Results 421-440 of 447 for speaker:Brendan Kenneally

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Second Stage. (25 Mar 2003)

Brendan Kenneally: As an accountant, I stand here with some trepidation. I heard Senator Quinn's views and Senator Ross will be glad to hear that I will not refer to the aforementioned document in my contribution.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Second Stage. (25 Mar 2003)

Brendan Kenneally: It is a possibility. We are all too well aware that the old bugbear, inflation, is a problem once more. It affects our competitiveness and has had an adverse effect on our "fundamentals", that much loved term from some years ago. While a number of factors are involved, indirect taxation is a major concern. Having reduced the general rate of VAT to 20%, the Minister raised it to its previous...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (25 Mar 2003)

Brendan Kenneally: Listening to Senator McCarthy, one would find it difficult to fathom how our party won four times as many seats as his in the last general election.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (25 Mar 2003)

Brendan Kenneally: The people are not fools and they know on which side their bread is buttered. I welcome the Minister, Deputy Coughlan, and congratulate her on the excellent job she has been doing since taking up office last year. Without any reflection on her predecessors, she is like a breath of fresh air in a Department which gives little scope for inventiveness or initiative. She has clearly indicated...

Seanad: Broadcasting (Major Events Television Coverage) (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (11 Mar 2003)

Brendan Kenneally: I thank the Minister for coming before the House on Second Stage and also today to complete the Bill. Everyone agrees with the thrust of what is proposed, which is reflected in the fact that so few amendments were tabled. I also thank Senator Finucane for his co-operation in allowing us to complete the Bill today in order that it can be sent to the Lower House.

Seanad: Broadcasting (Major Events Television Coverage) (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (5 Mar 2003)

Brendan Kenneally: I very much welcome this Bill and congratulate the Minister on taking an action which will copperfasten the availability of major public events to the general television viewing public. We are all only too well aware of the circumstances which necessitated the Bill, namely, the loss of international soccer matches to the general public. Worse still is the fact that those matches were...

Seanad: Broadcasting (Major Events Television Coverage) (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (5 Mar 2003)

Brendan Kenneally: —whereas RTE only offered €1.5 million over four years. That €6 million is a huge deficit for the FAI.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (5 Feb 2003)

Brendan Kenneally: I welcome this legislation which addresses long-overdue issues. For too many years we have taken the environment for granted and looked at the world around us as an unlimited resource capable of absorbing whatever battering we gave it. We know now that this is not the case and that too much damage has already been done, though thankfully not so much as to be irreversible. We are much more...

Seanad: Order of Business. (17 Dec 2002)

Brendan Kenneally: Members will agree we should send our congratulations to the ESB which celebrates its 75th anniversary today. The company has served the country well and we would not be able to operate today without it. There have been difficulties with the organisation from time to time, but by and large it has done a marvellous job. ESB staff have gone abroad to help other countries which have encountered...

Seanad: Order of Business. (17 Dec 2002)

Brendan Kenneally: The Senator's final one.

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Dec 2002)

Brendan Kenneally: As Fianna Fáil spokesperson for marine issues, I am delighted so many Members referred to the fisheries industry. It is important that this issue is raised in as many fora as possible to show our neighbours in Europe how concerned we are about it. Fishermen in this country are facing a serious situation. A couple of weeks ago we sent our best wishes to the Minister in his negotiations on the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Dec 2002)

Brendan Kenneally: I take this opportunity to state that the House supports fishermen and the Minister on this issue. A protest is being organised throughout the country on Friday and I hope as many people as possible support it.

Seanad: Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 Dec 2002)

Brendan Kenneally: I thank the Minister of State for his attendance in the House this morning. It is indicative of the merits of the Bill that there were so few amendments to it from either the Government or Opposition side of the House. I doubt if the Minister of State can count on having such an easy passage through the Seanad with any other Bill. I thank all Senators for their contributions to the debate. I...

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 Nov 2002)

Brendan Kenneally: Senators will be aware of a meeting commencing in Brussels today that will probably be the most important ever to have taken place concerning our fishing industry since we joined the EEC in 1973. We had a wide ranging discussion on the fishing industry last week while debating the Fisheries (Amendment) Bill. It would be appropriate, therefore, for the House to convey its good wishes to the...

Seanad: Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (21 Nov 2002)

Brendan Kenneally: I welcome my good friend and colleague from the south east, Deputy John Browne, Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, to the Seanad as well as the introduction of this Bill which is timely. I look forward to a constructive debate on the measures proposed. This Bill is intended to give statutory effect to the implementation of the provisions of...

Seanad: Digital Hub Development Agency Bill, 2002: Committee Stage (Resumed). (20 Nov 2002)

Brendan Kenneally: I disagree with Senator Quinn. I have a problem with the way we try to exclude publicly elected members from a number of bodies. They are democratically elected. I am concerned at the trend to cut them out from this, that and the other, specifically this area. During the debate on Second Stage we learned of the amount of dialogue that has taken place between the Department, the local...

Seanad: Digital Hub Development Agency Bill, 2002: Committee Stage (Resumed). (20 Nov 2002)

Brendan Kenneally: I have some sympathy with Senator Quinn's comments on amendment No. 27 and perhaps there is some confusion due to the wording of the text. I always understood that, in the case of somebody going abroad, gifts of holidays, transport, etc. in excess of £500, as it was, or €650 now, would have to be declared. I was not aware that one could accept a gift up to that amount in cash and I am not...

Seanad: Digital Hub Development Agency Bill, 2002: Committee Stage (Resumed). (20 Nov 2002)

Brendan Kenneally: I do not agree with Senator Quinn on this issue. As someone who worked as an accountant with a public limited company before becoming a Member of the Oireachtas, I do not think his proposal is practical. Financial accounts are produced on a monthly basis but producing the overall package at the end of the year is an extremely difficult process. In any organisation one is, first, working to...

Seanad: Digital Hub Development Agency Bill, 2002: Committee Stage (Resumed). (20 Nov 2002)

Brendan Kenneally: Next Tuesday.

Seanad: Order of Business. (7 Nov 2002)

Brendan Kenneally: I support the calls for a debate on marine issues and the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to come to the House. I did not believe this subject was of great interest to other Members, but I am now the fifth person to have raised it this morning. I am delighted that there is such an awareness in the House about the issue. I ask for a general discussion on marine...