Results 301-320 of 6,960 for speaker:John Paul Phelan

Seanad: Order of Business. - Budget Statement: Motion. (3 Dec 2003)

John Paul Phelan: The two issues which jump off the pages of the budget are decentralisation, the announcement of which we were not expecting today, and the raising of the minimum retirement age to 65, referred to earlier by Senator O'Toole. Those are the two smokescreens which have been raised by the Minister in front of his budget in an attempt to deflect attention from how little is contained therein....

Seanad: Order of Business. - Budget Statement: Motion. (3 Dec 2003)

John Paul Phelan: Perhaps Senator Ross is correct that the Minister for Finance's mind is exercising clever reverse psychology in this regard.

Seanad: Order of Business. - Budget Statement: Motion. (3 Dec 2003)

John Paul Phelan: I am interested in Senator Mansergh's final point on the new rural social scheme. It has been announced again and the Senator quite rightly gave it emphasis in his remarks. However, we have little information as to what form the scheme will take. It has the potential to be a good scheme for rural areas but we do not have any meat on the bones yet and it is therefore too early to say what...

Seanad: Order of Business. - Budget Statement: Motion. (3 Dec 2003)

John Paul Phelan: Kilkenny could have done a hell of a lot better, as could Carrick-on-Suir, which borders with County Kilkenny and has a large catchment area in south County Kilkenny. Carrick-on-Suir is not scheduled to get any decentralisation. Therefore, the budget is not all good news, contrary to what Government Senators would have us believe. A Senator spoke of what he regarded as the key sentence in the...

Seanad: Order of Business. - Budget Statement: Motion. (3 Dec 2003)

John Paul Phelan: The one sentence which gobsmacked me appeared under the heading of "Indirect Taxation". The second sentence in the Minister's remarks reads: "The goal of keeping inflation low takes precedence on this occasion." This is an extraordinary remark for a Minister for Finance to make in the context of producing a budget. He has stated that this goal only applies on this occasion, when I would have...

Seanad: Order of Business. - Budget Statement: Motion. (3 Dec 2003)

John Paul Phelan: Athy.

Seanad: Order of Business. - Budget Statement: Motion. (3 Dec 2003)

John Paul Phelan: When will they be moved?

Seanad: Order of Business. - Budget Statement: Motion. (3 Dec 2003)

John Paul Phelan: Does the Senator want those cars to be removed from our roads?

Seanad: Order of Business. - Budget Statement: Motion. (3 Dec 2003)

John Paul Phelan: The Senator wants to tax them off the roads.

Seanad: Order of Business. - Budget Statement: Motion. (3 Dec 2003)

John Paul Phelan: That is exactly what the Senator said.

Seanad: Order of Business. - Budget Statement: Motion. (3 Dec 2003)

John Paul Phelan: No, it was the policy of the Government previous to that.

Seanad: Order of Business. (22 Jan 2004)

John Paul Phelan: I do not think the issue of the national stadium has been discussed in the House. An announcement was made by the IRFU and the FAI yesterday regarding a proposal for the stadium. I urge the Leader to persuade the Minister to come to the House to hear the views of Senators on this issue. I am not aware of a previous debate in the House on this very important matter, which has dragged on for...

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 Jan 2004)

John Paul Phelan: Last week I mentioned the national stadium and we hear today that an announcement on that matter is imminent, although we have been told several times in the past five years that such an announcement is imminent. If there is no announcement I urge the Leader to arrange a debate on the matter as soon as possible to allow Members to discuss how the project should proceed. Media reports seem to...

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 Jan 2004)

John Paul Phelan: I join with previous speakers who have asked for a debate with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform on recent violent incidents. I concur with Senator Ó Murchú's remark that we should support the Garda. We owe them a lot. The first support for the Garda should come from the Government, which was elected on a false promise that 2,000 extra gardaí would be put on the streets. If...

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 Jan 2004)

John Paul Phelan: We have heard this before.

Seanad: Order of Business. (28 Jan 2004)

John Paul Phelan: For the third day in a row I wish to raise the issue of the national stadium on the Order of Business. I find the previous contribution somewhat remarkable. Everybody has agreed for the past five years that a national stadium was needed. The Government appeared to make a decision yesterday, but it has made decisions twice or three times in the past which have not been carried out. I hope it...

Seanad: Order of Business. (28 Jan 2004)

John Paul Phelan: It will bypass the bypass.

Seanad: Order of Business. (28 Jan 2004)

John Paul Phelan: He should not be gloating.

Seanad: Order of Business. (28 Jan 2004)

John Paul Phelan: There was major investment in Abbotstown, but that has gone down the Swanee.

Seanad: Order of Business. (28 Jan 2004)

John Paul Phelan: It should have happened five years ago.