Results 21-40 of 244 for long speaker:Paul Gavan

Seanad: Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023: Second Stage (4 Oct 2023)

Paul Gavan: ...Garda Inspectorate with a policing and community safety authority. We are opposed to the abolition of the Garda Inspectorate, the watering down of the PA and a duplication of functions within the board of An Garda Síochána. The complaints system has long needed reform. Sinn Féin proposed amendments to give GSOC more time to investigate complaints, which are sometimes...

Seanad: Control of Exports Bill 2023: Second Stage (3 Oct 2023)

Paul Gavan: ...which is on the wrong side of history when it comes to the occupation of Palestine. Clearly, some occupations are different from others as far as this Government is concerned. We risk undermining our long-held tradition of neutrality when we turn a blind eye to these kinds of actions. Ireland's neutrality and the protection of human rights should always be to the forefront of our minds...

Seanad: Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2023: Second Stage (11 Jul 2023)

Paul Gavan: It is such a missed opportunity. By getting behind Senator Clonan and the excellent work he has done for so long, we could have sent a powerful message to Government and, indeed, Opposition that finally, we have to be absolutely serious about giving rights to people with disabilities, and not just talking about it and making promises without timelines and firm commitments. I am hugely...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Jul 2023)

Paul Gavan: ...been forgotten is entirely inexcusable. I understand the unions are going to campaign together again in the autumn and they will also include section 10 workers, all of whom have been forgotten about for too long by successive governments. We need an urgent debate on the matter. These people need to pay justice now.

Seanad: Ban on Dumping New Products Bill 2022: Second Stage (5 Jul 2023)

Paul Gavan: ...Minister of State’s fellow Green Party member, Councillor Carolyn Moore, who sits on the Government’s waste advisory board, Ireland disposed of 110,000 tonnes of clothes in 2020. The point is that, so long as it is easy enough and a cheaper option to dump these unsold or returned products, the practice of over-production will continue. It is the practice of over-production...

Seanad: Local Government Matters: Statements (28 Jun 2023)

Paul Gavan: ...minute? It is six. I have to be very frank. That is the Minister of State's responsibility, not just because he is the Minister of State with responsibility for housing but because he has been the local representative for a long time now. There are no other words to describe that than “abject failure”. As a result, the people I am talking to across Castleconnell and...

Seanad: EU Migration: Motion [Private Members] (27 Jun 2023)

Paul Gavan: ...parliamentarians. I cannot see what the Government objects to in the motion. The situation is chronic and getting worse by the day. Human beings are drowning in mass numbers and will continue to do so as long as there is a fortress Europe and the European Union continues to apply appalling policies like funding the Libyan coastguard to round up human beings trying to make their way to...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Mental Health Services (15 Jun 2023)

Paul Gavan: ..., Integration and Youth, the Department of Education and the Department of An Taoiseach. Organisations such as the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Mental Health Reform, BeLonG To Youth Services, and Spunout.ie, as well as Professor Mary Cannon of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dr. Tony Bates, and other individuals and politicians have continuously...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Mental Health Services (15 Jun 2023)

Paul Gavan: It is an extraordinarily long reply that tells me very little. The simple question at the heart of this Commencement matter is when will the pathfinder unit be set up? We are six years on from the recommendation and excuses are fairly thin. The Minister of State talks how about the establishment of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science has...

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

Paul Gavan: ...cleaners get just €11.90 per hour and, even worse, the security staff get just €11.65 because of the collapsed employment regulation order, ERO – it is outrageous that they have been left waiting so long for the bonus payment. These are the lowest-paid workers, the workers who kept our hospitals open during the Covid pandemic. They are on the front line every day. I...

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

Paul Gavan: ...he was just a wonderful human being. It is very important that we remember him today. I concur with what Senator Boyhan said about the hooded men. It is shocking that this apology has taken so long. It underlines why we need to push back on the British Government's plans regarding the legacy Bill. I will speak on it next week at the Council of Europe's human rights body. I have no...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022: Second Stage (13 Jun 2023)

Paul Gavan: ...single statute on hate-related offences. An Irish Council for Civil Liberties study published in 2018 commented on the lack of consideration of hate within the prosecution of crime. This Bill has a long and, to be generous, storied history. The Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 provided the legislative framework for those acts specifically but it has been little used and does...

Seanad: Academic Precarity: Motion (24 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: ...future pension entitlements. To date, the Government has opposed this change. Will the Minister of State either justify that outrageous position or tell us he is going to change it? This has gone on for far too long. This does not only affect university lecturers. I will briefly make reference to the plight of adult education tutors. Roughly 3,500 tutors at education and training...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employee Experiences of Technological Surveillance in the Financial Services Sector: Discussion (24 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: ...like mortgage products are crazy, are unattainable and that adds pressure to you when technology breaks down. That takes time out of your day." My first job was in a call centre. It was a long time ago. We had a lot of monitoring then. I remember colleagues being called out to be effectively disciplined because they were spending too long talking to customers on calls, etc. I agree...

Seanad: Tourism: Statements (18 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: The Minister is very welcome. I acknowledge the exciting developments in Limerick, particularly the opening of the International Rugby Experience. It is very welcome in the heart of the city, alongside our medieval quarter and the fact that we really are the sporting capital of Ireland when you think of our success in rugby and hurling. Our hurling is a little dodgy at the minute, but we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: Then why is it taking so long?

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2023)

Paul Gavan: ...on target, as things stand, to exceed the dreadful total of more than 18,000 patients on trolleys last year. A couple of things need to be said about the crisis. First, the 96-bed unit, which has long been promised and has been built, will only deliver 48 beds and will still leave us with a deficit of 200 beds. After 12 years in government, Fine Gael really needs to come up with more...

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

Paul Gavan: ..., all because he told the truth. Jean-Paul Sartre famously said, “Every word has consequences. Every silence, too.” The body politic in this country has been silent on this issue for far too long. If we passionately believe in press freedom and its importance, how can we ever mention those words and not mention Julian Assange? I call for an urgent debate. I also call on...

Seanad: Regulation of Lobbying (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (20 Apr 2023)

Paul Gavan: ...The lobbying regime has come in for strong criticism in the past. There has clearly been a revolving door between Government and big business. The Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO, has long called for reforms and made numerous submissions to Government. Unfortunately, Government long ignored these calls. It was forced to introduce this Bill following the public outcry when...

Seanad: Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2023: Second Stage (20 Apr 2023)

Paul Gavan: ...'s concern about timelines. We have heard reassurances before and, frankly, they have not been delivered on. Let us see how much clarity we get today and I would welcome clarity. Sinn Féin has long called for a much-needed regulatory framework for assisted human reproduction treatments and related research. Of course, we passionately believe that AHR should be part of a properly...