Senator Gerard Craughwell

Independent Senator
Gerard Craughwell

I'm surprised at how much important work that effects so many peoples lives goes on in Leinster House, unnoticed by the general public. As an independent Senator, I intend to participate in the legislative process making it more effective and responsive to citizens needs.

Irish Water has launched a dedicated refunds website page water.ie/refunds as the government legislation necessary to enable the refunding of household water charges progresses through the Oireachtas. Radio advertisements are also beginning this week across local and national stations advising customers to contact Irish Water on 1850 448 448 if their address has changed and they have yet to update their details.

It is important to note that if a customer’s address or personal details have not changed that they will not have to contact Irish Water to get their refund. Refunds will made via cheque to the account holder at the address they provided to Irish Water.

Payments are being made by cheque because this is the quickest and most efficient means of payment, which also provides the highest level of security by ensuring that only the account holder can lodge the cheque and Irish Water can cancel any cheques sent to incorrect addresses or individuals. Cheques also ensure that Irish Water will not need to have account holders’ bank account details and customers can be very clear that at no time will anyone from Irish Water contact them looking for those details.

The CONSTITUENCY COMMISSION REPORT 2017 has just been published based on the results of the 2016 Census of Population Result

A PDF of full report is available at: Constituency Commission Report 2017

The constituencies of Cavan/Monaghan, Dublin Central and Kildare South will each gain one additional TD

However  the constituencies of Laois and Offaly were merged and will lose one seat as a result.

Other recommendations include: 

I was very pleased to read of the European Court of Justice ruling on the 21st June that "courts may consider vaccines to be the cause of an illness, even in the absence of scientific evidence confirming a link".
 
I believe that this is a very significant development, has established a strong legal precedent and I hope bodes well for the thousands of young women affected by by the HPV vaccination programme in Ireland and around the world.
 
While the full text of the ruling is not available yet on the ECJ website, I am told that the finding states the following:

As the Irish delegate from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on EU Affairs to COSAC, I recently visited the Sicilian Port of Pozzallo in the province of Ragusa. What I saw there in the well-staffed and well organised reception centre for migrants was the massive scale of the migrant crisis.
Traffickers have learned that desperate people are willing to risk everything including their lives to escape from war, poverty and brutal regimes. The statistics are staggering. In 2014 the port of Pozzallo received 28,168 migrants and 51 deceased. A further 16,414 arrived the following year and in 2016 the port received 19,000 migrants of whom 3,147 were unaccompanied minors. When one considers that Pozzallo is but one of the Mediterranean Ports dealing with this crisis, the 4,000 people that Ireland has agreed to take and the 1,238 that we have accepted to date, is but a drop in the ocean of the overall crisis.

2017-06-07

Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Scheme 2017

The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Scheme will be paid out on week ending 14th July 2017

Previous applicants do not have to reapply and letters will issue to them within the NEXT TWO WEEKS.

If you don’t get a letter you need to make a written application.

The Application Form will be available from Friday June 16th 

You can get an application form from: 

• All Department Offices
• You can send a text:   Form BTSCFA followed by your name and address to 51909
• Email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• LoCAll 1890662244
• Website: www.welfare.ie

 

Today I thanked the Minister for Defence Paul Keogh for debating the issue of the Defence Forces with me.  His speech included a great deal of information about investment in the Defence Forces, new aircraft, new ships and new everything. There was no information on serving members who do not have enough to live on. Can the Minister of State be proud of a Permanent Defence Force whose members are depending on welfare payments to make ends meet? Families are struggling to survive. I have received communications from privates, corporals and sergeants who simply cannot feed their families. When a bill comes through the letter box they must make a decision on whether they will pay the bill or buy food. That is simply not good enough especially when we are told, and perhaps the Minister of State will confirm this, that the Department returned €27 million of unused money last year.

Today I wrote to the Taoiseach in his capacity as Minister of Defence regarding the recent Public Appointments Service advertisement for a new post of Assistant Secretary Defence Capability (People) Department of Defence at a salary of between €128,000 and €146,000 per annum. I wrote because I was at a loss to understand the rationale for this new post as both the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces already have very well staffed and effective HR sections which manage the recruitment, induction, training, development and other HR services for their civilian, civil service and military personnel. 

Today in the Seanad I spoke on the Intoxicating Liquor (Amendment) Bill 2017 which was introduced by Senator Billy Lawless and co-signed by myself and other Independent Senators. I am delighted that this issue which has been raised on a yearly basis to no avail, has finally been introduced in the Seanad.  We know that Ireland’s relationship with alcohol dates to the stone age and like many other countries we have an ambivalent relationship with it. On one hand, excessive drinking is a serious social and health problem, on the other hand the pub, as a focus for drinking, socialising, and culture is an important part of our national identity. We therefore have a dual perception of alcohol as a problem to be managed and a pleasure to be enjoyed and our policy and legislative developments have reflected that ambiguity. As legislators, we are tasked with balancing the right of individuals to make their own lifestyle choices with the ethics of legitimate intervention in public health by the State.

Last week I was delighted to host a briefing for members of the Oireachtas on Jadotville-Unfinished Business, presented by retired Commandant Leo Quinlan who is the son of unit commander Commandant Pat Quinlan (deceased). This extraordinary story has been popularized by a  movie of the same name and last year 150  soldiers from the 35th Irish battalion “A” Company were honoured in recognition of their achievement in fighting against an estimated 3,000 enemy troops in the Congo in 1961.

At the  Order of Business in the Seanad today,  I asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs to come to the Seanad today to explain how the Irish Government intends to defend every line and dot of the Good Friday Agreement in light of this morning’s ruling by  the UK Supreme Court.

 

Tweets

defenceforces
defenceforces Thanks to @IrishTatlerMan @NorahCasey for awarding the Defence Forces as your overall winner at today’s #itmawards pic.twitter.com/KBTuxYuqvC

Retweeted 54 minutes ago. via Twitter for iPhone • 15 retweets

Paulkenny79
Paulkenny79 Delighted to have participated in the research for this bill with @WhittakerAlice @merrimerci @planningtipp and oth… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

Retweeted 8 hours ago. via Twitter for iPhone • 7 retweets

GCraughwell
GCraughwell The link below includes a statement I made regarding the @defenceforces in the Seanad twitter.com/OireachtasNews…

1 day ago. via Twitter Web Client • 4 retweets

 

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