Results 4,841-4,860 of 4,959 for speaker:Diarmuid Wilson

Seanad: Order of Business. (9 Dec 2003)

Diarmuid Wilson: We have 365 lakes, one for every day of the year, the Shannon-Erne waterway and the source of the River Shannon.

Seanad: Order of Business. (9 Dec 2003)

Diarmuid Wilson: I will not tolerate the Fine Gael Party casting aspersions on the county or people of Cavan.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters. - Rural Renewal Scheme. (27 Nov 2003)

Diarmuid Wilson: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, for attending the House to respond to the need to extend the rural renewal scheme beyond December 2004. The rural renewal scheme was introduced in the upper Shannon area covering areas in counties Cavan, Sligo, Roscommon and all of counties Leitrim and Longford principally because these areas had suffered particular social and economic problems in...

Seanad: Estimates for 2004: Motion. (19 Nov 2003)

Diarmuid Wilson: I second the amendment proposed by my colleague, Senator Cox. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, and pay tribute to the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Coughlan. I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on the Estimates for 2004. I am proud to support the Government amendment to the motion. It is not my intention to bore Senators with figures or...

Seanad: Estimates for 2004: Motion. (19 Nov 2003)

Diarmuid Wilson: I like to control myself in public.

Seanad: Estimates for 2004: Motion. (19 Nov 2003)

Diarmuid Wilson: No party in Government has done more to improve the lot of the most disadvantaged than Fianna Fáil, the real labour party.

Seanad: Estimates for 2004: Motion. (19 Nov 2003)

Diarmuid Wilson: The Labour Party is the party of motions, fine ideas and soundbites. What has it ever achieved?

Seanad: Estimates for 2004: Motion. (19 Nov 2003)

Diarmuid Wilson: The answer is simple, it has achieved nothing. My constituents in County Cavan often say to me, that fellow Rabbitte, he is a great talker—

Seanad: Estimates for 2004: Motion. (19 Nov 2003)

Diarmuid Wilson: —but what has he ever done, except pretend to get angry – very angry sometimes.

Seanad: Estimates for 2004: Motion. (19 Nov 2003)

Diarmuid Wilson: He rocked the foundations of the State at one stage—

Seanad: Estimates for 2004: Motion. (19 Nov 2003)

Diarmuid Wilson: —if memory serves me. That was a ball of smoke and puff of wind as usual.

Seanad: Estimates for 2004: Motion. (19 Nov 2003)

Diarmuid Wilson: He then went on RTE and pontificated, shrouded in a straitjacket of pomposity, about how things should be done.

Seanad: Estimates for 2004: Motion. (19 Nov 2003)

Diarmuid Wilson: Fianna Fáil is the party of action—

Seanad: Estimates for 2004: Motion. (19 Nov 2003)

Diarmuid Wilson: —one with a proud record across the length and breadth of the country.

Seanad: Estimates for 2004: Motion. (19 Nov 2003)

Diarmuid Wilson: I ask the Leas-Chathaoirleach to forgive me for laughing to myself. Fianna Fáil has proven over the years that it is prepared to knuckle down and get the job done without running to RTE with soundbites and trying to look well on television. The Labour Party and its comrades talk the talk in regard to helping the less well-off in society.

Seanad: Estimates for 2004: Motion. (19 Nov 2003)

Diarmuid Wilson: When it comes to the crunch—

Seanad: Estimates for 2004: Motion. (19 Nov 2003)

Diarmuid Wilson: —they have never delivered to those they claim to represent. Fianna Fáil in Government introduced the minimum wage which is helping hundreds of thousands of low paid workers. Long-term unemployment, which is recognised as one of the greatest causes of poverty, has been successfully tackled and reduced to 1.4%, a figure well below the EU average. What did the Labour Party do the last time...

Seanad: Estimates for 2004: Motion. (19 Nov 2003)

Diarmuid Wilson: In 1995, the Labour Party was given the opportunity to put its rhetoric into practice. Former Minister Proinsias de Rossa increased the old age pension by £1.80.

Seanad: Estimates for 2004: Motion. (19 Nov 2003)

Diarmuid Wilson: I do not wish to sound like the man I mentioned earlier and to whom we are not supposed to refer, but the Labour Party Members must have a brass neck to move tonight's motion. Thankfully, it was not long before the people of Ireland voted Labour and those who paid it lip-service out of office and elected a Government which has acted to address the needs of the less well-off.

Seanad: Estimates for 2004: Motion. (19 Nov 2003)

Diarmuid Wilson: During the 1997 election campaign, Fianna Fáil promised to increase the old age pension to at least €127 per week during its term of Government and we delivered.