Results 1,901-1,920 of 2,017 for speaker:Paul Bradford

Seanad: Regional Development: Motion. (11 Feb 2004)

Paul Bradford: Now we know who the Independent candidate for the Presidency will be.

Seanad: European Presidency: Statements. (29 Jan 2004)

Paul Bradford: I welcome the Taoiseach to the House. While I am aware of the grave responsibility of the Taoiseach's European duties, we all envy him for the fact that he holds the Presidency of Europe at the most exciting time in the political history of the Continent. I first spoke in this House in 1987 and at that time the Continent of Europe was divided by the Berlin wall and the Cold War. The changes...

Seanad: Crisis Pregnancy Strategy: Statements. (29 Jan 2004)

Paul Bradford: I had not intended to speak on this motion. However, having listened to the contributions, I feel we are having a valuable debate that should be reflected upon by Members and the public. Since 1983, when the first constitutional amendment on the issue of abortion was put to referendum, we have had a long debate on abortion, its alternatives and where society should go. During the course of...

Seanad: FÁS Community Employment Schemes: Motion. (28 Jan 2004)

Paul Bradford: I second the motion and I am glad to have an opportunity to contribute. I thank Senator Finucane for his comments. It is appropriate that the Minister of State with responsibility for labour affairs, Deputy Fahey, is present because following the initial outcry some months ago about the possibility of large-scale cutbacks in the scheme, he was the first to use a megaphone to announce what he...

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 Jan 2004)

Paul Bradford: I want to revisit the issue of electronic voting which I have raised on a number of occasions. In a little more than four months hundreds of thousands of people will cast their verdicts on thousands of candidates by way of electronic voting machines. We all welcome the concept of electronic voting, but we must recognise that there are grave concerns about the system it is proposed to use next...

Seanad: Order of Business. (21 Jan 2004)

Paul Bradford: I agree with the comments of and the request by Senator Leyden for a debate on undocumented Irish people in the United States. This was a major political issue ten or 14 years ago and was apparently resolved for a few years. There are many indications that the problem has returned to cause grave difficulty for a large number of Irish people in the United States. At a time when the American...

Seanad: Address by Mr. Seán Ó Neachtáin, MEP. (11 Dec 2003)

Paul Bradford: I join in welcoming Mr. Ó Neachtáin. I presume it is his first time addressing the Oireachtas and his contribution has impressed us. He has been a good pupil to learn so much so soon. Politics notwithstanding, we wish him well in the remaining months of his term and hopefully onwards from there. His constituency, formerly Connacht-Ulster and soon to be Ireland-West, is the most peripheral...

Seanad: Address by Mr. Seán Ó Neachtáin, MEP. (11 Dec 2003)

Paul Bradford: So Mr. Ó Neachtáin should be.

Seanad: Address by Ms Avril Doyle, MEP. (11 Dec 2003)

Paul Bradford: She is used to that.

Seanad: Address by Ms Avril Doyle, MEP. (11 Dec 2003)

Paul Bradford: I welcome Deputy Doyle to the House. It is helpful to have her title clarified. During Ms Doyle's speech she referred to togging out in the Irish jersey. This is an interesting question, but we do not have time to dwell fully on it. Some members who go to Brussels are accused of going native; others are accused of simply peddling an Irish line. What is the balance? Do we send people to...

Seanad: Address by Mr. Brian Crowley, MEP. (11 Dec 2003)

Paul Bradford: I welcome Deputy Crowley to the House. We were advised earlier that the proper term was "Deputy". He is very welcome back to the House in which he served with distinction some years ago. Many of my colleagues have questions so I will keep to one or two areas. One of those is defence, the matter with which Mr. Crowley concluded his speech. He gave us his personal view and made the point that...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters. - Death Row Prisoner. (11 Dec 2003)

Paul Bradford: I am glad of the opportunity to raise the case of Mr. Roger Collins who is currently incarcerated in a jail in Georgia in the United States. He has been awaiting execution on death row for the past 26 years. This case was brought to my attention as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs's sub-committee on human rights. Some months ago the sub-committee heard a presentation from a group...

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Dec 2003)

Paul Bradford: I support Senator McHugh's call for a debate on agriculture. In the past 18 months there have been many debates on the subject. Once there is a crisis to be debated, we deal with it, but we are also well placed to give a long-term view on the future of agriculture. Will the Leader set aside time early next year for a number of detailed debates on the sector, not just on the Fischler proposals...

Seanad: Report on Dublin and Monaghan Bombings: Motion. - Local Authority Funding: Motion. (10 Dec 2003)

Paul Bradford: Blame the homeless.

Seanad: Report on Dublin and Monaghan Bombings: Motion. - Local Authority Funding: Motion. (10 Dec 2003)

Paul Bradford: Four times as many local authority houses were built.

Seanad: Report on Dublin and Monaghan Bombings: Motion. - Local Authority Funding: Motion. (10 Dec 2003)

Paul Bradford: I wish to share my time with Senator Brian Hayes. I am glad the Minister of State is in the House because there is no point in speaking about the Minister of State behind his back or making complaints when he is not present. I am genuinely disappointed not simply by the Minister's speech but by the approach he has taken over the past 12 to 18 months. I debated with the Minister of State in...

Seanad: Report on Dublin and Monaghan Bombings: Motion. - Local Authority Funding: Motion. (10 Dec 2003)

Paul Bradford: The country is awash with money. I can supply the Minister of State with the figures. This year in north Cork there will be sufficient funding for approximately 80 or 90 starts in direct and affordable housing. In 1985, the local authority built 150 houses. We have not made the progress we should be making and we are failing to do so now at a time when significant resources are available,...

Seanad: Report on Dublin and Monaghan Bombings: Motion. - Local Authority Funding: Motion. (10 Dec 2003)

Paul Bradford: I would like to be able to add in those figures but from what the Minister of State said, and taking into account voluntary and direct housing, we are still using much less resources for direct housing than in the mid-1980s. The statistics speak for themselves. We need to examine the area of direct housing. There are policy options which can be taken on housing. Even when money is scarce it...

Seanad: Independent Monitoring Commission Bill 2003: Second Stage. (9 Dec 2003)

Paul Bradford: I am glad to have an opportunity to say a few words on this legislation. While I was not present for the Minister's opening remarks, I have a copy of his speech, which I welcome. We must concede that in the overall scale of trying to make political progress in Northern Ireland, this legislation is neither the end of the beginning nor the beginning of the end, but simply another small step...

Seanad: Independent Monitoring Commission Bill 2003: Second Stage. (9 Dec 2003)

Paul Bradford: We have to live with the consequences of how the people of Northern Ireland spoke. We talk about some parties winning the majority of the Unionist vote and other parties winning the majority of the Nationalist vote as if there was a substantial shift. If one looks at the total vote and the results in the constituencies, while there was a shift of seats, there was not a major shift in public...