Results 2,101-2,120 of 26,396 for speaker:David Cullinane

Seanad: Seanad Electoral Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (6 Mar 2013)

David Cullinane: I apologise to the Senator. I will finish on this point. It is important to reach out to the Irish diaspora in some elections. They are decidedly important in terms of job creation here and now. This also applies to citizens in the North, who should be given the opportunity to vote in any future Seanad election, if there is to be another Seanad, or Presidential election. I commend...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Mar 2013)

David Cullinane: On Tuesday, in the absence of the Leader, I raised the issue of the 800 IBRC workers who have temporary contracts. Some of them will be transferred to NAMA. I hope that as many jobs as possible can be saved. We are not concerned about the executives and the people in IBRC who were part of the problem. We are concerned about the ordinary low to middle income staff workers who face an...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Mar 2013)

David Cullinane: I ask for an update on that as well.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Third Level Facilities (7 Mar 2013)

David Cullinane: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon. On a number of occasions I have tabled motions on the jobs situation in Waterford and the Minister of State has often come to the House to reply, and I thank him for that. I have also constantly raised the need for a technological university for the south east and its critical importance for improving the awful situation in Waterford and the...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Third Level Facilities (7 Mar 2013)

David Cullinane: I thank the Minister for his reply. I accept the limitations he might be under, given that a number of applications will be made. This is socially and economically critical to the people of the south east. The Government recognised that when it included it in its programme for Government and I commend the Government for that. I am worried we have opened up a four-way process that might...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Third Level Facilities (7 Mar 2013)

David Cullinane: I do not have a supplementary question, I just want to thank the Minister of State for his response.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2013)

David Cullinane: I welcome the Minister. I, too, am opposed to section 3 because, essentially, it gives effect to the legislation.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2013)

David Cullinane: The Minister has created a whole set of problems in doing that. If he really wants a debate on the merger in Waterford, I can have that with him but I want to stick to section 3. I agree with the arguments the speaker from Fianna Fáil made. We are against the reduction in the number of Deputies just for the sake of having a reduction in numbers. Essentially, this is about saving money....

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2013)

David Cullinane: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2013)

David Cullinane: Several points were raised. Some were general points and not questions, but the Minister has failed to respond to any of them. The Minister responded, in the way that other Ministers respond to questions from Sinn Féin, by pointing north, which is the stock response. We can have a discussion and debate on political representation in the North but obviously it is completely different.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2013)

David Cullinane: We are consistent. As the Minister well knows, we are trying to compare apples and oranges. For a moment, let us deal with the issue at hand. The Minister is an elected representative, as am I, and we have a job to do in respect of the Bill before us.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2013)

David Cullinane: That is a very strong charge to make-----

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2013)

David Cullinane: -----and the Minister might regret it. I would be very careful if I was accusing any party in the North of trying to gerrymander the vote. What the Minister is doing is playing into the hands of a section of the Unionist community who will seize on what he said for their own ends. I think it is an appalling thing for the Minister to say. It is beneath him. It is not something a Minister...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2013)

David Cullinane: If the Minister thinks that is true, it says more about him than about the issue itself. I think the Minister will deeply regret what he has said. It will be used in a sinister way by people. The point I put to the Minister-----

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2013)

David Cullinane: With respect, the Minister is trying to be smart but he is not being smart. He is trying to be funny and he is not funny.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2013)

David Cullinane: Nobody is issuing threats. When I said it would be used in a sinister way, it will be used in a sinister way by people within the Unionist constituency who will seize on what has been said. I think the Minister will regret saying it for those reasons, but that is a matter for himself. The Minister can stand over what he says. The central premise of what the Minister is doing is to save...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Retail Sector Report: Discussion with RGDATA (12 Mar 2013)

David Cullinane: I thank the three witnesses for their interesting presentations. I agree with most of what was said and disagree with some parts. I agree to an extent with regard to the car parking issue. It is a big problem. When people go to shop they need car parking space. We all accept it is more difficult to provide free parking in city and town centres and easier in out-of-town centres. Part of...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Mar 2013)

David Cullinane: I support the call made by Senator Darragh O'Brien for a debate on town and village centres. A pop-up policy has been put in place in Carlow which looks at encouraging enterprises to take up opportunities in vacant properties. It is a pilot scheme and is worthy of debate. I call for a debate on the whole issue of public and private debt, the significant issue which has not been sorted out...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Mar 2013)

David Cullinane: Four years ago this week a motion was tabled in the Dáil, supported by Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Sinn Féin, calling on the then Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government to reduce bankers' pay, bonuses and pensions to ¤250,000. The only people who opposed the motion were Deputies Micheál Martin and Michael McGrath and the now Senator Thomas Byrne, members of Fianna Fáil and the Green...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2013 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages (21 Mar 2013)

David Cullinane: The problem with this scheme is that it is far too narrow. Yesterday, on the Order of Business, we had a number of calls from Senators in the House for a debate on town and city centres generally that would look at creative interventions that could be made to help regenerate towns, villages and cities across the State. I am currently doing some work for the Joint Oireachtas Committee on...