Results 1-20 of 57 for feel speaker:Kevin Humphreys "party:" . (isset($parties[ucfirst("$a[1]")]) ? $parties[ucfirst("$a[1]")] : "$a[1]")

Seanad: Crime: Statements (5 Dec 2019)

Kevin Humphreys: This is a subject close to my heart. Not many politicians go into these areas in the south inner city. People living there feel they have been deserted by mainstream politicians who do not even attend public meetings on drugs and crime. We need to roll up our sleeves and ensure these communities are represented and that they get the resources they need. Otherwise, we are storing up a huge...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Latent Defects: Discussion (7 Nov 2019)

Kevin Humphreys: I thank the Chair for allowing me to speak as a non-member of the committee. I deal with defects in apartments on a weekly basis. Mr. Prior communicated very well the feelings of anger, frustration and confusion when these things are discovered in an apartment block. I found that many of the apartment owners affected bought their flat as a starter home with the intention of going on to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Latent Defects: Discussion (7 Nov 2019)

Kevin Humphreys: ...and I admire the witnesses present today. We have spoken at length about low-cost finance and I am really frustrated they have not had the opportunity to access that. A lot of apartment owners feel they should not have to borrow money to fix defects that should never have happened in the first place. They have to be pragmatic at some stage and try to get that resolved. That is an...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: National Dementia Strategy (25 Sep 2019)

Kevin Humphreys: ...made other than in identifying the issues that need to be addressed. I have served on the all-party group on dementia in these Houses seeking a better service and more supports. Unfortunately, I feel that we have failed because we have seen no significant improvement for dementia sufferers, their families and carers over the past three years. Dementia is an ignored condition. Those who...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 May 2019)

Kevin Humphreys: ...McHugh, said Government agreement for the scheme is about protecting families in their homes. Are apartment dwellers not families in their homes? The Minister said also: "It is about ensuring people feel secure and safe in the place where they have set down roots, where they are building a life, rearing a family and planning for their futures." That is all true, but there is another...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (15 May 2019)

Kevin Humphreys: ...a lot more comfortable in the rental sector. That is the reason there is major and understandable resistance on the part of families to taking up the housing assistance payment, HAP, because they feel very insecure in that rental sector because their experience of it has been very poor, and I gave the example of parents having to change the school their children attend on several...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 May 2019)

Kevin Humphreys: ...until 28 June. Cork is in the middle of local and European election campaigns and a plebiscite about whether there will be a directly-elected mayor for Cork. Those Labour Party representatives feel it would benefit the city if the consultation period was extended. I echo their calls and ask the Leader to engage with the Minister to see if he will extend the consultation period. The...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Apr 2019)

Kevin Humphreys: ...householders. It is ignored on a daily basis, not just in this House but also in the other House. The people in question have not had a listening ear. No one is prepared to listen to them. I feel for what happened in Paris, but I will feel even worse if somebody loses his or her life in this country because the Minister will not listen. It is just not good enough to have fire marshals...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Bill 2018: Discussion (19 Feb 2019)

Kevin Humphreys: ...and Markets Authority to investigate the big four accountancy firms. If we look at the size of companies in sectors such as aircraft leasing and of other companies, such as PwC, does Mr. Drennan feel he has the resources to carry out a major investigation? The Anglo Irish Bank investigation was quite a while ago but it caused reputational damage to the State. In the context of Brexit...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Feb 2019)

Kevin Humphreys: ...the work he and his office have done on this issue but unfortunately, at this stage the Minister still has not indicated when he will attend the House. I have been patient on the issue but I feel I have no alternative to moving an amendment to the Order of Business tomorrow to call for the Minister for Health to attend to discuss the HSE plan for 2019 and the issue of not providing...

Seanad: Directly Elected Mayors: Statements (29 Jan 2019)

Kevin Humphreys: ...councillors who campaigned for many years for a directly elected mayor of Dublin. I am disappointed that we will not get one now. Dublin is being hard done by. I apologise to the Chamber, but I feel passionately about my city and its four local authorities. The Minister of State asked where the boundary would be. It would be the GAA boundary. We support the same team. It is the four...

Seanad: Annual National Transition Statement on Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (4 Dec 2018)

Kevin Humphreys: ...and failed again and that is unacceptable. Ministers who are responsible for ripping out hedgerows have come to the House today and stated that everything is wonderful.It is quite the opposite. I feel extremely angry because I was one of the Deputies who spent hours and hours developing the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 at that time. The principal gain in that Act -...

Seanad: Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill 2016: Second Stage (14 Nov 2018)

Kevin Humphreys: ...it is not reaching its targets or advancing policies that would allow us to reach our targets for 2020 and 2030. Unfortunately, we are failing and I take no glee in saying that. While Ireland may feel the impact of climate change in harder winters, warmer summers and a shortage of drinking water, people in the Third World are losing their lives. There is starvation and drought, which...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Rental Sector (18 Oct 2018)

Kevin Humphreys: ...Dublin. Short-term letting affects not only the housing crisis but people who bought homes, who owing to the constant re-let of apartments and the passing on of apartment codes etc, do not feel secure in their homes. This is not good enough. The cross-departmental and committee recommendations were not published, which is unacceptable. This issue has been raised on an almost weekly...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Oct 2018)

Kevin Humphreys: Yesterday, more with anger than any other feeling, I raised the issue of climate change and how the budget ignored it. The Leader's response was to claim that I was for taxation. I am for taxation, and we have to bring in a carbon tax. The Citizens' Assembly said it-----

Seanad: Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (Gender Pay Gap) Information Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (3 Oct 2018)

Kevin Humphreys: ...their time in the Dáil to bring this Bill forward. It has been talked about for too long. I remember the pressure to get pay equality measures over the line in 1999 during the tenure of the then Deputy Proinsias De Rossa. I feel the same now. There is a window during which we can get this over the line if we all work together. If we work on a cross-party basis in this House, in...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Garda Deployment (12 Jul 2018)

Kevin Humphreys: ..., it would be positive and would send a message to the many thousands of workers in the transport services that we are starting to take this issue seriously. We want customers and workers to feel safe and secure when they use public transport services. Public transport could be served well by a small dedicated transport police.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Kevin Humphreys: I feel very aggrieved. Senator Noon is a practising solicitor, and the Bill means she would have to go through a 15-year decontamination period before she could get involved again. That is entirely wrong. The amendment tabled by the Labour Party Senators is immensely practical. It could do with a little polishing, but it would be a constructive element if the Minister was prepared to...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Light Rail Projects (3 Jul 2018)

Kevin Humphreys: ...were invited to appear before the transport committee. The Minister has no control over whether one group or another is invited to appear before the committee but they were excluded from that. I feel particularly aggrieved by that. They have requested a meeting with the National Transport Authority, NTA, which I hope will be granted shortly, and they have also asked to meet the...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jun 2018)

Kevin Humphreys: ...have no right to detain people at stations or make arrests. Train drivers, DART workers and other public sector workers are being assaulted week in, week out. If we want the general public to feel safe and secure on public transport, there needs to be a dedicated police force on that transport, be it a train going from Cork to Dublin or a DART going from Howth to the city centre. Many...