Results 21-40 of 80 for long speaker:John McGahon

Seanad: Disregard of Certain Criminal Records of Gay Men: Motion (17 May 2023)

John McGahon: I have the unenviable task of following an incredible contribution from Senator Norris. What a privilege it is to serve in this House alongside someone who has fought for so long for equal rights, since he was first elected to this House in 1987 and in his academic career before that. I would also like to thank my colleagues in Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion and to...

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

John McGahon: ...place today in the House of Commons on the Windsor Framework agreement. It is clear that vote is going to pass with a resounding majority. Even parts of the Conservative Party that were for a long time sceptical about it are going to back this deal. That sends a strong message about how important it is going to be to have the institutions in Northern Ireland back up and running as soon...

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

John McGahon: ...authorities. I would appreciate a debate because I believe there is a lot of good practice that could be learned from other local authorities around the country that have already embarked on this, a long time before the Government or anyone was advocating for it. I speak about this with Louth County Council in mind. That council started using compulsory purchase orders as far back as...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Work Permits (24 Jan 2023)

John McGahon: ...are many examples. These include foreign multinational companies, of which we have a substantial number, who are trying to bring workers in and are not able to do so because of the restrictive and long drawn-out nature of the process. When I looked at Amazon for example, it was responsible for 3.5% of all the work permit applications in 2022. That worked out at roughly 1,394 people....

Seanad: Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy (7 Dec 2022)

John McGahon: ...two years in the Oireachtas, this is certainly a speech I am quite nervous to make. There is certainly no pressure. I first met Terry Brennan when I was nine years of age when he was running alongside my dad in the 1999 local elections. Terry was the scourge of any Fine Gael Dundalk candidate because, even though he was from the rural part of the constituency in Carlingford, he always...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Nov 2022)

John McGahon: Senator Murphy has been here long enough. He knows it goes on rotation. It was Fianna Fáil and it is now Fine Gael.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Sequestration and Land Management-Nature Restoration: Discussion (15 Nov 2022)

John McGahon: ...our 2030 targets, which are seven or eight years away, we have to look at all of that low-hanging fruit across every sector of Irish society and go for it full throttle. Sometimes we can get lost in the long-term vision of what we have to do, rather than what we can do within three, six or nine months at a political level. It is good to hear that Mr. Ó Brolcháin believes that...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Surviving Cohabitant’s Pension) Bill 2021: Second Stage (26 Oct 2022)

John McGahon: ...queries a lot. I was amazed to see that there is an anomaly within the system and that this is not there. That happens all the time in legislation and with social protection. Things come along and we notice that there is an anomaly or a grey area. For some reason or other, something falls through a crack and then it is up to us as legislators or to the Minister to try to rectify and...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Special Educational Needs (19 Oct 2022)

John McGahon: ..., but it is oversubscribed. Those six students will be without a space for September 2023. What will be done in the short term, by September 2023, to try to accommodate those extra students? What will be done in the long term for the years from 2024 to 2028 to ensure the 144 pupils currently in primary education have a space when they reach secondary school?

Seanad: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Statements (4 Oct 2022)

John McGahon: ...is ever going to happen to us. That is not a good enough reason. We must be absolutely prepared for as many scenarios as possible. That preparedness must come through Government funding in the long term. This is why I am glad to see in this budget more Government funding than ever before being put towards the Defence Forces. This will go a long way to maintaining and ensuring that we...

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2022)

John McGahon: ...to have the Minister of State here in the Seanad. We have a number of amendments and I have a few with Senator Dooley. Some of the later ones I would like to get into are a bit more meaty, so I will not propose to spend too long on amendments Nos. 3 and 4. The reason we are bringing forward these amendments is because definitions are important. The more scope that we can have around...

Seanad: Carbon Policy: Motion (19 May 2022)

John McGahon: ...idea, let us sell it to the public and let us bring the public with us and say that nuclear energy is the way we need to go. The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has just said that it would take a long time to get something like that up and running in Ireland, even if the entire country was for it. It would take so long to build it, get it into the grid and get it working to be able to serve...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Apr 2022)

John McGahon: A debate that has taken place in other parliaments around the world, most notably in the United Kingdom in the Scottish Parliament and in the French Parliament, is the concept of and debates around long Covid. That is what I would like to ask for today. At some stage in the next couple of months it would be very useful to have the Minister for Health in here for a debate on long Covid. It...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Implementation of the New National Retrofit Plan: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (5 Apr 2022)

John McGahon: ...scrap the tax altogether. My view is that it is an important measure and we must use it to work towards retrofitting homes. If people understood what it is being used for, then we could go a long way in doing that. This brings me to my next point. Sometimes the public understanding is that retrofitting homes is expensive and hassle-filled. That is not the case, however, because we are...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Mar 2022)

John McGahon: ...testament of any country is to be able to welcome refugees from a war-torn country with love, compassion and open arms and make sure they are valued, safe and appreciated members of Irish society for however long they want to stay here. It may only be for a couple of months or years or they may want to stay here for even longer. They are very welcome here and it is very important. It is...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Second Stage (22 Feb 2022)

John McGahon: ...was, how to identify it and how to react to it. If we did something like that to prepare Irish children for the online world, which is different than when some of us were younger, it would go a long way. The reason we must introduce this legislation is because it would be insane for us to rely on big tech companies to regulate themselves. It will never happen. They have tried to do it....

Seanad: Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures Bill 2022: Second Stage (15 Feb 2022)

John McGahon: ...going with the main suggestion, which involves member states making payments to those most at risk in paying their energy bills. This is being financed through the EU emissions trading system. Along with implementing such measures, it is important that we consider introducing safeguards to make sure energy companies cannot disconnect people's energy supply. This would be useful if...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Feb 2022)

John McGahon: It is great to see Senator O'Reilly in the Acting Leader's chair today. No doubt she will do an excellent job. The issue I will raise again, which I have been talking about for a long time, is the concept of the three-day taxsaver flexi ticket for commuters. The National Transport Authority, NTA, wrote to me last Friday to say that after 18 months of telling me it was going to introduce...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (27 Jan 2022)

John McGahon: ...other Members of this House will know that I am very committed to the concept of a flexi-ticket for commuters. It is something that I am very passionate about and have been talking about for a long time. I am very confident that it is something that in the next number of weeks or months will get across the line, based on what the National Transport Authority, NTA, is saying. One concern...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Jan 2022)

John McGahon: ...We can see that in Eden’s case, and it was put across very forcefully by his father, Raymond, and his mother, Maggie. It was one of the most heart-wrenching interviews I have watched in a very long time. As to why I am raising it, this is something I am going to write to the Minister for Education about and I think this would be a very valuable idea if it was to happen. I...