Results 61-80 of 490 for likes to work speaker:Brendan Howlin

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Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020: Report and Final Stages (30 Jun 2021)

Brendan Howlin: ...very brief. I am not a member of the defence committee and nor am I suggesting I should be. As a member of three other committees, my burden is enough. My point is that I did not have the chance to debate the Bill in committee. I am interested, therefore, in the expert views not only of the Minister but of Deputies who were involved in that debate. It struck me immediately when I...

Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Second Stage (30 Jun 2021)

Brendan Howlin: ...for it. I also said that both the Garda and publicans and restaurateurs need certainty in this regard. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, said that same day, in essence, that she had talked to the Garda Commissioner and that discretion would be applied. For weeks, the Government talked about an outdoor summer, with outdoor dining a key strategy of facilitating a summer in Ireland in Covid...

Maritime Jurisdiction Bill 2021 [Seanad]: Second Stage (3 Jun 2021)

Brendan Howlin: I am very pleased to have an opportunity to speak on the Maritime Jurisdiction Bill presented by the Minister of State. As the Minister of State has indicated, this is a consolidation Bill to set out the legal framework for Ireland's maritime jurisdiction. As the Minister of State explained section by section, it is quite a technical Bill not only consolidating enactments going back a very...

Criminal Justice (Perjury and Related Offences) Bill 2018 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (26 May 2021)

Brendan Howlin: I would like to be associated with the compliments to former Senator Ó Céidigh for his work on this important legislation.

Annexation of Palestine: Motion [Private Members] (25 May 2021)

Brendan Howlin: I commend the Sinn Féin Party on tabling this motion and providing the time for this House to debate one of the most important moral issues the world has to face. Labour Party Deputies are very proud to co-sign and support this motion. It has been worked on for some time, with the support of a number of external groups. The focus of the motion in recent weeks has been on the...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Foreign Conflicts (11 May 2021)

Brendan Howlin: I thank the Minister for the reply. We really need to be proactive on this because the Irish people have very clear views. Stun grenades in the Al-Aqsa mosque were a provocation that was obviously going to have a reaction. There must be a consequence to all this, however. Repeatedly, violations of human rights, suppression of rights and the killing of children seem to have nothing other...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Engagement on the Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement: Mr. David O'Sullivan (30 Mar 2021)

Brendan Howlin: I thank Mr. O'Sullivan for his most helpful context-setting for the work we have to do. I will ask three questions. The first relates to the fact that Mr. O'Sullivan has said this is more than a trade deal and is the precursor to the new generation of trade deals, including services, regulatory matters, labour standards and the environment. Will Mr. O'Sullivan provide the committee with a...

Children (Amendment) Bill 2020 [Seanad]: Second Stage (11 Mar 2021)

Brendan Howlin: I am very pleased to have the opportunity to speak on this short but important piece of legislation. I was a member of the committee that worked on the Children Act in 2000. As I recall, that legislation took a year to go through the Houses. There was very detailed committee consideration and nobody around the table envisaged that section 252 would be interpreted in the way it has been. ...

Criminal Procedure Bill 2021: Second Stage (10 Feb 2021)

Brendan Howlin: Again, I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on yet another justice Bill. I should say by way of introductory comment that it is interesting that we are now dealing with a succession of single issue justice Bills, some of which have been around for a while. I have just been to a justice briefing in advance of this debate on another Bill which is on its way which deals with a Supreme...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Northern Ireland Protocol (Article 16): Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (9 Feb 2021)

Brendan Howlin: I will leave further exploration of this until we are talking to the Commission. On the operation of the protocol in this jurisdiction, the Revenue has already admitted the IT systems it has in place have failed on numerous occasions. It says that 80% of vehicular traffic coming in is green-lighted, which means that one in five vehicles is stopped. That is a very significant volume. I...

EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement: Motion (20 Jan 2021)

Brendan Howlin: I am glad to have the opportunity to speak briefly on this important issue. We were not sure that we would ever arrive at the point when we would actually have a trade agreement between the European Union and the UK to debate. It became a very close-run thing. Although the details of this complex agreement will be unravelled over a period of time, a few points are clear from the outset....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Brexit Issues: Members of the House of Commons (9 Dec 2020)

Brendan Howlin: I wish Mr. Benn a good morning. It is good to talk to him again. The last time I shared a Brexit platform with Mr. Kinnock was in the incongruous setting of the Beatles museum in Liverpool. It brought a surreal dimension to a serious debate. We need to see the detail of what was worked out by the Gove-Sefcovic negotiations yesterday. Until I see the document, my authority is Mr. Tony...

Pre-European Council: Statements (2 Dec 2020)

Brendan Howlin: In the short time available to me, I will concentrate my remarks on Brexit, although the Council meeting will cover a very wide agenda. This morning's briefings from Michel Barnier are not such as to give us great heart. Speaking yesterday to members of the European affairs committees of national parliaments, President von der Leyen reiterated the EU position that the continued access to...

Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (25 Nov 2020)

Brendan Howlin: The amendment has been rejected. I wish to speak on section 65. As Deputies know, I have served in the House for some time. I have never seen a situation like this. The Minister of State, in the course of a long debate, accepted an amendment and all the contributions were predicated on that acceptance. Then he called a vote and the amendment was voted down. The Minister of State led...

Community Safety and Preventing Crime: Statements (18 Nov 2020)

Brendan Howlin: Like others, I welcome the opportunity to speak on matters of community safety and crime prevention. I must say, however, that I would prefer to be dealing with concrete proposals and legislation rather than making statements. We have spent six hours today speaking on general statements. This is a Legislature that is meant not only to identify problems but to put forward concrete...

Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2020: Second Stage (11 Nov 2020)

Brendan Howlin: I cannot begin my contribution as I would normally begin discussion of a Bill by saying that I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak to this Bill because it is one that nobody in this House welcomes and it has been brought about by an event that is entirely damaging to this country and over which we have no control. We must mitigate that damage to the best of our ability. As the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Conference on the Future of Europe: Discussion (11 Nov 2020)

Brendan Howlin: I join with others in expressing my gratitude for the comprehensive presentations from our three experts. We covered a lot of ground so I will not re-trample it but I want to get back to a very basic question. There is a difference of opinion - certainly of emphasis - in the presentations we have received relating to what the conference is for. Is it a bottom-up exercise asking the...

Financial Resolutions 2020 - Financial Resolution No. 7: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2020)

Brendan Howlin: It is very difficult to make a substantial contribution to a budget debate in five minutes. There was a time when Members took hours to analyse the impact of a budget and I regret this is no longer the case. As someone who has some experience of budgets, yesterday's announcement was by any measure an extraordinary one. It included the provision of €17 billion in expenditure and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: EU Council Presidency: German Ambassador to Ireland and Portuguese Ambassador to Ireland (14 Oct 2020)

Brendan Howlin: I hope Mr. Barnier sneezes into his elbow. I express gratitude for the strong expression of solidarity with Ireland in relation to the unique difficulties that Brexit poses for us. We recognise that there are still pressure points to come, so that solidarity is not a past issue. We all hope that an agreement will be reached, but in the event that there is no agreement, the protocol is a...