Results 3,381-3,400 of 20,831 for speaker:David Norris

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2007)

David Norris: That is correct. I thank the Acting Chairman for congratulating me on my clarity. I really appreciate his positive comment. I am absolutely on the section and I am addressing it directly.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2007)

David Norris: No, it has not. I have not repeated myself. I shall put on the record something from this case that I have put on it yet and I will end, at least temporarily, with that.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2007)

David Norris: The Irish Government argued: Most importantly, they underlined that the Irish Constitution expressly protected freedom of expression and one's reputation. Central to striking a balance between these two rights was a fundamental notion of constitutional law, namely that of proportionality. It was a notion which was equivalent to the Convention concept: the applicants disagreement with this...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2007)

David Norris: Exactly, but I am saying that in what they said, they agree with what apparently was the position of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform less than two years ago. Something very remarkable has happened in the interval to change the Minister's mind so completely, and I am not being disingenuous in saying that. The Irish barristers did not merely represent the case that we...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2007)

David Norris: That is if we tinkered with it in the way the Minister is doing. That is what they said.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2007)

David Norris: I am not saying that.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2007)

David Norris: Of course, it is not. I did not say that.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2007)

David Norris: I will not delay the House on this matter, but I will say one or two things. The first is that this is an attempt to second guess juries. The machinery we already have is adequate for addressing the situation so effectively outlined by the Minister. This was the Government's position. The explanatory memorandum to the Bill states at the outset: "The purpose of the Bill is to revise in...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2007)

David Norris: Mine were never trivial. I said they were not worth €150,000 but they were not trivial.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2007)

David Norris: I would hope to secure the services of the Minister as a barrister.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2007)

David Norris: I very much welcome the Minister's open-mindedness and that he has taken on board some of the ideas I have been expressing. I will consider tabling an amendment but I look forward with great interest to what the Minister may propose on Report Stage. I thank him for his open-mindedness on this matter.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2007)

David Norris: I move amendment No. 3: In page 12, subsection (2), lines 3 and 4, to delete paragraph (f). I wish to delete the phrase referred to in the amendment. The next section is more important so I do not wish to waste much time on this matter but I am very interested in hearing the Minister's response.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2007)

David Norris: That is exactly what I was thinking. There were some notorious judges who used to make the most outrageous, hurtful and sometimes slanderous remarks about people. I saw it in the Dublin District Court. I do not see why they should be immune. We should move on, but I reserve the right to table an amendment about remarks made by a judge or other person in the proper performance of his or...

Seanad: Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2007: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2007)

David Norris: Could I raise the matter with the Minister when discussing the section?

Seanad: Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2007: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2007)

David Norris: It is one of these things that might fall between the interstices but I am sure the Minister will be interested because he raised the analogy with ground rents this morning on the radio. I am appealing to the Minister——

Seanad: Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2007: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2007)

David Norris: I am sure we will find a way to discuss it. Perhaps at the end of the debate the Chair will be more lenient. I am damned if I am not going to introduce this and say something.

Seanad: Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2007: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2007)

David Norris: You are always very kind.

Seanad: Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2007: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2007)

David Norris: I move amendment No. 25: In page 44, before Schedule 1, to insert the following new section: 33.—That the Government shall make provision analogous to that under which house owners were facilitated in buying out ground rents to allow telephone subscribers to buy out the telephone line to their address.". I made a mistake. The amendment ruled out of order related to people recording one's...

Seanad: Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2007: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2007)

David Norris: Will the Minister examine the issue?

Seanad: Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2007: Committee Stage (20 Feb 2007)

David Norris: One would get exactly the same service and maybe even better because one would not be interrupted by them suggesting their own people. I wonder if what the Minister says is right. He said this is now a private concern. It is. The Government made a big error in flogging off Eircom. I do not approve of all this privatisation because it does not work in the interests of the subscriber but...