Results 281-300 of 346 for speaker:Jim Higgins

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: Last week, in speaking to a Private Members' amendment to a Government motion on decentralisation, I accused the Government of unprecedented arrogance. However, the sheer arrogance and indifference to public opinion regarding this motion, the U-turn and somersault shows that matters are getting worse week by week. The Irish Times editorial on Friday last could not have been more blunt or...

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: The great watchdogs have become lap dogs. What about Punchestown and all the other decisions? Of all the decisions taken by this Government that the Progressive Democrats are prepared to stand over, this is the shabbiest of the lot. If they are not prepared to stand up on this issue as they were in the matter of the disbursement of lotto funds, then they should throw in the towel and call it...

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: Is Senator Dooley finding it hard to keep going?

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: Would the Minister for Finance agree with the speech of the Minister of State?

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: The Minister should give the board more staff.

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: The Minister referred to modest changes.

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: The changes represent a complete somersault.

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: They will be Fianna Fáil lads.

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: Fianna Fáil.

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: On the Government side.

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: I listened to speaker after speaker on the Government side attempt in vain to defend what is an indefensible plundering of funds which do not belong to the Government or taxpayers, but to private individuals who, for some reason, have not activated bank accounts or building society accounts or have not accessed insurance policies they should have drawn down. I note, in particular, that the...

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: One wonders whether again her views on this matter, the disbursement of funds, diverge from those of her colleagues. She probably regards it in her conscience as totally unjustified.

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: I appreciate that but one would imagine that if an amendment is published in a person's name, he or she would have the courage of his or her convictions to come into the House and defend it, particularly if it has been tabled by the party to which he or she belongs and is part and parcel of its policy. I listened to the defence of the proposal mounted by Senator Dooley who was sent in first...

Seanad: Aer Lingus Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (3 Mar 2004)

Jim Higgins: Like other speakers, I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy McDaid, to the House. I support this good Bill, which was in gestation for a considerable time. I vividly recall being opposite the leader of the House in the Dáil when she was Minister for Public Enterprise. The Aer Lingus Bill had gone through the Seanad and had to be abandoned because of 11 September 2001. At the time, the...

Seanad: Aer Lingus Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (3 Mar 2004)

Jim Higgins: She certainly could not have been more rigid than she was at that time. The 14.9% employee share option is excellent. We do not know whether it will be used as a carrot to induce the staff of Aer Lingus to accept privatisation, but it is a good principle. The new pension arrangements are very welcome. Section 3 of the Bill relates to the power of the Minister to sell or dispose of the...

Seanad: Aer Lingus Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (3 Mar 2004)

Jim Higgins: The sale of Aer Lingus will undoubtedly cause concern. Ryanair, Mr. O'Leary's operation, does not have transatlantic flights. Ryanair cherry-picks the profitable lines and makes a good job of it, with profit as its motive. We do not begrudge the company its success. Regarding the transatlantic routes, it is crucial, as Senator Wilson said, that we have an airline which can guarantee direct...

Seanad: Aer Lingus Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (3 Mar 2004)

Jim Higgins: Regarding the open skies policy, the Department is talking to the US authorities on the basis of one gateway. We both know that gateway will be eight or ten miles from here, at Dublin Airport, while Shannon will be left out of the equation. Once transatlantic flights are withdrawn from Shannon, Shannon is dead and buried forever.

Seanad: Aer Lingus Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (3 Mar 2004)

Jim Higgins: This is why I ask the Government to treat Shannon seriously as an area which is in crisis in terms of jobs and the airport and with regard to morale there.

Seanad: Aer Lingus Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (3 Mar 2004)

Jim Higgins: There is an atmosphere of gloom, doom and despair among the staff at Shannon. Rightly or wrongly on their part, there is a belief that there is an agenda not to treat Shannon seriously from the point of view of enhancing its development. I know the Department is constrained in terms of the amount of money it can invest, but it is possible to devise a coherent, integrated plan to develop and...

Seanad: Irish Emigrants Abroad. (8 Apr 2004)

Jim Higgins: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon. I do not know whether he saw the recent "Prime Time" special investigation into the plight of Irish emigrants in Britain but it was a most graphic exposé of the squalor in which thousands of Irish people live in London, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. Seeing is believing. I believe "Prime Time" did a considerable public service by...