Results 3,141-3,160 of 4,085 for speaker:Dan Boyle

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Mar 2009)

Dan Boyle: We need to have a debate on general regulation here to air these things.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Mar 2009)

Dan Boyle: I have said what I have said.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Mar 2009)

Dan Boyle: I would like to see the series of press releases released by the Fine Gael Party since yesterday week or ten days ago. I have not seen them or heard any Fine Gael members make those statements.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Mar 2009)

Dan Boyle: In terms of how we need to inform the process of bringing about real and proper regulation, the Government is engaged in such an exercise. This House needs to be involved by having a debate and helping identify best international practice to ensure the regulation that will exist, probably for the first time ever, will be the best it possibly can be.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Dáil]: Second Stage (24 Mar 2009)

Dan Boyle: While this is welcome legislation, the question is why has it taken so long. The reason is that local government legislation, in terms of electoral reform in general, has always been bottom of the list. However, we now have legislation that addresses the question of spending on elections at their most basic, where people contribute and participate most. I first contested local elections in...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Dáil]: Second Stage (24 Mar 2009)

Dan Boyle: One of the reasons costs were kept so low in Cork city was that we were not only able to campaign at doors, but we were well served by local media. We had a community television channel, an RTE local radio station, a commercial station that was talk-based and a national newspaper in the form of The Examiner. Those are not attributes which most candidates have in local elections and,...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Dáil]: Second Stage (24 Mar 2009)

Dan Boyle: I had something in mind anyway.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Dáil]: Second Stage (24 Mar 2009)

Dan Boyle: I did not. I stood in a second ward and got elected in that.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Dáil]: Second Stage (24 Mar 2009)

Dan Boyle: We achieved the desired effect in both elections and I am grateful to the people in both electoral areas. In terms of influence, money pays and has influence. This is as true of political parties as it is of individual candidates. This Bill is the first legislation that tries to measure this so that we have a level playing field for most participants in the electoral system. The spending...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Dáil]: Second Stage (24 Mar 2009)

Dan Boyle: ——by one candidate. I believe the candidate was successful. When this occurs, it suggests that money can win votes.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Dáil]: Second Stage (24 Mar 2009)

Dan Boyle: I did not mention names.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Dáil]: Second Stage (24 Mar 2009)

Dan Boyle: The reality is that when such a sum is spent, be it in the accounting period or not and even if campaigning begins the day after the previous election, it is still a phenomenal and unacceptable sum of money. In political life, people need to be confident that their efforts, knocking on doors and meeting people, the power of their ideas and the force of their personalities will be the...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Mar 2009)

Dan Boyle: I agree with Senator Fitzgerald that this House needs to have a debate and to help to inform the process in terms of public appointments. For far too long in this country we have initiated a system of reward that has had little to do with the abilities of the people being appointed.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Mar 2009)

Dan Boyle: If people are willing to listen——

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Mar 2009)

Dan Boyle: At least small steps have been made in that regard.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Mar 2009)

Dan Boyle: Since my party's participation in Government several appointments have been made by both Green Party Cabinet Ministers — for instance, a former secretary general of the Labour Party was appointed to the chair of Sustainable Energy Ireland and a key member of the Labour Party, a brother of a former party leader, was appointed to run the board of the ESB. The person in question in regard to...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Mar 2009)

Dan Boyle: This debate should take into account those factors because we are living in circumstances where people in society are hanging on by their fingertips months after the compromising behaviour that has brought shame on this country. We need this debate. We, as a Seanad, can inform a better system and we can be the mechanism for putting that in place.

Seanad: Telecommunications Services: Motion (25 Mar 2009)

Dan Boyle: This Fianna Fáil motion welcomes Government support for the development of broadband across the country in the context of the programme for Government and the smarter economy document. There is no denying that with regard to broadband roll-out we are not where we should be. However, there is no denying either that the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources is committed...

Seanad: School Staffing (25 Mar 2009)

Dan Boyle: I am grateful to Senator Ó Domhnaill for sharing time. People may wonder why a Cork-based Senator would be interested in this item but my father comes from the Athphort area of Árainn Mhór and he attended this school until he finished his education at 13 years of age. On those grounds and because of the numerous telephone calls I have received from my extended family on the island, I...

Seanad: Forthcoming Budget: Statements (26 Mar 2009)

Dan Boyle: We are in an evolving situation with regard to the international economic crisis. Many people, particularly in the Opposition, have criticised a piecemeal approach on that evolving basis by the Government. However, that approach is mirrored in the approaches of governments in the United States, the United Kingdom and throughout the world. We must take the opportunity on 7 April to try to...