Results 81-100 of 4,717 for speaker:Martin Mansergh

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (17 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: No one said we cannot do that.

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (17 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: The Minister of State hit the nail on the head in his reply. There is a conflict of interest between the functions of the two agencies. It is important to stress that we all support pensions fund money going into infrastructure where it will get a good return for the pensions fund. The trustees must make that decision and must not have the decision made for them by the NDFA. There is a...

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (17 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: I am glad to hear the Minister of State say that the guidelines will be available because transparency is important. However, the amendment represents an encroachment on Government by the Legislature. Every ministerial act should not be immediately subject to debate and revocation. When Governments are elected, they must be allowed a certain discretion to act. Of course they must be...

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (17 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: I am concerned that this amendment might lead to precisely what Senators opposite have been complaining about in relation to a different section, namely, another layer of bureaucracy. To fulfil these requirements, cover all hypothetical situations, provide quarterly cost benefit analysis, etc., will require many hours of work. The purpose of the Bill is to enable us to proceed with projects....

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (17 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: It would be fairly extraordinary to pick out one member of a board and give that person special functions. Given that this is such an important agency, I have no doubt that the people appointed will be highly qualified and will have a wide range of expertise. I do not see how one can choose one member to have relevant experience in public policy development and an appropriate role in pricing....

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (17 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: This is not a piece of criminal law legislation. There are clear laws on corruption and on public ethics and it would be inappropriate to insert clauses which imply that but for this clause chief executives might well engage in the type of behaviour suggested. It is not particularly appropriate.

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Motion for Earlier Signature. (17 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: I thank the Minister of State and the Minister for Finance for taking us through the debate on this important legislation, which will prove significant in the years ahead. I reciprocate the Minister of State's seasonal wishes.

Seanad: Order of Business. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: I support Senator Henry's call for a debate on maternity services. I have a brother-in-law who has given parliamentary evidence in another jurisdiction on the question of home births. The issue of whether all births need to take place in large high-tech maternity hospitals is something which is worthy of discussion. I would like to comment on what Senator Norris said. If we believe in...

Seanad: Order of Business. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: The Senator may totally disagree with the idea of Gaeltachts but I do not think—

Seanad: Order of Business. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: People are entitled— (Interruptions.)

Seanad: Order of Business. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: That is what makes this country part of what it is.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: I welcome the Minister and I welcome the Bill. As the Leas-Chathaoirleach resumes the Chair, I wish to express my appreciation of the constructive tone of his speech which was somewhat in contrast to the blustering, partisan tone of one or two earlier contributions. The very substantial increase of €530 million in spending in this area is among the highest in recent years. I calculate that...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: I believe the record will show he said something similar about every previous budget, regardless of the party that introduced it. However, a great deal has been done—

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: —but Fr. Healy's focus does not take sufficient account of the need to integrate maximising economic progress with social cohesion. If one concentrates exclusively on the social end of the scale, one may lose sight of the wood for the trees. A former head of the Combat Poverty Agency expressed some nostalgia for 1986, a year of high unemployment, high debt and poor economic conditions. One...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: No. We are doing them a great service by not having huge pressures building up, as has happened in more advanced European economies. Despite the increases, I recognise that it is not easy for anyone to live on social welfare alone. Nonetheless, employment opportunities are now far better than in the past. Wherever possible, people should supplement their income, particularly through pension...

Seanad: Statute Law (Restatement) Bill, 2000 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: We support the amendments. The Bill contributes to what once would have been regarded as the philosopher's stone, the codification of law. There are the famous codes of Justinian and Napoleon, although I do not paint as bright a future for the Minister of State. When I told the former Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, that I was not an unmitigated admirer of Napoleon he looked puzzled, if not...

Seanad: Immigration Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: As a general principle, many of these journeys can be long and tiring. If the people who are being carried will not be admitted at the other end because their papers are not in order or there will be some lengthy procedures, it is far better that they do not embark on the journey in the first place. There is an obvious need here and anybody who has been travelling for the past 40 years will...

Seanad: Immigration Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: I question the merits of saying, by deletion or amendment as proposed, that asylum seekers should not have any form of identification. There would appear to be a certain contradiction in people seeking asylum without being able or willing to say who they are or from where they have come. In my view, there is no valid objection to a requirement by the State for the production of some such...

Seanad: Immigration Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: I wish to make two points. First, how genuine is an asylum seeker who presents false documentation? Is there not a contradiction in terms there? (Interruptions.)

Seanad: Immigration Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: On each occasion one travels to an airport in continental Europe, one is required to produce a valid passport because one will otherwise be refused entry. As a matter of routine, therefore, airlines are doing some preliminary pre-emigration checks for all of us. I cannot see what is the problem with this principle, because it is an everyday occurrence everywhere.