Results 23,821-23,840 of 26,795 for speaker:David Cullinane
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Motion to Recommit (15 Jan 2014)
David Cullinane: I do not say it was the Minister’s doing but it has happened. The vast majority of the amendments Sinn Féin has tabled have been ruled out of order, which is unacceptable. It is not good practice that we are not prepared to have a debate on a Bill such as the one before the House. I wanted to have a discussion with the Minister with responsibility for local government on many...
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Motion to Recommit (15 Jan 2014)
David Cullinane: It is outrageous that we have to use the opportunity of a Government amendment to try to squeeze some latitude from a Chairman to raise legitimate concerns about the Bill. It flies in the face of what the Minister and his party promised about a different type of governance when they were in opposition and following the election. We made exactly the same arguments when the Minister...
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Motion to Recommit (15 Jan 2014)
David Cullinane: I am. I have no difficulty in doing so. I am not just questioning the Chair, I am questioning the Leader of the House, the Minister and the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Motion to Recommit (15 Jan 2014)
David Cullinane: I am questioning the entire process because it is not fair on anybody. What I see happening is that the permanent government is preventing us as legislators from having a debate on amendments. It is telling us which amendments are in order or out of order. We are putting ourselves in a straitjacket and preventing ourselves from having a proper debate and scrutinising Bills. The debacle...
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Motion to Recommit (15 Jan 2014)
David Cullinane: We are not subservient at all. Far from it.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Motion to Recommit (15 Jan 2014)
David Cullinane: The Minister has cut the legs from the local community development sector.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Motion to Recommit (15 Jan 2014)
David Cullinane: Control has been given to apparatchiks.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Motion to Recommit (15 Jan 2014)
David Cullinane: The people who work in the sector know it.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Motion to Recommit (15 Jan 2014)
David Cullinane: The Minister should get his facts right. I did not oppose anything.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Motion to Recommit (15 Jan 2014)
David Cullinane: I wish to respond to something the Minister said about the community element of a plan. I do not have a difficulty with that in principle but I object to the way the community development sector has been treated not just by the Government but by the previous Government.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Motion to Recommit (15 Jan 2014)
David Cullinane: It does.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Motion to Recommit (15 Jan 2014)
David Cullinane: With respect, I am speaking on amendment No. 31.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Motion to Recommit (15 Jan 2014)
David Cullinane: Okay, but I am responding to something the Minister said which is relevant to the amendment.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Motion to Recommit (15 Jan 2014)
David Cullinane: It does the same thing. I just make the point that the community development sector has had the legs cut from under it, as have many other sectors, first, because of cuts in funding and, second, because the voluntary boards of management were dissolved.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Motion to Recommit (15 Jan 2014)
David Cullinane: I did not.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Motion to Recommit (15 Jan 2014)
David Cullinane: I did not make those points. The Government is giving local government responsibility for community development when it should be coming from the bottom up.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Motion to Recommit (15 Jan 2014)
David Cullinane: No. The people who work in the community development sector want autonomy from local government. They would work in partnership with local government.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Motion to Recommit (15 Jan 2014)
David Cullinane: They would work in partnership with local government but would not be dictated to by local government. What the Minister is doing is taking power away from local communities and giving it to officials in local authorities. The previous Government started the process and the Government is continuing with the same logic - surprise, surprise. The vast majority of people whom I meet who work...
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Motion to Recommit (15 Jan 2014)
David Cullinane: To use the Minister’s term, they will have to be subservient to them.
- Seanad: Local Government Reform Bill 2013: Motion to Recommit (15 Jan 2014)
David Cullinane: Not agreed.