Results 2,461-2,480 of 5,132 for speaker:Trevor Ó Clochartaigh

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (13 May 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: The Minister can address that.

Seanad: Order of Business (14 May 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: In the first instance I wish to note our disappointment with the way in which the Order of Business was conducted yesterday. Many Senators were not able to contribute as a result of the Punch and Judy politics in which some were engaging. We wanted to support some of the points that were made but could not do so. The leaders of the various groups must take their people aside and talk to...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 May 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: What happened yesterday does not reflect well on the House at all. I wish to refer to a serious matter which was raised yesterday by the Immigrant Council of Ireland, namely, the ban on political canvassing in direct provision centres. This ban, which was introduced by the Reception and Integration Agency, RIA, prevents residents who have a right to vote in the local elections from making...

Seanad: Establishment of Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Motion (14 May 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Ní raibh sé i gceist agam labhairt ar an rún seo, ach bhí sé an-deacair fanacht i mó shuí agus mé ag éisteacht leis an raiméis atá ar bun ag daoine ón Rialtas. Listening to the guff from some Senators on the Government side brought me to my feet. I had not intended to speak in this debate, but there are quite a number of heads in...

Seanad: Establishment of Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Motion (14 May 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: It is possibly good value now but what will the cost be in the long run?

Seanad: Establishment of Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Motion (14 May 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: How come we have not seen any of the money collected from the property and other taxes being put into fixing the sewerage and water systems that need to be fixed across rural Ireland?

Seanad: Establishment of Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Motion (14 May 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Why does the Government keep going back into the pockets of the ordinary citizens of Ireland instead of going after the banking classes and the people who made money during the bubble? We do not see any of these people being taxed. Why has the Government not implemented the wealth tax, as the Sinn Féin Party has suggested? The Members opposite know quite well that if they are calling...

Seanad: Establishment of Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Motion (14 May 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: We have discussed the legacy debts, but that is an issue on which we have failed utterly to get a proper deal. It is about time the Government tried to do that.

Seanad: Establishment of Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Motion (14 May 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: It is interesting that with the forthcoming European elections, as an example, if one takes the constituency that I am based in, there was no dissenting voice. Not one of the MEPs from that area was against the deals that were being done on the banking debt. That is the reason we need a Sinn Féin voice in that area. We need to have a Sinn Féin voice in each of the European...

Seanad: Establishment of Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Motion (14 May 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: There is a difference between voting against everything and having a critical voice.

Seanad: Establishment of Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Motion (14 May 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I think a critical voice is what we need. Somebody must stand up for the rights of Irish citizens in Europe.

Seanad: Establishment of Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Motion (14 May 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: The Members do not like it when we are telling them the truth. What about the approximately 400,000 emigrants who had to leave Ireland because of what the banking crisis did to Ireland and what has happened to the State? That is an absolute disgrace. The previous Government drove them out in their droves but this has been the answer the Government has had to the unemployment crisis - drive...

Seanad: Establishment of Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Motion (14 May 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: If it was not for the pressure cooker scenario -----

Seanad: Establishment of Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Motion (14 May 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: If it were not for the 400,000 people leaving this country the unemployment figures would be much worse. Most of these people did not want to leave. It was not a lifestyle choice in most cases. It is absolutely sickening to hear the mealy-mouthed Government platitudes such as, "We all suffered, is it not terrible?", when the reality is that the ordinary citizens of Ireland have had to-----

Seanad: Establishment of Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Motion (14 May 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Senator O'Keeffe had no problem castigating Senator Ó Domhnaill when she was on her feet.

Seanad: Establishment of Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Motion (14 May 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: The banking inquiry is welcome and we support it. However, it does not forgive all the political sins that have been committed by this Government and the previous Government.

Seanad: Establishment of Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Motion (14 May 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Is that how the Fine Gael Party does it?

Seanad: Establishment of Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Motion (14 May 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: From the Department of Finance?

Seanad: Establishment of Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Motion (14 May 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: The Minister has not spoken about the social welfare cuts.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Early Child Care Education (14 May 2014)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: By leave of the House, I would like to share my time with Senator Michael Mullins.