Results 4,681-4,700 of 7,583 for speaker:Rónán Mullen

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Mar 2014)

Rónán Mullen: I join with the moving tributes of other Senators, in particular Senator Healy Eames, to the late Nicky McFadden. Those of us who were Members of the previous Seanad are very sad at the loss of our former Seanad colleague. We will remember Nicky as having been a gentle and decent person. I recall that on the day I brought people to meet with Nicky and Deputy Áine Collins, Nicky...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (12 Mar 2014)

Rónán Mullen: All of us can agree that the national interest should be foremost in our minds, but while Senator Gilroy made his points in an interesting and reasonable way, they highlight once again the problem of the Whip in politics. Politicians do not seem to be allowed to state their convictions. Perhaps it is a good thing to debate these issues in a way that allows people to take different views...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (12 Mar 2014)

Rónán Mullen: It is a question of long-term versus short-term perspectives. It is the culture of the quick buck on the one hand, and taking a long-term interest in the quality of our landscape, our tourism industry and our natural amenities on the other. All of us want to improve our balance of payments and our exports, but what is the long-term financial cost? I support the thrust of this motion. All...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (12 Mar 2014)

Rónán Mullen: I ask the Senator to listen to my words not the voices in my head. I am not sure the Government was acting responsibly in putting together that commission. The Minister for Health has expressed concern about the health impacts of pylons. The new boss of EirGrid would not like to live near these pylons. In February the European Commission's scientific committee issued a draft report on...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (12 Mar 2014)

Rónán Mullen: We can be sure about reductions in the value of land and the long-term damage that will be done to the tourism industry and natural amenities. I have visited countries in which massive pylons have been erected in rural areas. One no longer feels as though one is living in a rural area. These areas are more like post-industrial landscapes. I am concerned about the doublespeak on the...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (12 Mar 2014)

Rónán Mullen: The Sinn Féin-Fine Gael alliance has not come about quite yet.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) (Amendment) Bill 2014: First Stage (27 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide for, in the interests of the common good, and in respect of certain proposed developments of strategic importance to the State, to make provision for the construction of high voltage electricity transmission cables underground where physically possible; and for the purpose of effecting certain other changes to the...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) (Amendment) Bill 2014: First Stage (27 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: Dé Máirt seo chugainn.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: No discourtesy was intended.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: Let them eat bread.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: I congratulate my colleague, Senator Feargal Quinn, on what was a triumph for the Seanad yesterday evening. Sinn Féin colleagues were eager to remind the correspondent from The Irish Times of my absence from the Chamber. I was addressing a school in Bettystown and I was happy to be obliged by one of my Government colleagues with a pair, which is more than my Sinn Féin colleagues...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: I ask the Leader if we can have this debate because people are wondering whether we are rushing into a massive plan to build wind farms with no certainty in terms of there being a market for the power generated and no clear return on investment. Will we have thousands of ghost wind farms in ten years to match the ghost housing estates?

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: Will farmers be saddled with ugly wind turbines that they were lured into investing in only to find there is a get-out clause in the contract for the wind turbine developers, as well as tax implications for farmer in changing the use of their land?

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: We need to question whether this will end up like the eircom debacle, with people-----

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: I agree with what my colleague, Senator Bacik, had to say about the possibility of a scoping inquiry being a good idea. I certainly do not believe one should rush into commissions of inquiry until there has been a chance to get greater clarity than has been achieved to date regarding what precisely has been going on. Everyone agrees the reports from whistleblowers and indeed about...

Seanad: Mental Health Services Provision: Motion (19 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: I would be the first to defend Senator Mullins's honour. He is my cousin but Senator Conway is missing the point.

Seanad: Mental Health Services Provision: Motion (19 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: If Senator Mullins is a victim, it is not of this motion. He is a victim of a party Whip system that is ruthless-----

Seanad: Mental Health Services Provision: Motion (19 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: -----and will not allow a politician to vote according to his or her convictions. Scandalously, a Government is hiding under the umbrella of A Vision for Change. In the case of Ballinasloe in particular, however, what we have seen is a vision for short-changing people. It is certainly not a vision for consultation. It is good for the Minister of State that she is not running in east...

Seanad: Mental Health Services Provision: Motion (19 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: She and her Government are very unpopular precisely because of the-----

Seanad: Mental Health Services Provision: Motion (19 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: -----arrogant way they have treated people over this issue. I visited the unit in St. Brigid's and spoke with its consultants. I saw a state-of-the-art facility that had been renovated at considerable public expense, yet its beds are being sent elsewhere. I learned about the bogus consultation and scoring procedures that saw Roscommon score 10 and Ballinasloe score 3 on a question of...