Results 2,421-2,440 of 4,717 for speaker:Martin Mansergh

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (Resumed) (21 Mar 2007)

Martin Mansergh: He said the problem in Ireland is wages. He pays the minimum agricultural wage of €9.40 per hour while a good manager can be hired for €2 an hour in Poland. I asked him how he has remained in production and how he was able to expand. He replied it was because of productivity. He has bought a fine machine that composts the material, which previously took several people a week to do....

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (Resumed) (21 Mar 2007)

Martin Mansergh: I think the lack of grounding in economics is showing in this amendment. I have great respect for the jury system in determining whether people are innocent or guilty but in regard to the awarding of damages, jury judgments have, to say the least, been erratic. I come from the point of view that in a well-ordered society people have least possible recourse to the courts and that they not be...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Mar 2007)

Martin Mansergh: The ruinous situation in Zimbabwe is very sad but, unfortunately, the root cause of the problem was the failure of the British Government at the time of independence to establish and fund a land commission. The State must be more than a legal entity. I find it very difficult to stand over or defend in any way threatening legal action against people who suffered child abuse to deter them...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Mar 2007)

Martin Mansergh: No self-respecting country should decide to neglect or ignore, perhaps for commercial, cost-benefit or utilitarian considerations, the roots of its civilisation. Does that perhaps lead to situations which have caused grief for people who are not anti-road or anti-progress in any sense? In the case of the M3, souterrains were destroyed. Why were they not uncovered during preliminary...

Seanad: Asset Covered Securities (Amendment) Bill 2007: Second Stage (23 Mar 2007)

Martin Mansergh: I welcome the Minister and the Bill which is quite a technical and complex one. Like the previous speaker, I believe we must, to a large extent, trust the work done by experts. It is very clear this Bill is based on very detailed, expert discussions between the officials and interests in the industry and that it is designed to maintain the balance between reasonably light regulation while,...

Seanad: Asset Covered Securities (Amendment) Bill 2007: Second Stage (23 Mar 2007)

Martin Mansergh: Perhaps the spending commitments made by Fine Gael and the Labour Party, in particular, are not to be taken seriously. However, if they do not involve a ramping up of expenditure, I am unsure what is involved. It may be that they propose some hidden countervailing cuts. I have stated at local level that the decentralisation programme which comes under a barrage of attack at national level...

Seanad: Asset Covered Securities (Amendment) Bill 2007: Second Stage (23 Mar 2007)

Martin Mansergh: Senator Phelan mentioned inflationary tendencies in the property market. One good consequence of the discussion on stamp duty is that it has contributed to a cooling-off in the housing market. I refer to the discussion rather than the action. This is thoroughly positive because housing has reached the limits of affordability.

Seanad: Asset Covered Securities (Amendment) Bill 2007: Second Stage (23 Mar 2007)

Martin Mansergh: In many parts of Ireland the stamp duty debate is utterly irrelevant. I visited a leading estate agent in my home town of Tipperary yesterday where the average price of good three bedroom houses is approximately €220,000. Obviously, this is far below the threshold and any changes in stamp duty policy would relate in the main to the greater Dublin area, as well as to one or two other city...

Seanad: Asset Covered Securities (Amendment) Bill 2007: Second Stage (23 Mar 2007)

Martin Mansergh: As a representative of the auctioneers noted, the person who pays stamp duty is often the seller rather than the buyer. I fear the Sunday Independent represents some very well-heeled people. Property price inflation means that, on paper, many of us who have owned houses for 20 years have become enormously wealthy, were we to move out. Some wish to keep such inflation going and attacking...

Seanad: Asset Covered Securities (Amendment) Bill 2007: Second Stage (23 Mar 2007)

Martin Mansergh: I do not believe that to be their motive. I have been told by an independent financial journalist who does not work for the Sunday Independent that it is well-to-do property owners who wish to keep the carousel going. Members should be under no illusion as to the origins of this campaign. I have stated previously that I am not against moderate and well considered reform of stamp duty....

Seanad: Asset Covered Securities (Amendment) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Mar 2007)

Martin Mansergh: I thank the Minister of State for taking this Bill. Despite its relatively expeditious consideration in this House, it is an important piece of legislation underpinning both a flourishing and very important part of our commerce and industry, which generates important revenues. I thank the Minister of State for helping us expedite the Bill.

Seanad: Foyle and Carlingford Fisheries Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Mar 2007)

Martin Mansergh: Unfortunately, due to the accident on the M7-M9, I was not present for the Order of Business. I wish to make a few remarks about the general context into which this legislation falls, given that it deals with one of the bodies established under the Good Friday Agreement. Notwithstanding the fact that it was long overdue, there must be great satisfaction at yesterday's agreement. At last,...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Mar 2007)

Martin Mansergh: I also compliment the leader of the Opposition on his media honour. When and if, in the fullness of time, he becomes a Minister, may he always——

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Mar 2007)

Martin Mansergh: ——be here to pilot legislation himself and never send a Minister of State to deputise for him.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Mar 2007)

Martin Mansergh: I also wish to express solidarity with Senators Cox and Kitt on the water supply in Galway. This is becoming a wider problem. Obviously there is an acute problem with water quality in Galway but the issue of security of supply also arises in other parts of the country. It ought not to be a problem in a country with as much water, rain and lakes as we have, but, nonetheless, it will need...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Mar 2007)

Martin Mansergh: A Chathaoirligh——

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Mar 2007)

Martin Mansergh: The Ennis bypass is a fantastic improvement. We read only yesterday about the opposition to the western rail corridor on the basis that it would make a loss but, nonetheless, the Government is committed to going ahead with that project. That is positive discrimination in favour of the west. The two privatisations that rankle with me are, first, the sale of Irish Steel for £1 to Mr. Mittal...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Mar 2007)

Martin Mansergh: The second was the sale of the second mobile telephone licence for a song. There are some privatisations of which the Members opposite should feel thoroughly ashamed.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Mar 2007)

Martin Mansergh: One pound.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2007 [Certified Money Bill]: Second Stage (28 Mar 2007)

Martin Mansergh: I welcome the Minister and his officials. I take this opportunity to congratulate the Minister on his three-year stewardship of the national economy and national finances. As I said in a previous debate, he was adjudged by the Financial Times to be the best Minister for Finance in the euro zone. The budget has resulted in a situation where 38% of taxpayers no longer pay tax because their...