Results 3,101-3,120 of 20,831 for speaker:David Norris
- Seanad: Further and Adult Education: Statements (30 Nov 2006)
David Norris: I am pleased to welcome the Minister of State, Deputy de Valera, to the House. I am saddened this may be her last official visit to the House, and it is appropriate that we should bid her farewell. I did not expect the discussion to involve a ministerial lap of honour but I am happy to join in the encomia so elaborately laid before the House by my colleague, Senator Fitzgerald. I was...
- Seanad: Further and Adult Education: Statements (30 Nov 2006)
David Norris: That is exactly what I mean. Women are able to think in a lateral way. Would it not be for the benefit of everybody if some accommodation could be found where parents could bring their children with them when attending further education courses? The children could be even with their parents in the classroom. People would not mind that much if a child let out an occasional belch or squawk....
- Seanad: Further and Adult Education: Statements (30 Nov 2006)
David Norris: No. I look forward to sharing a table for a modest repast and even a glass of celebratory wine with the Minister of State after she has left her Department.
- Seanad: Order of Business (5 Dec 2006)
David Norris: I join with my colleagues in requesting the Minister to come into the House so that there should be a full debate on the issue raised by Senator Ormonde and previous speakers. I commend the Senators on both sides of the House for making this request in a measured and balanced way. We must remember that people can easily put a foot wrong. The Minister of State made what seems to be a most...
- Seanad: Order of Business (5 Dec 2006)
David Norris: Hear, hear.
- Seanad: Order of Business (5 Dec 2006)
David Norris: There is one for everyone in the audience.
- Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2006)
David Norris: Let me make another suggestion, that we have an excellent budget since Senator O'Toole advocates prophecy.
- Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2006)
David Norris: I find myself in the embarrassing situation of agreeing with Senator Mansergh's comments about the rebroadcasting this morning of a budget speech given some years ago by the former Minister, Mr. Ray MacSharry. The speech, in which Mr. MacSharry referred to the difficult days we were experiencing at the time, was stark in the extreme. He said that while there had been decreases in...
- Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2006)
David Norris: I hope the Minister for Finance decides to pay off some more of the national debt in today's budget. It would be wonderful if we could become debt-free in these times of prosperity. I would like to speak about the extraordinary figures relating to the sentencing of prisoners which have been mentioned by other Senators. I gather the figures can be compared to the equivalent international...
- Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2006)
David Norris: It would just catapult them back in again. It would be a complete waste of time. I have just learned to my sorrow that there is no such thing as an original idea. I had written down what I planned to say about the annual cost of â¬90,000 for the detention of people in ordinary prisons and of â¬250,000 for the fancy accommodation for the Shinners. One could certainly send people to good...
- Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2006)
David Norris: It would do them good. It would certainly save the Exchequer money. I am a little concerned about the question of fluoridation. I have been contacted by people who have far more information on the matter than I have. We have certain medical personnel of various kinds in this House. I have received a press release from the Irish Medical News, stating that parents in Ireland who make up...
- Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2006)
David Norris: If a person can hardly afford to live, what is the point? It is outrageous.
- Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Second Stage (6 Dec 2006)
David Norris: Why not?
- Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Second Stage (6 Dec 2006)
David Norris: I am surprised.
- Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Second Stage (6 Dec 2006)
David Norris: The Minister is accepting that the industry will regulate itself.
- Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Second Stage (6 Dec 2006)
David Norris: The universities do not regulate themselves. I thought the Minister knew that.
- Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Second Stage (6 Dec 2006)
David Norris: Is it a surprise that the newspapers call for it in every other profession?
- Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Second Stage (6 Dec 2006)
David Norris: I welcome the Minister to the House but I do not really welcome the Bill, although I will probably be a lone voice in the latter respect. As long as I have been a Member of this House, there has been pressure from newspaper proprietors and editors to make life easier for them. I can understand that because they are human beings and have their own interests, but it would be a great pity if...
- Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Second Stage (6 Dec 2006)
David Norris: The electorate is perfectly entitled to get him but one must consider the degree of malice sometimes shown by newspapers. I am worried that the proposed press council will not be independent. A group that calls for independence for everybody else does not like independence for itself and is governed by weak guidelines. Let us operate a code similar to that applied by the British NUJ whose...
- Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Second Stage (6 Dec 2006)
David Norris: The figure was repeatedly adjusted. Everything was done to humiliate him, after which he was not awarded his costs. I would be very careful in this regard. It is fair that one cannot libel the dead. We all use this when we tell stories. In one particular story I refer to the late Sir Laurence Olivier. The only reason I name him is that I know he is dead and cannot take a libel case. It...