Results 21-40 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Jun 2011)

Sean Barrett: I support the comments of Senator O'Brien on the bonus culture. The bonuses paid in 2010 were presumably decided in 2009, a year in which GNP declined by 9%. I wonder what planet the people who decided to give bonuses were on when the rest of us were experiencing such a huge decline in income. On No. 3 on the Order Paper, the request to the President to sign the Bill we discussed yesterday...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Jun 2011)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2011: Second Stage (30 Jun 2011)

Sean Barrett: I am sorry, but some copies of the Minister's speech do not have pages 10 and 11. I do not know whether that is a general problem. I would like to follow the Minister's speech on paper. I apologise for this intrusion, but it would help us if we had the missing page.

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2011: Second Stage (30 Jun 2011)

Sean Barrett: Go raibh maith agat.

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2011: Second Stage (30 Jun 2011)

Sean Barrett: I wish to share time with Senator Rónán Mullen.

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2011: Second Stage (30 Jun 2011)

Sean Barrett: I reiterate my apology for interrupting the Minister and the Leas-Chathaoirleach. However, the absence of pages 10 and 11 from my copy of the Minister's script meant that my narrative moved from publicans withdrawing from the MEAS code to somebody falling over on a ship or an aeroplane and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, intervening. That was too...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2011: Second Stage (30 Jun 2011)

Sean Barrett: There were obviously gremlins in the works when it came to the my copy of the Minister's script. It is said that if Sam Goldwyn, the Hollywood studio mogul, was sent a script with two pages stuck together, it was returned - rejected - with the two pages still stuck together. That did not happen today. It is also said the same thing happened in the Abbey Theatre when a frustrated playwright...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Jul 2011)

Sean Barrett: Recently, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport announced that he will decide by the end of September on joining the two Luas lines and on the metro to the airport and Swords and that this would be published as part of the national development plan. I ask the Leader to communicate to the Minister that he should separate the two issues and discuss the Luas-metro issue here. We should...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (5 Jul 2011)

Sean Barrett: Could this section be adapted to deal with the rise in unauthorised surveillance, particularly in light of certain media activities in the United Kingdom reported this morning? Will the Minister consider bringing debt collectors, who have a fairly appalling image and record, into the licensing system of the Private Security Authority to remove strong-arm merchants and thugs? I realise I...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Jul 2011)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Jul 2011)

Sean Barrett: Some of my contribution will echo what Senator Zappone said. Today, the Troika is here. One of the key parts of the agreement of 1 December last is an examination of the costs of doing business in sheltered sectors in Ireland, including legal costs. That is what we were trying to debate yesterday in our amendments before they were guillotined. The cost of doing business in Ireland report...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Jul 2011)

Sean Barrett: Will the Leader impress again on Ministers the unintended consequences of guillotining legislation? This is not about the ego of Senators; it is about the damage being done to the country. Yesterday's debate should not have been curtailed because there were serious issues to raise. The Minister proposes to lower the retirement age from 70 to 65 while retaining 70 as the retirement age for...

Seanad: Registration of Wills Bill 2011: Second Stage (6 Jul 2011)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister to the House and agree with the sentiments Senators have expressed about the operation of her Department. I rarely hear phone-in programmes that are critical of the Department of Social Protection. They are often critical of many other agencies. The Department distributes large amounts of money efficiently to a large number of people. I heard Senator Leyden's...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2011: Report Stage and Final Stages. (7 Jul 2011)

Sean Barrett: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2011: Report Stage and Final Stages. (7 Jul 2011)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 11: In page 37, to delete lines 22 to 29. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire agus é ar ais sa Seanad. This amendment was not previously discussed, as the section was not reached on Committee Stage. I thank the Leader for facilitating this discussion. The Taxing Master is dealt with in Part 14 of a Bill with 15 Parts. When a Bill is a composite measure that deals with a wide...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2011: Report Stage and Final Stages. (7 Jul 2011)

Sean Barrett: I am delighted to hear that news and thank the Minister and Senator Ivana Bacik for drawing it to my attention. The next provision I wish to address is the one that imposes a term limit. When we were working on this amendment, we went through 757 pages of Taxation of Costs by James T. Flynn and Tony Halpin and term limits were not mentioned, nor was the early retirement point dealt with by...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2011: Report Stage and Final Stages. (7 Jul 2011)

Sean Barrett: I compliment the Minister on this constructive discussion. Our concerns were that the fixed five year term might reduce the calibre of applicant and lead to the loss of talent because the term is not renewable. A newly recruited taxing master would have to leave after five years so I wanted to give the Minister and the courts as much discretion as possible so we get the necessary talent in...

Seanad: Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Jul 2011)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Jul 2011)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I will probably support the Bill. I note it is necessary that doctors must be in situ in the hospitals on Monday. I also note from the Minister of State's speech, which she delivered so well, that we have trawled to recruit suitably qualified doctors, particularly doctors from India and Pakistan. Our GDP per head is nine times that of India...

Seanad: Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Jul 2011)

Sean Barrett: I have grave misgivings about that part of this legislation. That is no bad reference to the Minister who probably feels much the same on having been landed in this situation. The important part of the Minister of State's speech, following her reference to this pretty dreadful gesture towards Third World countries, is that we must proceed with the reform agenda. She mentioned the...