a second referendum on Brexit?

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Dec 2016)

Aidan Davitt: As part of poison awareness day, I call on detergent companies to ban liquid detergent tablets. Half of the calls to the poison centre, which takes 10,000 calls a year, are about children swallowing liquid detergent tablets. Since 2011 in Ireland alone, there have been more than 700 children who have had serious problems after swallowing liquid detergent tablets. I call on the Minister for...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Dec 2016)

Aidan Davitt: I wish to talk about the housing list system used by county councils throughout the State. My county, County Westmeath, has over 2,000 people on the council housing list, as referred to earlier. The system is totally dysfunctional. There needs to be a serious review of how we treat people who are looking for housing from the State. Most people in the system are housed in the private...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Aidan Davitt: I thank Mr. Kelly for his presentation. Ireland is an open economy and Mr. Kelly has hit on a number of points. I am curious about where he believes the greatest pitfalls for Ireland are in this deal since he has spent so much time dealing with it. I want to glean something from his experience of it. As he has outlined, it has taken more than seven years for it to be comprehensively...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Aidan Davitt: I asked for a reason.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Aidan Davitt: I will tell Mr. Kelly why I asked for a reason. Are the procedures of the European Union too stiff? They have taken too long to get this far with Canada. We are talking about opening markets and progressing. When we heard yesterday and the day before about America and Britain doing a deal within two weeks, it was hard to fathom.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Jan 2017)

Aidan Davitt: I call on the Government and our Leader, in conjunction with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to liaise with the archbishops, Eamon Martin and Diarmuid Martin, on the proposed visit of Pope Francis to Ireland. It would be an ideal opportunity to address the joint Houses of the Oireachtas. He has a natural connection to Dublin as he lived here for over three months and this would...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Jan 2017)

Aidan Davitt: And the councillors in Dublin.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Jan 2017)

Aidan Davitt: That was my point.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Jan 2017)

Aidan Davitt: I wish to raise a matter of major importance, namely the defrauding of the State through below-cost selling. This is most prevalent among supermarkets and large retailers. When Tesco, Aldi or any other large retailer sells 24 cans of alcohol for €20 while a nearby retailer is selling at the recommended price of €30, there is a 35% loss of revenue to the State on the €10...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Jan 2017)

Aidan Davitt: In fairness, bread and milk were the issues at the time, not alcohol.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Jan 2017)

Aidan Davitt: There were no other retailers, such as Aldi or Lidl, in the market.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Jan 2017)

Aidan Davitt: I agree with Senator Lombard's point, but he is not making it correctly.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Jan 2017)

Aidan Davitt: Senator Lombard is not making his point correctly.

Seanad: Northern Ireland: Statements (26 Jan 2017)

Aidan Davitt: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire go dtí an Teach. I have two brief queries. I am well aware of all of the hard work being done by the Minister and his Department but it is the Taoiseach who is our main point of contact for all matters related to Brexit. I do not believe that is the right policy, with all due respect to the Taoiseach. One man can only do so much. I believe it would...

Seanad: Northern Ireland: Statements (26 Jan 2017)

Aidan Davitt: No.

Seanad: Northern Ireland: Statements (26 Jan 2017)

Aidan Davitt: We cannot just say what we want to say when it suits. I fully agree with many of the points made by Sinn Féin. However, it was in power with the DUP. The latter needed Sinn Féin for the power-sharing arrangement to work. In the context of all of the money that will be wasted, I cannot understand why Sinn Féin did not reverse the terrible mistake that was made with the...

Seanad: Northern Ireland: Statements (26 Jan 2017)

Aidan Davitt: Money is still being wasted in the North.