Results 181-200 of 1,714 for speaker:John Dardis
- Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 Mar 2003)
John Dardis: At 10.30 a.m. tomorrow.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)
John Dardis: Can we, please, stick to section 1?
- Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)
John Dardis: We could get into a detailed philosophical discussion about whether economic data amount to fact or fiction, which could detain us here for some considerable time. It seems to be pretty obvious, however, because the words are quite explicit and easily understood. If there is a dispute as to whether or not a definition is (a) or (b), and we have a debate on that, ultimately it is open to...
- Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)
John Dardis: I would have thought the words were quite clear and could be easily understood. They should not create a particular problem. We seem to be having two debates: one about the section â I will allow that Senator McDowell has stuck closely to that â and another about the Information Commissioner's report, which does not concern the section.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)
John Dardis: There has been a great deal of discussion on the Opposition side of the House about procedure and the rules of debate but that is a two-way street.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)
John Dardis: I have never suggested that those matters should not be discussed, but I am saying that they should be discussed within the scope of the Bill. Earlier this evening, an Opposition Senator said the Chair was partisan, while another Senator used unparliamentary language with regard to the Internet. When we come to debate these issues, Senators on both sides of the House should watch their language.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)
John Dardis: This is a Second Stage speech.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)
John Dardis: Section 4(1) of the original Act states that a head may delegate in writing to a member of the staff of the public body concerned any of the functions of the head, and so on. If the head is delegating to a member of staff in writing then that is "FOI-able". If I or any member of the public rang the county secretary of Kildare County Council and asked who the FOI officer was, that information...
- Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)
John Dardis: Which is mad, the Senator or the suggestion?
- Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)
John Dardis: It is probably available on the Internet.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)
John Dardis: I want to make a brief point. I keep thinking of the freedom of information officer whom I know in the local authority. It appears, from reading section 4 of the principal Act, that if the freedom of information officer goes on holiday or becomes ill and somebody is appointed to act in his or her place, there will be a legal requirement under the Act to communicate this to Iris Oifigiúil....
- Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)
John Dardis: The Senator seems to have a particular concentration on asking me questions which he knows I cannot answer.
- Seanad: Order of Business. (12 Mar 2003)
John Dardis: And Killarney Golf and Fishing Club.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)
John Dardis: It would be inappropriate to confer this duty on the Attorney General. I do not dispute what Senator Higgins has said regarding the role of the Attorney General, but it would be going a step beyond that to give him an executive function and ask him to make decisions which could have direct political implications. From that perspective, he or she would not be the appropriate person to do this....
- Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)
John Dardis: All the more reason to exclude the Attorney General.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)
John Dardis: I do not want to labour the point, but there is a distinction. Within the Office of the Attorney General, the designated person, not the Attorney General, would make the decision. That is why this amendment gives him an inappropriate function and has the potential to draw the Attorney General into political controversies in which he should not be involved.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)
John Dardis: I bow to the Senator's greater experience. Amendment put and declared lost.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)
John Dardis: I am surprised you have a script.
- Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Mar 2003)
John Dardis: I did not catch whether Senator Ryan said he was agreeable or disagreeable.
- Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Mar 2003)
John Dardis: While I do not want to intrude on what is, appropriately, the business of the Chair, I wish to comment on the matter raised by the Senator as I was the occupant of the Chair when the matter arose. I merely confirmed the order of the House. If there are ambiguities as to Standing Orders and their interpretation, perhaps they can be considered in the coming weeks by the Committee on Procedure...