Results 1-20 of 21 for bike to work speaker:Mattie McGrath

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Driving Test Waiting Times: Motion [Private Members] (18 Oct 2023)

Mattie McGrath: We tabled this motion in good faith. The Government has decided not to oppose it but it is a complete cop-out. It is an abject failure of the Department. I am disappointed that the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, is not here for the reply. With the Chair's indulgence, I would like to sympathise with the families of the four young leaving certificate students from Clonmel. They...

Final Report of the Independent Scoping Exercise into the Circumstances surrounding the Death of Mr. Shane O'Farrell: Statements (17 Oct 2023)

Mattie McGrath: I, too, welcome Lucia and Jim and their daughters, and, indeed, brothers, and their little grandchild today. They should not have to be here. What kind of a cabal of a country are we running? That is all I can call it. I have been in this House for 16 years and I have seen a litany of injustices and cover-ups, from Whiddy Island, ever before I came in here, to the Fr. Niall Molloy killing...

Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: Second Stage (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Mattie McGrath: If you are fracking gas, you need to have water to keep things cool. It is all part of the construct that was set up and the separation of duties. I will go back to the gas but I am just saying that we have three reservoirs. There is one in Carrick-on-Suir on the Lingaun river, another in the Ardfinnan regional water scheme and a third in the Galtee region water scheme. They are massive...

Youth Justice Strategy: Statements (21 Jun 2023)

Mattie McGrath: I am glad to be able to speak on this today. I believe in the phrase mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí, and I think that we are not doing that. I want to salute all of the organisations, including the youth clubs in Tipperary. My daughter, Councillor Máirín McGrath, is involved in setting up the club in Newcastle again, and Ballybreen. Then there is the Waterford and South...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (22 Mar 2023)

Mattie McGrath: A number of weeks ago, I asked the Taoiseach about Motorsport Ireland and its inability to get insurance. This national organisation contacted the Taoiseach. It gave a briefing in the audiovisual room in Leinster House. I thank the Deputies and Senators who turned up to the briefing. This situation has become completely out of hand since Brexit and Covid. No club can get insurance for...

Ceapachán an Taoisigh agus Ainmniú Chomhaltaí an Rialtais - Appointment of Taoiseach and Nomination of Members of Government (17 Dec 2022)

Mattie McGrath: I too want to wish every Minister and the Taoiseach the very best. I will not support them in the vote, if one is called, but I wish them well. As I said, during this holy season of Advent I wish a happy and peaceful Christmas to everybody in the House, including the staff and families at home. Today's announcement is a game of musical chairs, where the self-interest of every Government...

Finance Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (25 Oct 2022)

Mattie McGrath: I am pleased to speak. In the short time available for me to speak on the Finance Bill, I am only going to be able to cover a fraction of the issues. I will certainly address the concrete levy because this is a farce. It is showing the white flag to the real perpetrators of that awful mica and pyrite crisis. Those perpetrators were the quarries. The Minister obviously has no appetite to...

Energy Security: Motion [Private Members] (15 Jun 2022)

Mattie McGrath: ...óir Brian Ó Domhnaill, whom I thank. I also thank Deputy Michael Collins, who has been pleading with people. We are not looking for new licences willy-nilly; simply and plainly, we are seeking to be sure that we can keep the lights on. We all know we have to have a transition. An Teachta Nolan has been talking about this daily since the lovely phrase "just transition" came...

Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill 2019 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2021)

Mattie McGrath: I was to speak on this with my colleague, Deputy Michael Collins, but he is as láthair today and sends his apologies. We badly need reforms right across the education sector from na naíonraí or playschools to third and fourth level. As far as I am concerned, education goes from the cradle to the grave. The Minister of State is very understanding and is always top of her...

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 May 2021)

Mattie McGrath: I am not. I look forward to a robust debate with the Minister. We understand each other and have no hard feelings, and the same goes for all the members of the Rural Independent Group. Deputy O'Donoghue asked me to ask the Minister when, like "Living with Lucy", the Minister will visit Limerick with him. This is perhaps the most far-reaching piece of legislation to come before the...

Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (30 Sep 2020)

Mattie McGrath: I will do my best to keep my comments relevant to the amendments but I must address some of the comments that have been made. I am sure the Leas-Cheann Comhairle deals with many representations relating to planning permission, where people make a major investment to home themselves so they do not need a house from the State. They go through the planning and An Bord Pleanála process, as...

Covid-19 (Transport): Statements (23 Sep 2020)

Mattie McGrath: This is national bike week and I thank the Minister for the initiatives that are already in place, including the bike-to-work scheme. I salute Cahir gardaí and in particular Sergeant Ray Moloney for an initiative he is going to have in Cahir day care centre next Sunday to encourage na daoine óige, na daoine aosta and their families to understand the proper use of bikes and...

Illegal Drugs: Motion [Private Members] (5 Nov 2019)

Mattie McGrath: I too compliment an Teachta Curran and Fianna Fáil for bringing forward this very important motion. The numbers involved are truly staggering. As the motion indicates, individuals, families and communities throughout the country have been devastated by illegal drugs. Drug-related deaths in Ireland are at their highest ever, increasing from 431 in 2004 to 736 in 2016. The value of...

Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Bill 2019 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (19 Jun 2019)

Mattie McGrath: I am happy to speak on the Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Bill 2019. I absolutely accept that we urgently need to address the expanding problem of gambling addiction, and specifically online gambling addiction, that is such a plague for so many families in our country. People can gamble day and night, at work, in their bedrooms and kitchens and anywhere they wish. In the past, people had...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (27 Jun 2018)

Mattie McGrath: I thank the Acting Chairman and I appreciate his vindicating my rights. I resent being told I was acting the clown or whatever else. As I said, for the record I have statistics here that the Minister confirmed of the number of people waiting to be scheduled for driving tests. I have said this is "deeply alarming and a further indication of the disarray that is afflicting the learner...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (27 Jun 2018)

Mattie McGrath: Always with the permission of the Chair. I am again glad to be able to return to the Bill, and specifically to amendment No. 22. I again appeal to the good offices of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, to take this opportunity to withdraw the remarks he made about us in the Rural Independent Group and the personalised attack he made on me in front of my daughter. I...

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (19 Jun 2018)

Mattie McGrath: I am delighted to be back here this evening. I thank the officials and the Chair for allowing me to come back in. We have come to the Minister, Deputy Ross, numerous times on this Bill. Ar an gcéad dul síos, ba mhaith liom a rá, the reason we are back here is that the Bill was recommitted and the reason for that is the approach of the Minister. The Attorney General...

Tillage Sector: Motion (26 Apr 2018)

Mattie McGrath: I too am glad to have the opportunity to speak on this report. I thank the Chairman, all the members who compiled the report and the secretariat, as Deputy McConalogue and others have. Agriculture is the most important industry in this country. I know the Minister himself is a cereal grower so he has an understanding of these issues. I note from reading the report's many recommendations...

Climate Change: Statements (7 Dec 2017)

Mattie McGrath: ...with responsibility for the Gaeltacht, the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with responsibility for greyhounds and horses and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. Anyway, we need to have joined-up thinking. We need to allow our people to work. We are not going to get back to the comely maidens dancing at the crossroads. That was a time...

Heritage Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Mattie McGrath: I am speaking to the Bill. Common sense has gone out the window. We need to be able to cut roadside hedges in the interests of road safety. We have plenty of legislation, including a piece last week concerning fast tractors and another today which suggests that we will be locked up if any of our children go out driving at the age of 17 or 18 without a licensed driver accompanying them....