Results 301-320 of 3,356 for speaker:Feargal Quinn

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Jun 2003)

Feargal Quinn: We continue to read every day about deaths on the roads. I was stunned to learn yesterday that 300,000 provisional driving licences had been issued and that there is a six month waiting list for the driving test. The Government has not focused its attention on doing something about this. There are reciprocal arrangements with other countries such as Australia and South Africa whereby people...

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Jun 2003)

Feargal Quinn: Like the plastic bag tax, the objective would not be to try to raise money but to discourage people from eating so much salt. (Interruptions).

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Jun 2003)

Feargal Quinn: We are all at fault. Some nasty supermarkets sell products which contain one day's intake of salt. While salt is a major cause of heart disease and strokes, we can actually do something about this. Let us have a tax on it.

Seanad: Order of Business. (24 Jun 2003)

Feargal Quinn: My hair is getting longer – I think I would pass for the Senator. Three young men died last week in a car crash near where I live. Perhaps it is only when something happens close to one's home that one realises the huge tragedy of the road deaths we hear about on the radio every day. It is unlikely that we can solve this problem, but there are some things we can do. Would it be possible to...

Seanad: Order of Business. (25 Jun 2003)

Feargal Quinn: As the issue I wish to raise is not as urgent as some of the others mentioned, I am not calling for a debate today. I refer to the looming trade war which is likely to affect the Irish and European economies in the coming year, during the Irish Presidency of the European Union. At a food conference which I attended last week, the main topic was a clash between the United States and Europe and...

Seanad: Council Regulation on Procedures for amending the Sirene Manual: Referral to Joint Committee. - Health Service Reform: Statements (Resumed). (25 Jun 2003)

Feargal Quinn: I welcome the Minister to the House and the opportunity to have this debate. I also welcome his opening statement that the sole objective of the health policy is to deliver access for all to high quality services. Having listened to Senator Glynn, I realise that I do not know enough about the health services, systems and controls in Ireland. I am a big admirer of his efforts and success in...

Seanad: Order of Business. (1 Jul 2003)

Feargal Quinn: I am sure all Senators support the efforts by the Minister for Health and Children to discourage the smoking of tobacco. I ask the Leader to draw the Minister's attention to a British company which yesterday announced it was targeting the Irish market to sell legally half price cigarettes. I will provide the name of the company for the Leader. If it is able to deliver cigarettes to customers...

Seanad: Order of Business. (2 Jul 2003)

Feargal Quinn: Yesterday I raised the subject of selling tobacco to under age persons. As soon as I returned to my office, I discovered an e-mail from the company to which I had referred which stated that in regard to the price of cigarettes, there was clearly no control on under age selling. The company claims to be selling tobacco into Ireland legally at a lower price. I do not know how to handle this....

Seanad: Forfás Consumer Pricing Report 2003: Statements. (2 Jul 2003)

Feargal Quinn: I congratulate everybody involved in the debate and welcome the Minister of State. Having been unaware the debate would take place until I arrived this morning, I have not prepared. I wish to relate a story about the Japanese owner of a large chain of supermarkets who visited me several years ago and left a lasting impression on me. When I asked him how many stores he had, he replied he had...

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy: Statements. (2 Jul 2003)

Feargal Quinn: I welcome the Minister. It is a challenge to follow Senator Callanan, particularly when I agree with what he said. Earlier today we debated the Forfás consumer pricing report, published recently, and talked about the challenges facing our citizens with price increases across the board. My contribution to this debate will focus more on the consumer than the farmer. I am sure Members will...

Seanad: Fishery Policy: Statements. (15 Oct 2003)

Feargal Quinn: I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate. I speak with a slightly different interest from many of those who contributed earlier, namely from the consumer perspective. I remember coming back on an aeroplane from a holiday in France five or six years ago and being served a nice meal containing meat, which I realised was the first meat I had eaten for two weeks. I had been away for two...

Seanad: Fishery Policy: Statements. (15 Oct 2003)

Feargal Quinn: It was a very pleasant task. I remember travelling to Bord Iascaigh Mhara in Dún Laoghaire and, along with one or two others – one was Derry Clarke, the owner of L'Ecrivain, the lovely restaurant in Baggot street – being asked to taste 26 oysters. It was very well done. We had to examine each oyster from the 12 or 14 farms we picked in terms of how they looked, how clean they were, how...

Seanad: Order of Business. (16 Oct 2003)

Feargal Quinn: I wish to add my voice to those who so coherently called for a debate on crime. It would be remiss of this House if it allowed today go by without reference and congratulations to His Holiness Pope John Paul II on his 25th jubilee which takes place today. We all remember 24 years ago when he came to Ireland how the country stood still and the joy we experienced on that occasion. He is the...

Seanad: European Convention/Intergovernmental Conference: Statements. (22 Oct 2003)

Feargal Quinn: I support Senator Lydon's comments almost entirely about the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Roche on this issue. I had the pleasure of spending a couple of days with the former French President, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, in St. Petersburg – I love name-dropping, by the way. I spoke to him about his work and he was full of admiration for the work done by people like the Minister of...

Seanad: European Convention/Intergovernmental Conference: Statements. (22 Oct 2003)

Feargal Quinn: The Forum on Europe has done a world of good. Let us make sure we give it all the support we can. We should remind our citizens of the benefits we have had from Europe, not only of cheques for farmers or those we sometimes think of, but the many other small and large benefits of which we have not reminded our citizens. We must ensure we continue to remind our citizens of those benefits with...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship and Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2003: Order for Second Stage. (22 Oct 2003)

Feargal Quinn: I move: "That Second Stage be taken today."

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship and Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (22 Oct 2003)

Feargal Quinn: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I welcome the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to the House. I am glad to have the opportunity to introduce this Bill, which is intended to close off a dangerous loophole in our nationality and citizenship legislation. The loophole permitted the passports for sale scheme in the late 1980s and much of the 1990s. Many people in...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship and Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (22 Oct 2003)

Feargal Quinn: I thank the Chair for the opportunity to introduce this Bill and I thank everyone who spoke. It has been well debated and it had approval from everyone, with one exception. I express my appreciation to the Minister in particular for his support of the Bill. I found it a useful exercise to put the Bill forward. Senator Terry referred to going back through the 1956 Act and that was a reminder...

Seanad: Order of Business. (4 Nov 2003)

Feargal Quinn: We are all outraged at what happened in court yesterday. I remember seven years ago a young woman, Veronica Guerin, sat in the Visitors Gallery. Two weeks later she was dead. We acted as a State and as a nation against those drug barons and against those who had created the outrageous situation that pertained in those days. On this occasion we are very concerned about what happened yesterday....

Seanad: Broadcasting (Funding) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (4 Nov 2003)

Feargal Quinn: I welcome the Minister of State and this Bill which is a further instalment in the ongoing national debate on public service broadcasting. It was a joy to listen to Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú and be reminded of those great successes of the past from RTE and how much heritage has been captured. I would love to think we can achieve that in the future too.