Results 2,061-2,080 of 4,465 for speaker:Jim Walsh

Seanad: Public Service Agreement 2010-2014: Statements (13 Oct 2010)

Jim Walsh: In Ireland, the salary is €117,000 but when it is related to the other figures on a PPP basis it is €103,000. That is not sustainable in any economy.

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Oct 2010)

Jim Walsh: Who wrote that for the Senator?

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (14 Oct 2010)

Jim Walsh: I concur with those who welcomed the Taoiseach's letter to the leaders of the Opposition parties. I also pay tribute to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government who showed enlightenment and courage in the face of ridicule during the past week. He took an initiative which was necessary, namely, putting the dire situation in which we find ourselves above party politics...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Oct 2010)

Jim Walsh: I agree with Senator Twomey. It is essential that the Government is open and honest with the Opposition parties and that a consensus develops. I note the Senator is now privy to the seriousness of the matter, having accompanied the Fine Gael finance spokesperson in the Dáil to the discussion. It is equally important that Senator Twomey and members of the Opposition in general also be open...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Oct 2010)

Jim Walsh: I ask the Leader to arrange a debate on competitiveness. I am of the view that an issue arises in the context of the minimum wage, which is an inhibition to job creation in certain sectors of the economy. Members who are in contact with business people will be well aware that the joint labour council agreements which apply across many industries are a major obstacle to competitiveness....

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (Panel Members)(Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (20 Oct 2010)

Jim Walsh: I compliment Senators Cummins and Coghlan on introducing this Bill, for which they deserve great credit. I am disappointed that a decision has been made to oppose the Bill. It would have been far better to have the Bill read on Second Stage and amended on Committee Stage. I do not accept some of the arguments put forward by the Minister of State, whom I know for a long time. Before he...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (Panel Members)(Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (20 Oct 2010)

Jim Walsh: That is a significant part of the problems we have in both Houses. The Local Authority Members Association should be a nominating body for the Seanad. I served on that body as chairman and member for a number of years and was a colleague of the Minister of State in the General Council of County Councils for a long period. I was also a member of the Association of Municipal Authorities of...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Oct 2010)

Jim Walsh: I have listened for years to Senators argue that social partnership sidelined the democratic input of the Houses of the Oireachtas. While I recognise that social partnership played a pivotal role in the recovery from the dark economic days of the 1980s, over the past ten years it has contributed significantly to the current economic mess. The social partners should take their share of the...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Oct 2010)

Jim Walsh: I am terribly disappointed by senior management within the public services who have been dragging their feet about getting real and impressive action in this area. Failure to so do obviously will have an impact on good public servants in the years ahead.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Oct 2010)

Jim Walsh: I do not want to say much, as Senator Quinn has said, as the debate on the child abuse report will take place this afternoon. We should bear in mind that the children involved have made it very clear that they do not welcome the fact that the focus has been placed on them and that it is adding to the trauma they have suffered. However, we need to be mindful of a few aspects. It has been...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Oct 2010)

Jim Walsh: There has to be accountability; we can no longer continue to hide. At the time I was critical of the Government for failing to take action against those who were culpable and criminally negligent in the HIV scandal. People died as a consequence of the gross negligence of individuals within the service and there should have been accountability. Another aspect of the case which is a concern -...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Oct 2010)

Jim Walsh: Supreme Court justices here are paid €100,000 more than their counterparts in the US.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Oct 2010)

Jim Walsh: We cannot continue to pay these kinds of salaries. When I listened to the Dáil debate yesterday, I heard Ministers focus on what people in the public service who earn less than €100,000 get, because it was a good soundbite, rather than focus on the real cost of our public service.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Oct 2010)

Jim Walsh: We need to tackle this and I call for a debate on the Croke Park agreement as a matter of urgency.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Nov 2010)

Jim Walsh: I support the comments made by Senator Coffey about the ESB and the job it did in rationalisation. It must be recognised that salaries in the ESB are excessively high, with an average annual salary of almost €70,000. Nonetheless, the company rationalised to a significant extent during the good times. There is a need for other semi-State companies to follow suit. The same applies to the...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Nov 2010)

Jim Walsh: It is too slow.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2010)

Jim Walsh: I agreed with the call made by Senator O'Toole last week for a debate on the separation of powers. He made that call in the light of the decision made to hold the by-election in County Donegal. We have since had several examples of political grandstanding - there was an example this morning and another last week involving a political party - in looking for the intrusion of the courts in the...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2010)

Jim Walsh: A debate on the issue of the separation of powers is urgently required before we end up with the courts and politics in the mire together to no one's advantage. Yesterday and today I listened to various Members extend sympathy with regard to those who lost their lives in World War One. Unfortunately, many of them lost their lives because of British military incompetence. This was a shame...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2010)

Jim Walsh: Unfortunately, this is happening in all the debates on the economy.

Seanad: Overcrowding in Prisons: Statements (Resumed). (11 Nov 2010)

Jim Walsh: Ba mhaith liom fáilte a ghabháil don Aire Stáit mar gheall ar an ábhar tábhachtach seo do phlé. Táimid ag feitheamh ar na smaointe atá ag an Aire Stáit ar an ábhar seo toisc go bhfuil sé ar a réimse freagrachta aige. Compared with other countries Ireland's prison population is relatively low, at around 85 per 100,000, as compared with an EU average of 109, while the figure for...