Results 2,021-2,040 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: Thanks to the Leader and the Deputy Leader, there were 16 hours of debate on the water issue in this House. Nineteen of my amendments were rejected by the Minister, but the Seanad did try to play its role and improve its value. Apparently, the debate in the Dáil was completely inadequate, which is the reason many of the problems arose subsequently. As of 8 a.m. today, permanent tsb had...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: I support the amendment and the views expressed by Senators Quinn, van Turnhout and Daly. Urlingford was mentioned and we have a Kilkenny man in the Chair. I noticed a similar problem in Johnstown when I passed through it last. A major tsunami can strike a town as businesses move out and one must react to such developments quickly. What the Minister has provided for is a determination...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: I echo what Senator Quinn has said. Sometimes the taxpayer can actually win in the courts. While we talk about entrepreneurship, the sometimes defensive reaction on behalf of the Exchequer is: "Let us go and rewrite the rules. That will teach them to bring cases. You can never overturn the State. You argue with city hall and city hall always wins." We have very long-winded, verbose...

Seanad: Vehicle Clamping Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (22 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister for describing the amendments very eloquently. Differing circumstances strike me as a lawyer's goldmine, whereas extra costs may be incurred getting a car back at, for example, 2 a.m. We reflected that in the literature. It would also get the point across to the person who is clamped that it is what the Parliament decided, whereas the notion differing circumstances may...

Seanad: Vehicle Clamping Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (22 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: I am happy to support the Minister in this regard and I wish the NTA well in its efforts. In regard to the relocation charge of €50, I understand Dublin City Council charges €160. It might actually displace illegal parking into the premises with which we are dealing. During the debate on the Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012, the Minister of State at the Department of...

Seanad: Vehicle Clamping Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (22 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister. People are cross, annoyed and furious when this happens, but we cannot really expect the clamping or declamping vehicle to be nearby. I have seen in some of the places around town where clamping is liable to happen, the two-hour figure mentioned. I suppose the message is, "We know it is annoying; please calm down and come back in two hours and collect the car."...

Seanad: Vehicle Clamping Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (22 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: I welcome this amendment. There can be fault on both sides and they are now provided for. That is to be commended.

Seanad: Vehicle Clamping Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (22 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: I second every word Senator O'Neill has just said. I thank the Minister. This has been a very proud and happy day for the Seanad. We have always wanted to play that role and the Minister has been very receptive to what we have been saying. The Bill goes to the Dáil incorporating many interesting new elements, which is one of the roles of the Seanad in assisting the total Oireachtas...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: After those four hours I thank our visitors for all their advice and so on. In the Seanad we discussed the rejection rate by local authorities with the then Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Jan O’Sullivan, who was responsible for that portfolio. It seemed incredible that, when there is a huge problem of homelessness and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: NAMA has my support in that regard. I refer to question No. 24 on page 15. The sales of properties in individual lots would have required the displacement of existing tenants. The Seanad debated this matter with the former Minister, Deputy Shatter. I am not sure that tenants have no rights in those situations. NAMA would certainly be more popular if it were selling in individual terms....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: This matter has been of serious concern to Members of the Seanad, namely, that the person who is defaulting is the owner of the buy-to-let property and why should the tenant be at risk at all if the tenant is compliant with the rental agreement? What is bought is a stream of rents - one does not buy the right to vacant possession.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: I have a final question which arises from Mr. McDonagh's answer to question No. 21.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: Question No. 21 states: If the rental yield from NAMA properties is approximately 5% and as high as 6.9%? Why in your opinion is there a continuing lack of supply in the rental sector? What constraints in the development of new units exist? If they are bank-related, explain why or else a high yield is not sufficient to cover the cost of capital for the Irish banking sector which is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: Question No. 32 states, "What would be the effect of a wholesale unwinding of the NAMA portfolio over the next six months?" I know that is anticipated over a longer period of time. There is a reference to the UBS study. NAMA has a mandate to put the returns into the Exchequer. If we were to allow all the asset prices to fall, would that not be a boost to the economy if house prices were...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: I thank our guests for staying so long. The replies, as always, have been most interesting.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: I rise to express solidarity with the people and Parliament of Canada, following the invasion of the House of Parliament by a gunman yesterday. The Speaker of the Canadian Senate, Mr. Noel Kinsella, is a great friend of this country. He has called a meeting of the Senate to show terrorists that democracy will continue in his country. The Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons, Mr. Andrew...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Nov 2014)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Leader for inviting the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, for the health debate. Mr. Seán Boylan is here because he has an interest in that aspect of our wider health and medical services. Last Saturday week, Mr. Jeff Dudgeon of the Ulster Unionist Party, at a meeting of the Irish Association, called for the retention of the long wave 252 service, as Senator Mooney has done....

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (Amendment) Bill 2014: First Stage (4 Nov 2014)

Sean Barrett: I second that.

Seanad: Health Services: Statements (4 Nov 2014)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister and like other Senators, I heard his interview with Pat Kenny. One of the many good things in it was when he stated the sickness absentee rate among health service staff was now down to 4%, because that had been a scandal and I am glad it has been tackled. My metaphor for the health service, however, is that if I arrive in Heuston Station, I see a hospital across the...

Seanad: Health Services: Statements (4 Nov 2014)

Sean Barrett: I welcome Mr. Boylan to the House and there are all sorts of developments in respect of pharmacy and herbalism. Let us extend-----