Results 61-80 of 915 for speaker:Aidan Davitt

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Apr 2023)

Aidan Davitt: I am just curious, because we have an Oireachtas point of contact for many other entities.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Apr 2023)

Aidan Davitt: It might be beneficial.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Apr 2023)

Aidan Davitt: I have received a few calls in the past month about what seems to be a co-ordinated plan on the part of county managers, or certainly from the top down, in the context of how local authority planning executives deal with councillors. The reserve function is very specific when it comes to the input of councillors regarding development plans, making representations on planning files and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Global Progress and Sustainable Development Goals: Discussion (18 Apr 2023)

Aidan Davitt: I am curious about the big geopolitical shift away from the old powerhouses of, say, France in Mali and Burkina Faso and the big shift to a new generation in terms of China and Russia and the money they have rolled out throughout Africa. I am curious to learn about what China and Russia are doing in these areas because we do not tend to hear that much about them. Are China and Russia...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Planning Issues (28 Mar 2023)

Aidan Davitt: It is nice to see the Minister of State here today. I thank him very much. This matter concerns one-off plannings. Section 42 of the Planning and Development Act could give a five-year extension to planning permissions. However, legislation, particularly section 7 of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2021, about which I raised concerns at the time, has had unintended...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Planning Issues (28 Mar 2023)

Aidan Davitt: The Minister of State's answer is a bit of a smokescreen, unfortunately. I know he is only the messenger. It is hard to see how there are two junior Ministers in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and neither could be here, with the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, having to field all these questions. If substantial works are done, the council can look at the matter...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (28 Mar 2023)

Aidan Davitt: I am speaking today about housing, which has been quite popular over the past while. We have all discussed and agreed that we are in the middle of a crisis. Nobody could deny that. However, there is a more simplistic solution that could be used. It was pioneered during the Covid crisis and it worked extremely well. Developers and builders were asked to roll out mortuaries and additions...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 Mar 2023)

Aidan Davitt: To have a properly functioning property market, we need confidence and investment. I have listened intently yesterday and today. I wonder how some people think they can achieve this if we stop people from selling their property and interfere with laws governing landlords and tenants, as we have done already. I would suggest that the ban on selling rental properties has not bred confidence...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Mar 2023)

Aidan Davitt: Two weeks ago the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste talked about transgender education in primary schools. I come from a generation, as do quite a number of others here, where we hardly got any sex education in secondary school, so we have come quite a long way. I think that the Seanad would be a good forum for the Minister for Education to come and discuss her plans. It would be a nice open...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Mar 2023)

Aidan Davitt: Like my predecessors who have spoken, I wish to mark International Women's Day. I am blessed to live in a house full of ladies and it is great. This morning, before I left home, I was informed how lucky I am to be blessed with two women and my wife. On a serious note, International Women's Day is very important and it is great that women are recognised. I hope that we keep going forward...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Mar 2023)

Aidan Davitt: I raise the issue of planning permissions. Under some of the catch-all legislation that was brought in recently, the duration of planning permissions can no longer be extended. Planning permission is valid for five years, and that is that. Heretofore, during the previous recession and briefly during the Covid pandemic, a planning permission on which a person did not get an opportunity to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Debt Write-down and Debt Resolution Policies: Allied Irish Banks (2 Mar 2023)

Aidan Davitt: I thank the chairman and his team for having come here today. As you will know, Chair, lots of times we have requested various institutions to come before us and they have dragged their heels, so I respect AIB's quick response in coming before us. There has been great fanfare around the 1,900 people and the 90% write-down, as has rightly been discussed today. The matter has had a good...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Debt Write-down and Debt Resolution Policies: Allied Irish Banks (2 Mar 2023)

Aidan Davitt: Do the witnesses have a rough breakdown as to where those 150,000 would fall in respect of those categories? Would it be a quarter, a quarter and a quarter? I am just curious.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Debt Write-down and Debt Resolution Policies: Allied Irish Banks (2 Mar 2023)

Aidan Davitt: Thank you, Chair. I am happy with that.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Feb 2023)

Aidan Davitt: I will pick up where Senators Wall and Eugene Murphy left off in referring to the shocking incident in Ballyfermot. The viciousness of the attack beggars belief. The community is terrified by the actions of these cowboys and their total disregard for gardaí. If we have a debate on this matter, which I hope the Leader agrees to, we must look at strengthening laws in respect of people...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Feb 2023)

Aidan Davitt: I wish to follow up on a matter that was in the news yesterday, namely, the great success of the Garda in disrupting the flow of cocaine, a class-A drug, into the country. That has to be welcomed, and the resources the Minister for Justice has been putting into this area must be welcomed. I am concerned about another issue. Perhaps the relevant Minister could come to the House to address...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Feb 2023)

Aidan Davitt: I had a meeting this morning with the Georgian ambassador. It is a little before my time but he told me that the friendships between Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas and our counterparts in Georgia will, in the coming few days, have been in existence for 25 years. Following that meeting, I want to stress the hardship people in the countries bordering Russia are under at present.Our...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Feb 2023)

Aidan Davitt: Beannachtaí Lá Fhéile Bríde, a Chathaoirligh. I raise the issue of 44,000 pensioners who are due back pay. Most worked as nurses or in social care. There are some doctors as well and many carers. An increment of €500-odd was to be paid on 1 October 2021 and again in 2022, and there is another increment to be paid in February. In most of these pensions I would...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Local Representation Allowance (31 Jan 2023)

Aidan Davitt: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell. He is one of the hardest-working Ministers of State in the House. I am sure he will have no problem in taking over the big shoes of Deputy Peter Burke in what is a tough portfolio. I am also sure we will see a lot of the new Minister of State here. I raised this issue with the Minister of State's predecessor. I acknowledge that the new...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Local Representation Allowance (31 Jan 2023)

Aidan Davitt: When the Minister of State is tightening up on the little bit of legislation-----