Results 2,681-2,700 of 11,861 for speaker:Brian Hayes

Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Jun 2005)

Brian Hayes: Like Nelson.

Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Jun 2005)

Brian Hayes: That is advertising.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage. (29 Jun 2005)

Brian Hayes: I thank Senator McHugh for sharing his time. We should deal with the issues he has raised on Committee and Report Stages. I welcome the Bill and welcome the Minister of State to the House. It is wrong for politicians to start play acting with the independence of a commission which makes these difficult choices every five years or so. We do not want to return to the past when this kind of...

Seanad: Interpretation Bill 2000: Committee Stage. (29 Jun 2005)

Brian Hayes: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. The amendment proposes to delete subsection (2), which states "This Act comes into operation on 1 January 2004", and amend it to state "This Act comes into operation 6 months after the date of its passing.". I am against the amendment and I want to explain why. Section 15 deals with the date of passing of Acts of the Oireachtas. It is clear that...

Seanad: Interpretation Bill 2000: Committee Stage. (29 Jun 2005)

Brian Hayes: With respect, the Minister of State has not answered my question. I ask him to read section 15. Best practice, as outlined by the Government's legislation, states, in section 15(1): "The date of the passing of an Act of the Oireachtas is the date of the day on which the Bill for the Act is signed by the President." Why are we doing something different in respect of this Bill when the...

Seanad: Interpretation Bill 2000: Committee Stage. (29 Jun 2005)

Brian Hayes: I know, and it is not the Minister of State's fault that they were ruled out of order. I have not heard the rationale as to why this legislation will not be put in place once the President signs it.

Seanad: Interpretation Bill 2000: Committee Stage. (29 Jun 2005)

Brian Hayes: That is a very reasonable approach from a man from south County Dublin.

Seanad: Interpretation Bill 2000: Committee Stage. (29 Jun 2005)

Brian Hayes: As the Minister of State is aware, we dealt with legislation some weeks ago that repealed a raft of legislation dating back to 1309, before the foundation of the State.

Seanad: Interpretation Bill 2000: Committee Stage. (29 Jun 2005)

Brian Hayes: Yes, never mind me. The new legislation allowed us to clean up the Statute Book to make more sense of it. Section 2(2) states: "For the purposes of this Act, an enactment which has been replaced or has expired, lapsed or otherwise ceased to have effect is deemed to have been repealed." In this regard, does this House, where an Act has lapsed, is irrelevant or out of kilter with modern times,...

Seanad: Interpretation Bill 2000: Committee Stage. (29 Jun 2005)

Brian Hayes: And they are right.

Seanad: Interpretation Bill 2000: Committee Stage. (29 Jun 2005)

Brian Hayes: I move amendment No. 3: In page 6, before section 5 but in Part 2, to insert the following new section: "5.—(1) All Acts shall contain a provision causing the Act to lapse in whole within a period not greater than three years. (2) An Act which has lapsed under this section may be renewed by a positive resolution of both Houses at any time prior to the expiry of the sunset period.". I said...

Seanad: Interpretation Bill 2000: Committee Stage. (29 Jun 2005)

Brian Hayes: I thank the Minister of State for his reply. Under this amendment, an Act will lapse only if a positive resolution has not been passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas. I understand that a great deal of primary legislation provides that the Act in question is subject to a mandatory automatic review. I do not think I will win this argument, but if this amendment is accepted, this provision...

Seanad: Interpretation Bill 2000: Committee Stage. (29 Jun 2005)

Brian Hayes: The discussion has been useful but I am not aware of the average number of Acts passed by the Oireachtas in the 1990s comparison with the 1940s. We are now living in a much more complex and complicated society and, consequently, legislation is often needed to address modern problems. However, these problems sometimes lapse and a problem that existed in the 1960s is no longer a problem today....

Seanad: Interpretation Bill 2000: Committee Stage. (29 Jun 2005)

Brian Hayes: I want to echo what Mr. Kevin Murphy, the former Ombudsman, said recently when he spoke about the need to scrutinise legislation in both Houses of the Oireachtas. He had difficult things to say to politicians and Government alike in respect of how much each Act is scrutinised and whether there is a proper scrutiny base. There are considerable question marks over that. It adds to the...

Seanad: Interpretation Bill 2000: Committee Stage. (29 Jun 2005)

Brian Hayes: This is a victory for the plain language brigade.

Seanad: Interpretation Bill 2000: Committee Stage. (29 Jun 2005)

Brian Hayes: The initial citation was, "the literal interpretation may be departed from and preference given to an interpretation based on the plain intention of the Oireachtas ...". Someone has ingeniously produced a new provision which states, "the provision may be given a construction that reflects the plain intention of the Oireachtas." Congratulations to those involved in that.

Seanad: Interpretation Bill 2000: Committee Stage. (29 Jun 2005)

Brian Hayes: I move amendment No. 12: In page 7, line 25, after "instrument," to insert "so as to give the enactment or any provision of it an updated construction". This is an attempt to improve the language of the legislation. For the layman trying to find his or her way through it the difficulties are endless. This attempts to give concrete proof of the interpretation at the end of section 6.

Seanad: Interpretation Bill 2000: Committee Stage. (29 Jun 2005)

Brian Hayes: I move amendment No. 13: In page 7, before section 7, to insert the following new section: "7.—The original and authentic version of an Act is that which— (a) in the case of an Act of the Oireachtas, is the signed text of such law as is enrolled for record in the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court pursuant to Article 25.4.5° of the Constitution, (b) in the case of an Act of the...

Seanad: Interpretation Bill 2000: Committee Stage. (29 Jun 2005)

Brian Hayes: They are similar but not the same. I propose a new section to give a straightforward interpretation, a literal definition of what is an authentic version of an Act. I am advised that reference is made in the Constitution to an authentic version but there is no literal interpretation in any Act of the Oireachtas including the Interpretation Act 1937 and the Bill being discussed today. As the...

Seanad: Interpretation Bill 2000: Committee Stage. (29 Jun 2005)

Brian Hayes: Are we not continually told by the Supreme Court when it comes to controversial issues, examples of which I will not go into today, that legislators have failed to legislate for things that need to be legislated for? When many such controversial matters have gone to the Supreme Court we have received a collective rap on the knuckles, and rightly so. If as the Minister has confirmed this is in...