Results 2,321-2,340 of 4,717 for speaker:Martin Mansergh

Seanad: Statute Law Revision Bill 2007: Committee Stage (14 Feb 2007)

Martin Mansergh: I have two quick points to make. On Senator Mooney's issue, EdwardBunting's Ancient Irish Airs was published in the early 1790s and the legislation the Senator alluded to may have a reference to it. However, retaining the Courts Act 1476 seems to me to be entirely in keeping with certain traditions of our Judiciary which go back unbroken to the ancien régime, however defined....

Seanad: Statute Law Revision Bill 2007: Committee Stage (14 Feb 2007)

Martin Mansergh: They are still relevant.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Feb 2007)

Martin Mansergh: And education.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Feb 2007)

Martin Mansergh: I would welcome a debate on the report of the Moriarty tribunal on which I would have plenty to say. A good number of the blank cheques filled out in the period from 1982 to 1987 were made payable to me for my salary and allowances as head of research for Fianna Fáil. I often wish I had been sufficiently well-off to have left one uncashed and kept it as a souvenir of a cheque signed...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Feb 2007)

Martin Mansergh: Ireland was rated quite highly overall with regard to the treatment of children. Child benefit has been increased fivefold in the past ten years from €30, where it was left by Proinsias De Rossa who had raised it somewhat, to about €150 today. I am not disposed to accept as part of the European Parliament motion, Proinsias De Rossa's criticisms of Ireland on the subject of rendition....

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Feb 2007)

Martin Mansergh: He has a quite notorious record of anti-Americanism right through his political record. We make our foreign policy here.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Feb 2007)

Martin Mansergh: There is nothing further to discuss on the matter. It is my belief that the practice of rendition is over.

Seanad: Statute Law Revision Bill 2007: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (15 Feb 2007)

Martin Mansergh: I disagree a little with the literal accuracy of what has been said. I raised the issue of the Erasmus Smith Trust in which the Abbey school in Tipperary is involved and I received a thorough reply giving the legislative basis, post 1660, on which it is based and which I think will be very useful to the school. This is an indication of the thoroughness which has gone into the work on the...

Seanad: Statute Law Revision Bill 2007: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (15 Feb 2007)

Martin Mansergh: I will not hold up the House. An obvious example of what I mean is the Offences against the Person Act, which deals with the abortion issue. Until we are ready to legislate for this ourselves post independence, that legislation will stay on the Statute Book. This raises issues which are anything but simple, straightforward or uncontroversial. Some pre-1922 legislation presents us with...

Seanad: School Accommodation (15 Feb 2007)

Martin Mansergh: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. Clerihan, a village approximately five miles from Clonmel, is rapidly growing into a new town, but it has limited facilities. It has no sports pitch but one is being prepared, partly grant-aided by the Department. There used be a post office when it was a tiny village, but now that the population has expanded it has none. The school, which was...

Seanad: School Accommodation (15 Feb 2007)

Martin Mansergh: I thank the Minister for State for his reply and understanding of the situation but I query the inflexible attitude to retrospective funding he presents. If this is a blanket policy then I think it is wrong.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Feb 2007)

Martin Mansergh: It is a healthy cooling-off period.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Feb 2007)

Martin Mansergh: The Finance Bill will provide an opportunity to discuss matters such as stamp duty. There is a case for reform of stamp duty to make it fairer at the appropriate moment.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Feb 2007)

Martin Mansergh: I would not mind at all if a discussion of the matter helps to cool an overheated market but, equally, I would not like radical reductions to rekindle the market and we must bear in mind that we do not have property taxes. Stamp duty is an important source of revenue and we should not throw it away lightly. Much needs to be done in the country and it must be addressed prudently in the...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Feb 2007)

Martin Mansergh: We only had 2% or 3% increases in the mid 1990s.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Feb 2007)

Martin Mansergh: We gave free medical cards to the over-70s.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Feb 2007)

Martin Mansergh: That is right.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Mansergh: That view is rubbish.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Mansergh: That is exactly what it is doing.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Mansergh: The Minister denied it on "Morning Ireland" this morning.