Results 21-40 of 103 for long speaker:Vincent P Martin

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Fiftieth Anniversary of Ireland’s Accession to the European Community: Discussion (8 Feb 2023)

Vincent P Martin: I thank the Vice Chairperson and our guest expert speakers. It has been a long but most invigorating session and much ground has been covered. I will conclude by asking two Brexit-related questions because our guests' viewpoints are truly valued. With the true expertise they have comes, it goes without saying, inherent objectivity, impartiality and independence. I am concerned about the...

Seanad: Family Courts Bill 2023: Second Stage (2 Feb 2023)

Vincent P Martin: ...did their best at a time when the courthouse was unavailable and the court sat in a nearby hotel with a ballroom, which was not appropriate. It was a licensed premises during the day. There was a long entrance to the court. I remember that people can be very stressed and worried if it is their first time in court. My last word was to my client to ask them not to worry as I was trying...

Seanad: Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second and Subsequent Stages (14 Dec 2022)

Vincent P Martin: ...child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, have a waiting list of 3,914 children. Some 53% or 1,808 of them are waiting for less than 12 weeks for an appointment, while 9% or 221 are waiting longer than 12 months. We hope Sláintecare will herald a change. The Green Party policy on health is to support the reform of the health system through Sláintecare. This includes...

Seanad: Childcare Services: Motion [Private Members] (7 Dec 2022)

Vincent P Martin: ...party that is a member of Government, I would have to say the following. In respect of addressing the challenges of the sector, there have been extensive commitments by the Minister to address the long-standing challenges in the early learning and childcare sector, including the following: an increase to more than €1 billion per annum in State funding for the sector, reaching the...

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (6 Dec 2022)

Vincent P Martin: ...development in communities while protecting our environment and natural resources with a greater spread of demand across the full year. In addition, the creation of an all-Ireland walkways development plan to establish long-distance off-road walking and cycling routes as well as to promote sustainable outdoor adventure and tourism and develop food trades, to name but two examples, will...

Seanad: Wood for Construction: Motion (30 Nov 2022)

Vincent P Martin: ...coverage. Ireland does not have a sawmill culture of building in timber for houses, unlike the Japanese, the northern Europeans, the Americans and the Australians, who have all built with timber for a long time. Buildings in some of those countries are over 1,000 years old. Timber lasts if one minds it. Ireland does not have a culture of building with timber. That may arise from the...

Seanad: Central Bank (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (17 Nov 2022)

Vincent P Martin: ...this one instance is a small thing, but for others it is a life-changing chapter that can go either way. At present, there is a lack of humanity. Insurance companies have been getting it too easy for too long. This is a step back where this legislative Chamber is saying, "Enough, this is something we can do." We take the party politics out of it and we can try to drive this through and...

Seanad: Private Nursing Home Sector: Statements (16 Nov 2022)

Vincent P Martin: ...2016. By 2031, it is expected that our population of over 65s will be 1 million, an increase of 30%, and 165,000 of them will be 85 years or older, an increase of 85%. It is great news that we are living longer, but those facts require a seismic review. The Minister of State is very hard-working and is respected in the sector. Demographics are a challenge for us all at this defining...

Seanad: Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill 2021: Committee Stage (8 Nov 2022)

Vincent P Martin: ...characteristics of the native bees that have evolved here. Continued imports mean that even those hybrids here now will not have the opportunity of adapting because each year new bees come in for long enough to mate with local bees and cause disruption to the traits that have emerged in local areas to cope with local environments. We will end up with a population of primarily crossbred...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Constitutional Future of the Island of Ireland - Public Policy, Economic Opportunities and Challenges: Discussion (7 Oct 2022)

Vincent P Martin: ...on the submission from Dr. Liston and Professor Maguire. As we all know, under Article 4 of Bunreacht na hÉireann, the official name of the State is Éire or, in the English language, Ireland. A long time ago, in 1948, when division stalked the land, the designated descriptive name of the State was given as the Republic of Ireland. I attended a prestigious boxing match in...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Second Stage (5 Oct 2022)

Vincent P Martin: ...her court best. However, an unintended consequence of knowing the court very well is that there may be a fantastic barrister or solicitor who has been on the wrong side of that president for many long years. Section 52 may have an unintended consequence, as has been said. The Minister has taken on board some of the issues raised about the general scheme when it was published. There...

Seanad: Passport Office: Motion (5 Oct 2022)

Vincent P Martin: ...shared birthright. The new generations of Irish who come here from all over the world do not come here to the Republic of Ireland but come to Ireland, where they live and make their home. The year 1948 was a long time ago and a very different time in our State's young history. It was a period when our new State shifted further from the people of Northern Ireland. The outbreak of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Enforcement of Road Traffic Offences: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Vincent P Martin: ...harmony. People impacted by the illegal use of bus lanes do not have the extra vigilance and enforcement that others enjoy, yet we all seem to be on the same page in respect of that issue. How long will it take before it is brought to fruition? I ask Ms Keane to elaborate further as I know she is an advocate on this matter.

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022: Second Stage (11 Jul 2022)

Vincent P Martin: ...Stardust nightclub. The families of these victims have waited justice since then, more than 40 years, for justice. I am glad we are finally beginning that process but it should not have taken so long. Many were disappointed, to say the least, about the original inquest findings and many regarded them as inadequate. The new inquests are being held because the families of the deceased...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Report Stage (11 Jul 2022)

Vincent P Martin: ...the past on doing that. It was RTÉ then, but broadcasters and applicable relevant service providers are more widespread now. People and broadcasters should never be afraid to take interpretations, and I commend the long list of people who were plaintiffs in the past. Sometimes they were not victorious, for example, the Kivlehan v. RTÉ case in 2016. Ms Justice Marie Baker in...

Seanad: European Directive on Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation: Motion (5 Jul 2022)

Vincent P Martin: ...is something we should continue to monitor on a regular basis. There are mechanisms in place in our courts. If there is a particular serial litigant we can seek an Isaac Wunder order. There is a long-established right to go to court on notice to the other side with an application that it is bound to fail if a matter is vexatious with no grounds whatsoever. The motion is something I...

Seanad: Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion (29 Jun 2022)

Vincent P Martin: ...are making the U-turn can answer for that, however. They alone truly know. In a democracy, we need a vibrant Government and a vibrant Opposition to hold the Government to account. There could be a long run-in to the next election. It could be a long and winding road. I would not like to see the balance and checks of opposition stultified by people in opposition looking over their...

Seanad: Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill 2021: Second Stage (2 Jun 2022)

Vincent P Martin: ...wild colonies of the native Irish honey bee. Having a sizable population of wild colonies fully exposed to the agents of natural selection - including climate change and novel parasites - will favour the long-term survival of Apis mellifera mellifera in Ireland. According to Dr. Helen Mooney, "The genetic integrity of the black bee population in Ireland is the envy of black bee breeders...

Seanad: Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill 2021: Second Stage (2 Jun 2022)

Vincent P Martin: ...this cross-party support which we are forever grateful for. I also thank the Minister of State for her contribution. If it is ever going to happen it will happen now. The beekeepers are around long enough to know that this is progress today. We are not getting carried away. If it gets through today, it will be put to a vote. I am not a betting person but it looks like this measure...

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by US Congressman Richard Neal (24 May 2022)

Vincent P Martin: ...European, dating back not just to our accession to what is now known as the EU. For over 1,500 years Ireland has contributed enormously to the security and culture of western civilisation. The long title of a book by Thomas Cahill sums it up very well: How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe. It has...