Gerard P. Craughwell
Labour Panel · Independent · Ireland
“I omitted to formally congratulate the Leader yesterday on his elevation. I assume there will be bonfires all over Tipperary as he arrives home this weekend. I ask him to please forgive me for not officially congratulating him. I will say a few words at the start at our Presidency of the European Union.”
“It sends a confused and troubling message about hierarchy, authority, respect and the place of the Defence Forces within our nation's life. This matters.”
“The decision to have the Secretary General of the Department of Defence, a civil servant, however reputable, take the salute from newly commissioned officers before handing them their commission represents a deeply inappropriate blurring of roles. Let us be clear.”
“I say to the 64th naval cadet class in their achievement that they remain significant, their commitment remains admirable and their future responsibilities remain vital.”
“It is simply unacceptable that not one Minister or Minister of State of the 38 available was present to officiate at the commissioning of new officers into the Naval Service. I remind colleagues that this is not a minor diary clash or an administrative oversight; it is a profound signal of disregard for the State's most loyal servants.”
“It is an honour for me to extend my congratulations to the 64th naval cadet class on their commissioning into the Naval Service. Their commissioning should be a moment of unambiguous pride for them, their families and the State they have chosen to serve.”
The complete record
Every one of 631 lines we hold for Gerard P. Craughwell, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 4 of 13.
“In his rebuttal of my colleague's original argument, the Minister seemed to suggest that it would only be plaintiffs who would look for a jury. I can think of many reasons why a defendant in a case might look for a jury trial. I just wanted to put that in for what it is worth.”
“I move amendment No. 4: After "calls for:", to insert the following paragraph: "- a survey on bullying and harassment in other workplaces such as An Garda Síochána, the Prison Service, the HSE, and the Ambulance Service in order to establish a national picture regarding this issue in order to avoid the Defence Forces being singled out;"”
“If we see something in our sky, what will we do? Will we send a strongly worded letter on headed paper up to the pilot who is in our airspace and say "Please leave us"? This is outrageous. Similarly with sonar, we do not have people who can use or interpret sonar. How long will it take to train them if and when we buy it? I have concerns about that. We heard lots of talk in recent times about the multi-role vessel, MRV, the Naval Service was to buy. Where is it? Is buying it still on the cards? I am also deeply concerned about our procurement from one state alone. I will have something to say about that in the near future. It is most peculiar that all procurement in defence is coming from one source only.”
“Vote 35 deals with pensions and Vote 36 is the normal pay and other running costs of the Defence Forces. Some 73% of Vote 36 is to be expended on pay and allowances, traditionally. The cost of recurring expenditure on maintenance of lands, utilities, fuel, spare parts, is borne by the remaining 27%, along with the cost of attaining and maintaining operational capability, the core business of the Defence Forces. What portion of this paltry 27% of Vote 36 is actually allocated in 2026 for the said operational capability such as the purchase of primary radar, anti-drone equipment, maritime sonar, arms and ammunition, armoured and specialised vehicles and allied and associated drivers? We are talking about buying primary radar. If we bought it today, it would not be operational until 2028 and we have nobody able to use it.”
“All Irish Ministers, senior and junior, make pronouncements, verbal and written, and state simultaneously that Ireland is not politically neutral but militarily neutral. In customary international law, where the rules and obligations of neutrality are codified, there is no such subdivision of neutrality. Either a state is neutral or non-aligned or it is part of an alliance. Where in customary international law is such a subdivision of neutrality, as articulated by Ireland's senior and junior Ministers, specifically codified or cited? It is confusing to hear people talking about political neutrality and military neutrality. There is no such thing. You are either neutral or you are not. Government Ministers repeatedly talk about the €1.7 billion in the defence budget.”
“Political Ireland has to take control and stop letting the civil servants tell us what to do. On 29 January, the Government, upon the nomination of the Taoiseach, formally appointed Ministers of State. This is a matter causing some concern in the wider public. There is a Minister of State in the Department of the Taoiseach, the Department of foreign affairs with special responsibility for European affairs and, it states, at the Department of Defence. Will the Minister advise what statutory status the Minister of State has with respect to defence? Anybody I speak to is unsure. The Minister of State makes lots of statements and speeches but what statutory role does the junior Minister have?”
“The first point on the scale for a commissioned officer is approximately €31,000. The introduction, as my colleagues pointed out, of the single pension Act in 2013 proves that one size does not fit all. Without going into great detail, the single pension Act is now severely impacting all front-line services, as members of the Defence Forces, An Garda Síochána, the Prison Service, ambulance service and fire service are all leaving because there is no pension entitlement at the end of the day. Pension entitlement was one of the things that drove retention in the Defence Forces - you served your 21 years and you were well looked after with a decent pension. That is gone, and we are losing people because of it. I ask the Minister to raise this with the Minister for Finance.”
“These inflated pay rates for new entrants have substantially narrowed the gap between top pay for private soldiers and the maximum rates for corporals and sergeants, the mid-ranking personnel the forces are most eager to retain. Similarly, with commissioned officers, front-loading the pay of second lieutenants and lieutenants significantly reduced the pay differential between the captains and commandants and their maximum rate. Middle-ranking captains, commandants, corporals and sergeants, the ones most needed to be retained in service, are now disincentivised due to the sleight of hand in raising the most junior ranks' pay to the disadvantage of ranks immediately above them. The starting salary for an officer cadet is €25,493. When we bear in mind we are trying to attract people, some of whom are married, €25,000 does not exactly do it.”
“I believe in a recent briefing from the Department, the Minister was told that, with the slow rate of increase, it would take five years to reach 9,739 and up to ten years to reach 11,500, the targeted strength. This suggests it will be 2035 at the earliest when the target will be achieved. Both suggested dates are fanciful in the extreme. In recent years, in order to drive recruitment, pay rates for initial entrants have been significantly increased for newly commissioned officers and private soldier recruits on finishing initial training. Retention of middle-ranking personnel, commissioned and non-commissioned, is the lifeblood of the organisation.”
“I welcome the Minister to the House. I speak to her as a former member of the Defence Forces and as a nominee of PDFORRA, RACO and the security services in general. The current allowable strength of the Defence Forces is 9,739, all ranks, across all services - Army, Air Corps and Naval Service. The actual strength of the forces on 31 December 2025 was 7,700, which is 2,039 personnel, or 21%, below strength. The net increase in strength from 31 December 2024 to 31 December 2025 was 143 personnel. These facts are alarming against the background of global and European geopolitical insecurity and turmoil. This is not something that political Ireland or the Department of Defence should be proud of. The 2022 Commission on the Defence Forces recommended a target strength of the Defence Forces of 11,500 by 2028.”
“I move amendment No. 1: After “acknowledges:”, to insert the following paragraphs: “- Ireland’s naval defences are very weak, and the Government has not ordered any new naval ships; - there is a lack of strategic thinking on the part of the Government, and this has reduced our capability; - many members of the Defence Forces do not get private health care or only receive a few benefits; - Cadets like many in the Defence Forces are underpaid - during training they only get paid €22,000 and after training they will earn less than €40,000; - there must be the implementation of a payment to Officer Instructors in the Defence Forces; - retirement benefits in the Defence Forces have got worse in recent years; - the Government must invest in the Reserve Defence Force;””
“Let him bring on the threat of tariffs. We need to start looking east, like other countries, and build relationships with India and Pakistan. Trump cannot hold us to threats any longer.”
“It is time that we stood up and stopped allowing this man to kick us all around the place. I know the arguments that will be made, such that our economy depends on being nice to the United States and we have to be careful because the United States is the world power. The world has changed. Donald Trump has changed it forever. I experienced bullying in the workplace many years ago, seven years of it. In the end, one night I woke up and said, "I have to stop this". I found out the only way to tackle a bully is head on. Trump must be tackled. It is not about Greenland because if he gets Greenland, he will want something else. If he gets something else, he will want something more. It is about calling a bully out for what he is. If it destabilises the world economy, it cannot do more than he has already done.”
“Yesterday, Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada, spoke at Davos. What a speech and what a strong international world leader. Mr. Carney has finally stood up to the man who is the President of the United States and the greatest bully this world has ever known. Trump moves from one extreme to the other. In 12 months, he has thrown the world, including the world economy, into turmoil. He plays with countries and people. What are we hearing today? We are hearing that world leaders in Davos are waiting to hear what Trump has to say. They will sit there like little boys and wait to hear what the great Trump has to say. A politician from the United States said those attending from Europe should bring kneepads with them, and kneel down and pay homage to this bully.”
“This is probably one of the quickest reviews of a situation of bravery and valour in the Defence Forces. Three members of my former battalion, an Chéad Chathlán Coisithe, will be awarded the DSM. The incident to which I refer happened on 15 August, and they will be awarded medals on 12 February. It took from 1999 to 2025 for Billy Kedian as an Chéad Chath to be awarded his DSM. Fair play to the Defence Forces. My compliments to the Chief of Staff and the general staff for getting this done so quickly.”
“I am delighted to say that the first female in the history of the Defence Forces to be awarded a DSM for action while on duty is Private Ciara Shanahan, who was the first person on the scene following Fr. Murphy's attack. Ciara was on duty at the gate of Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa when the priest was attacked. Unarmed, she approached the assailant and saved Fr. Murphy's life. That was followed by the swift action of Corporal Daniel Padden, guard commander at Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa, and Private Dylan Geraghty. Much must be appreciated about the work of these people that night. Three people could be dead, particularly as the soldiers on duty were entitled to use lethal force. They did not do so. They used their discretion and saved the priest's life. They are now being properly rewarded. I also recognise the Chief of Staff and his senior generals.”
“The Leas-Chathaoirleach, the Leader and all colleagues will know that every day of the week, members of our Defence Forces undertake duties on behalf of the State. Their job, of course, is to protect property and human life. I know that the Leader, in particular, will have an interest. On 15 August 2024, while driving into Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa in Renmore, County Galway, Fr. Paul Murphy was viciously attacked by an assailant. That attack demonstrated two things. First and foremost, it demonstrated that Fr. Murphy is an extremely resilient man who dealt with his injuries with great honour. More importantly, our Defence Forces have now recognised four of their members who are to be awarded with the Distinguished Service Medal, DSM.”
“In particular, I thank the staff of the Oireachtas who make the wheels of this organisation run smoothly all of the time and ensure that we have every resource we need when and where we need it. That takes a lot of work from the stewards to the catering staff and right through to the staff of the Seanad Office, who keep a watchful eye over the rulebook and make sure we behave ourselves while we are here. I thank Martin and his staff. They do a wonderful job. I wish them well. Now I will sit down before I fall down.”
“I hope I do not drop dead with a heart attack in the next few minutes having rushed up here. I rushed up here to wish my colleagues, the Deputy Leader and the Leas-Chathaoirleach a very happy Christmas and a happy new year. We are living in tough times. As we go back to our communities, we will all be aware of the fact that there are people living around us whom we know are struggling hard as we come into this time of year. While it is festive for some of us, it is an awful, miserable time for others. Spare a thought for those who will be going through serious mental health issues over the festive period. I pray that all of them survive the period and come out the other side. I have seen hard times myself in my life. My heart goes out to people who are going through hard times now.”
“The Minister of State has the power to stand up in this House tonight, reject what the party and the Government are saying, take his courage in his hands and tell these two wonderful Senators that he will defer further discussion on this Bill until 2026, when we will all come back here, have a wonderful get-together and deliver for apprentices in this country. The Minister of State can go west this weekend as we head towards Christmas, meet apprentices in the Welcome Inn in Castlebar and say he stood with them. He can do that, or he can say two Labour Senators tried to run a Bill past me so that the apprentices could have Christmas. The bottom line is we need to wake up and deliver for young people. I beg the Minister of State to take his courage in his hands.”
“The guy and the employer got on very well together and had great work. That is respect for a worker. I think Senator Cosgrove mentioned mum and dad funding people's apprenticeships. I am delighted to say I have two children and I never funded anything for them. Once they hit a certain age, they went out and worked their way through life and got their professions. They worked hard and I have no doubt that they were exploited at the early stage of their careers. It is so wrong to reject this Bill.”
“The young fellow rang me and said he had been doing a lot of work for this guy and had seen the employer invoicing for the work the student had done. He asked what I thought. I asked what he thought. He said he thought he should be paid for it. I said to him to tell the employer that. The employer called and told me that the cheeky little so and so I had sent to him had asked to be paid. The employer said he was giving him work experience. It was computers he was working on. I asked whether he repaired the machines. The employer said he did. I asked whether the employer had invoiced people for the work the student had done. The employer said he had. I asked whether the employer thought the student's labour was worth money. He said I was right, and he paid him. Immediately after the course finished, he hired him.”
“Why not just say that we will bring it back in 2026 with whatever amendments are needed? Why kill it tonight? It is being killed in front of trade unionists and young people - future voters. I would say to those voters that they see what the left thinks and what the capitalists think, and they should make up their own minds. I am an Independent. Always support good Independents. We are very good. Some of those in this building will know that interns have worked for Members of this House and got nothing for it. That is wrong in every sense of the word. I had a student when I was teaching in Blackrock. I placed him in a company in Galway for his work experience. At the end of three weeks, the employer turned to him, thanked him and said he would send a nice report back to the college.”
“I started my working life as an apprentice. I earned £1.50 a week. That was 59 years ago. I got a better job as a barman for £2.50 a week, so I packed it in. Why would I bother picking up a qualification, a skill that would have left me wealthy for all of my life? I packed it in because I could get more money as a barman, which led to 16 different changes of career throughout my life, the last one being in Seanad Éireann, thanks so much to Fine Gael for electing me on that day. The truth of the matter is I know that somebody somewhere is pulling the string here. We are hearing all the things about legal advice and things happening time. My first colleague and good friend from Galway said that this would be looked at in 2026. Why reject and oppose the Bill?”
“Who is benefiting from it? The employer. The bottom line on it is this is a wonderful Bill. It is a short Bill and there is not a whole lot to it, but it highlights the inequality that exists in our society. By the way, apprentices and interns have been mentioned, but we are missing out on the professions like the legal profession and accounting profession, which exploit young people who go into work. The exploitation of young people has been the bane of this country. It is wrong in every way. I am aware of apprentices who had to buy cars in order to travel to the sites they were working on. They could not afford to have a car and a social life. It was one or the other in order to get themselves trained. Apprenticeship is a bit like religion. If you believe in it, you will be rewarded in the next life. That was the way it was.”
“I said to my two colleagues, Senators Cosgrove and Harmon, that there was a time when I thought Labour had lost its soul. I am delighted to see that it has a soul and is prepared to nail its colours to the mast here. There are young people in the Public Gallery today. If ever they needed a reason to join a trade union, they are hearing it tonight. They are hearing it because the animal instincts of capitalism are alive and well. They have heard the nonsense statements that have been made. No worker should ever work the same hours or do the same amount of work for less money than their colleagues. I do not care whether they are working in a shop, a hotel or on a building site. My colleague, the last speaker, spoke about people getting up at 6 o'clock in the morning to get onto a dirty, cold building site for a few miserable euro per hour.”
“There is a G. Craughwell Twitter account and it is not me. I have contacted Twitter and it has moved from one individual to another. There you go. I do not intend to take any more of the Minister's time. I thank him for the time he has given on Committee Stage in listening to arguments on the amendments and I look forward to seeing what amendments he will bring forward on Report Stage. I thank him for his patience.”
“Let us get real about where we are going with defence. Would somebody stop the madness? Let us sit down and see where the low fruit is and where we can do things that will immediately impact defence in this country. Of course, we should not really worry about it because the French, Belgians and Portuguese will come in and guard us during the European Presidency. Let us get real about where we are going in defence. I request we get the Minister in here at the earliest possible stage in January.”
“I understand the plane will have cost about €100 million by the time it is fully kitted out. We are about to spend €500 million on primary radar. My colleague Senator Clonan and I agree we need primary radar in order to see things like drones in the sky, but do we need it now? The Air Corps is unable to manage Baldonnel. We had to bring in civilians last week to take on that work. If we buy this primary radar, who is going to use it? Who will be able to interpret what they see? Where will the training take place? If they see something up in the sky that should not be there, what will we do? Will we send a strongly worded letter on headed paper saying, "Please come down"?”
“Does the Leader recall the episode of "Yes Minister" when the hospital was opened? Sir Humphrey was explaining to the minister that bringing the patients into the hospital would destroy the organisation and that it was running perfectly without patients. Somebody somewhere within our Government is taking tutorials from the programmes "Yes Minister" and "Yes, Prime Minister". Yesterday, we had the delivery of the Government jet, which is welcome as it was something that was needed. However, while it was sold to us that we bought it for €54 million, the actual price was €54 million plus VAT plus any tariffs. Then, of course, it is not coming with the specification that was ordered and when it returns for its first major service, the other parts of the specification will be introduced.”
“The financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, may have been unwound for the public service, but at the end of the day, the standard of living of public servants has gone down greatly. We need to have a look at that in the near future.”
“I have already spoken to the Minister on this issue and I found her to be extremely concerned, but I agreed with her overall response, which is that she cannot micromanage every hospital in the country. I know the Leader may recommend I bring this up as a Commencement matter, but what we need is an audit of all theatre time in the country, how that theatre time is utilised and how many hours of theatre time are going to waste. It would certainly help the health services if we did that. The public service in this country has never really been thanked for saving the economy. I was reviewing some notes last night from my time as president of the Teachers' Union of Ireland and I recall that teachers used to be able to buy houses. Not too many teachers can buy houses now.”
“Some time ago, we had a Private Members’ motion in the House on the subject of head and neck cancers. That has led to a number of discussions or conversations with people around the country about the underutilisation of theatres in hospitals. Specifically, it appears that hospital theatres are allocated to specialisms, so thoracic might have so many hours, orthopaedic might have so many hours and so on and so forth. Some of the new specialist services that have come in have been squeezed out as a result of the fact there is only limited time available in the theatres. Then it emerges, on an anecdotal basis, that an orthopaedic group might have access to an operating theatre for two days in the week but in fact can only use it for a day and a half, so a half day of theatre time is lost and patients are losing out.”
“I would like to simplify things and see if there is a way to move things forward in a way that will ensure there is justice for the individual, particularly as we cannot all afford to run to the courts. That is the bottom line. I will see what else comes up.”
“The individual posting the material, as Senator McDowell said, may not actually be aware that what they are saying is defamatory, but you can be damn sure that the service provider will have a string of lawyers to provide it with advice and information. We are going to run out of time today. I will come to the House on the next occasion and go through the transmission methodology involved in bringing forward messages. Someone cannot say they are not liable if they are transmitting information. As Senator McDowell pointed out, there is no border. If you put something on the front page of The Irish Times or the Irish Independent , it is probably restricted to Ireland. Put it up on the Internet and it can be seen anywhere in the world.”
“The Minister talked about the Digital Services Act, European directives, etc. They are all grossly outdated. Technology moves in exponential leaps and at a phenomenal rate. The Minister is providing protection for people who are making massive profits out of the gutter of interaction between human beings. I do not believe they are just conduits. A conduit - you stick it up on your window and that is it. If I manipulate something in some way to ensure it has a greater audience, I am no longer acting as a conduit; I am acting as a transmitter. I am acting as somebody who is bringing forward defamatory information, that is, if the information turns out to be defamatory. I have huge concerns about the way in which the most wealthy of the individuals involved here are being protected.”
“I want to know that. We talked about social media companies. When I sit down at my laptop, PC or phone and decide to tweet something or put something up on a social media site, I am transmitting. A transmission takes place in bits, bytes, packets, etc., which move their way through the Internet from the original source. If the Minister looks at the social media website in question this evening, because the algorithm knows he is interested in the sort of thing I just tweeted, it will appear at the top of his list. Has the Internet service provider transmitted something? Has a transmission taken place which is defamatory? It is not as simple as saying that the Internet service provider in question is merely a conduit; it is not. It uses sophisticated algorithms to rebroadcast things it thinks will drive traffic to its website.”
“If somebody sends me an email today saying that Joe Bloggs is a paedophile and I say that everybody in south Dublin needs to know this, so I send out a message to everyone on my massive email list saying that I have been informed that Joe Bloggs is a paedophile in circumstances where Joe Bloggs is not actually a paedophile and is a fine, upstanding citizen, have I defamed him by rebroadcasting information I am not capable of proving? Am I liable? I run a website - most of us do. If I am looking at social media tonight and I see something about a Member of this House, if I decide to take a screenshot and put it up on my website, I am only a conduit. I am only putting up on my website what I saw on a social media site. The social media site is not liable. That is what the Minister is telling us.”
“Senator McDowell raised a number of interesting points. I will start with the simplest. A long-standing tradition in the trade union movement back in the good old days when I was involved in trade unionism was to always resolve an issue at the lowest possible level. The Bill should enable me to write to a service provider and say, "I believe I have been defamed on your platform. I wonder if you could give me the name and address of the individual involved." Only then, on a refusal, should I have to look for legal representation. My solicitor should be the next port of call. After that, it would be the courts, if that is the way I have to go. That is in favour of the ordinary citizen who has limited funds going up against these ginormous concerns. Let me give an example.”
“What if this person who is using my name defames someone? This goes back to the Minister’s last point - the account may hold my name but I am not publishing it. Members of this House and the Dáil frequently use members of staff to keep their social media up to date. Does that mean they are immediately immune in regard to whatever has been said in their name? I am a little confused on it. I think we are letting off the people with the serious money to meet defamation cases and allowing the lunatics, if you want to call them that, or those who want to say defamatory things who do not have the means to compensate those they defame. It seems I am missing a trick somewhere. I would be interested in the Minister’s views on that.”
“Interest drives the Internet service provider to use an algorithm to push that further and further. I am in a bit of a corner here with two eminent lawyers in the room who understand these things much better than I do, but is it not the case that once the algorithm kicks in the Internet service provider is now publishing the defamation without any knowledge other than what was posted by the original person? I have watched with interest since I moved off Twitter how some of the stuff that was said about me has stopped because I am not there to respond any more. There is no interest anymore. It is gone; it is finished. Yet, if you look, there is now a @GCraughwell on Twitter and it is not me. Has the Internet service provider not got a legal obligation to ensure the person using my name is actually me?”
“I thank the Minister. That was a fairly comprehensive series of replies. I want to talk about the social media providers or the Internet provider. The Minister says they are merely providing a service. If I put up a tweet or post that says "Joe Bloggs is corrupt and anything he ever earned was earned through corrupt means", then Joe Bloggs may have a case of defamation against me if he can identify me. The Minister says that the Internet service provider has no liability here. They use algorithms. It strikes me that the law around the liability that an Internet service provider may or may not have is somewhat dated now. Internet service providers use algorithms to further a topical issue. Someone with a very well-known name might be named on a social media platform.”
“Do not get me wrong; we need a Government jet and a way to extract citizens from dangerous parts of the world. We need senior Ministers to be able to travel on Government jets. I have no difficulty with that whatsoever. Once again, why can we not be honest? Why can we not come straight out and tell people the truth and stop the goddamn messing? It is becoming annoying. Apart from that, our business communities now are becoming extremely concerned at the way in which defence and security is being managed.”
“These initiatives were announced in January 2025, in June 2025 and two years ago in the case of the primary radar. A total of €19 million will be spent on anti-drone technology, which will be delivered in the middle of next year. Has anybody realised that we take over the Presidency of the EU in the middle of next year? How long does it take to train people to use this equipment? Where will they train? Who will train them? We disbanded the ground-to-air battery in 2012, so we do not have the expertise there as far as I know. We have to start being honest with the people. Was this press release issued now to mask the fact that a €100 million Government jet will be delivered before Christmas? I understand it is being test flown in the United States at the moment and has been painted in the colours of the Air Corps.”
“I sound like a broken record when I come into the House these days. Yesterday, the Governor of the Central Bank added his voice to that of Danny McCoy from IBEC on the need for spending in defence. Immediately after that, we find that the Government released a press statement to The Irish Times and RTÉ in which it outlines that the Minister, Deputy McEntee, is about to announce €1.7 billion in spending for defence. You would welcome that until you read through the article and find that they mention four helicopters. The four helicopters were contracted in January of last year. It mentioned sonar. Sonar is already contracted. It mentioned the primary radar. We were promised primary radar three years ago. I understand that it is also advanced. Why is the Government advancing as new news something it has reported already?”
“If we could use some of this money to roll out a robust cybersecurity training programme, it would be marvellous. We could run it through the ETBs. It would put the Minister in the same guise as Donogh O'Malley many years ago. I ask that he bring it to the Cabinet. There are other things I would like to see. The €10 is not great really for old age pensioners. We are a very wealthy country and we could have done a lot better there. When one gets to my vintage, one starts to think and look at those things very carefully. There are a lot of elderly people out there who are struggling. I appreciate everything knocks on from one thing to the other, but perhaps we could look at other ways of assisting the elderly with some sort of supplementary payment at some stage.”
“Given the world we are now living in, the greatest threat in the world right now to the ordinary individual in the street and the corporate entity is the threat from cybersecurity and the misuse of artificial intelligence. I wonder if we could roll out a national training programme for every citizen in the State, and make that training fund actually benefit the economy. The idea of having our citizens ignorant in the area of cybersecurity is detrimental to us all. We were recently talking to some people in a particular organisation, and the username and password for the computer were under the keyboard. They were very security conscious. Another branch of the same organisation had the username and password on the side of the monitor.”
“There are people who worked in Ireland now living in the UK. It is only fair that we have a reciprocal arrangement to allow them to avail of buyback years for their pensions. In many cases, workers in both Ireland and the UK would have travelled over and back between the two islands. Some of those people are now impoverished. It might be something worth looking at. I am sure there is not a very large number of them there. It would be to the benefit of the country from the point of view of a proud, sovereign country looking after those who helped to build the economy we live in. My next point concerns the training fund. Some 1% the employers’ contribution goes into the training fund. I am not sure where the money in the training fund has gone over the years. I ask the Minister to bring to the Cabinet a little idea that I have for that.”
“I welcome the Minister to the House. I congratulate him on his first social welfare Bill. I am not going to knock any of it; there are plenty of people here to do that. There are a couple of things I would like to bring to the Minister's attention, first and foremost, the voluntary contributions with respect to social welfare. A person needing to make voluntary contributions under class S needs to pay €500 per annum, or thereabouts, while a person under class A has to pay €5,000 per annum. There is very little difference in the benefits that accrue from class A or class S. It is something I would ask the Minister to look into. There is another point that I would like to bring to the Minister's attention. He might be aware that people who worked in the UK were given the opportunity to buy back years in the UK at a very discounted rate.”
“The Bill is very well intentioned and I congratulate her on it. I wish I was smart enough to bring it in before her. That is all I can say on that one. I thank her for that. The Minister of State might look at that issue I have raised. The other final one is about the word "allowance". The allowance we get for expenses, the councillors do not get in the same way.”