Results 25,241-25,260 of 26,857 for speaker:David Cullinane

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Marine Safety (24 Oct 2012)

David Cullinane: I welcome that, as per the Minister of State's reply, the Minister and Department intend to introduce legislation which will make personal locator and vessel beacons mandatory and further to introduce a code of practice for the safety of fishing vessels of less than 15 metres, which is a significant improvement in terms of where we were on this six months ago. It is hoped the relevant...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Oct 2012)

David Cullinane: I take this opportunity to welcome a decision by the European Parliament to grant additional funding to former TalkTalk workers in Waterford as part of the EU globalisation fund and to praise the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, officials in his Department, all the public representatives in Waterford, European Parliament Members, the employee representative groups and the body set up to...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Oct 2012)

David Cullinane: I refer to the most important issue facing the country, namely, the unsustainable levels of debt. Much has been made about the joint communiqué issued by the Taoiseach and Chancellor Merkel in which she describes Ireland as a special case. What constitutes Ireland being a special case? The reason we are so described is because billions of euro of taxpayers' money has been put into toxic...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Oct 2012)

David Cullinane: Nowhere in the communiqué does it say it will deal with legacy debts. Having photographs of the kissing cousins, the Taoiseach and the Chancellor, will not bring about any deal. I want to hear from the lips of Chancellor Merkel that the deal will involve dealing with legacy debts of this country. Unless it is said clearly and explicitly, we have no deal.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Oct 2012)

David Cullinane: We all want to see a deal for the people of this country but 20 months have passed since the general election. Mention has been made of game playing. The Taoiseach and the Tánaiste hyped up the deal done last year and oversold it as a game changer, which it was not. They want us to go along with the pathetic attempt to talk up a deal, which is not in place, and to support them when we do...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Oct 2012)

David Cullinane: Which the Senator's party leader stated we should repay in full.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Micro-Enterprise and Small Business Unit: Discussion with EI, ISME and SFA (23 Oct 2012)

David Cullinane: Consider the most recent figures received from Enterprise Ireland on grant aid. County Kildare, for example, received €30.6 million, whereas the figure for Sligo was €7.9 million. In Tipperary, €43 million was received and in Waterford €19.6 million was received. I take the point that inputs and grant aid do not in themselves paint the full picture, but they do...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Micro-Enterprise and Small Business Unit: Discussion with EI, ISME and SFA (23 Oct 2012)

David Cullinane: I thank Mr. Hayes for the presentation. One of the areas on which I wanted to focus was regional development and regional disparities in respect of the work of Enterprise Ireland and this new unit, because we all want better outcomes. The three issues I will raise are funding, networks and clusters and the concept of incubation centres. Mr. Hayes stated in his presentation that Enterprise...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Hospital Services (17 Oct 2012)

David Cullinane: I have no difficulty whatsoever with hospital networks and agree they are necessary, based on the rationale outlined by the Minister, in terms of getting managerial expertise across a network of hospitals. The point is that in the south east, we already have a highly-effective regional network of hospitals, which provides a whole range of services, from cancer care, cardiology, acute trauma...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Hospital Services (17 Oct 2012)

David Cullinane: I welcome the Minister, Deputy Reilly, to the House. The last time he was in the House when we had a discussion about a Bill to reform the HSE, I mentioned a working group that was established to look at hospital networks. The Minister will also be aware of a south-east hospital working group, which also sent a submission to him and which is headed up by Professor Fred Jackson. The...

Seanad: Alcohol Consumption: Statements (Resumed) (17 Oct 2012)

David Cullinane: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I was a member of the sub-group of the Joint Committee on Health that put together the report which the former Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, worked on with the joint committee. One of the things that struck me about the work not just of the sub-committee but of the committee itself, which signed off on the report, was that there was...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2012)

David Cullinane: I welcome the fact that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, has published his proposals for local government reform and call for a debate on the matter. I hope that we will have a constructive and informed debate. I accept that in order to do that we will need time to study his proposals. The Leader will be aware that there is a lot of concern in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals: COM (2011) 778 and COM (2011) 779 (16 Oct 2012)

David Cullinane: My main point was the distinction between accountability and liability.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals: COM (2011) 778 and COM (2011) 779 (16 Oct 2012)

David Cullinane: The report in The Irish Times and the Nyberg report referred to a failure of auditors to be liable for the accounts they stand over and publish. It is one thing to be accountable but another to be legally liable for the accounts that one signs off on. Is this something we should have examined in the context of reforming this area?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals: COM (2011) 778 and COM (2011) 779 (16 Oct 2012)

David Cullinane: It is fair to point out that much of the commentary was not simply in respect of the failures of auditors but on a systemic problem generally that involved the Central Bank and the Financial Regulator. That is what the Nyberg report stated, namely, it was not simply in respect of auditing. Consequently, members' comments should be put into that context. I believe there was a failure in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals: COM (2011) 778 and COM (2011) 779 (16 Oct 2012)

David Cullinane: The best I can say is that I welcome the fact we are at least having a discussion and that the COMs are here before us. We need an awful lot more discussion and debate on this because we have to work through the detail of it. We all have to accept the whole system of auditing in Ireland is a mess and needs to be reformed. We must not repeat the mistakes of the past. There is no doubt...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Institutes of Technology (3 Oct 2012)

David Cullinane: The Minister of State is taking this debate on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills. The response says a lot, but says nothing. It speaks of more process, more delay and more analysing. That is the last thing the people of Waterford and the south east need. There is much in that Higher Education Authority report of which the Minister of State spoke. It talks about other...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Institutes of Technology (3 Oct 2012)

David Cullinane: I make a direct appeal, on behalf of the people of Waterford and the south east, to the Minister of State and the Government to expedite the placement of a university in the region. We have had a long-running campaign for a university for the south east, jumping over all the hurdles and through all the hoops over the years. Numerous reports, including the Hunt report, have been favourably...

Seanad: Radical Seanad Reform Through Legislative Change: Statements (3 Oct 2012)

David Cullinane: I hope not to be in the next Seanad.

Seanad: Radical Seanad Reform Through Legislative Change: Statements (3 Oct 2012)

David Cullinane: I am looking for a demotion to the Lower House. I commend all of the Senators who were part of formulating this important document that will act as a conduit for debate on the future of the Seanad. I thank all of those former Senators and individuals who took the time to be part of that consultation process. It is an important piece of work that should be supported. I do not agree with...