Results 381-400 of 566 for speaker:Niall Ó Brolcháin

Seanad: Order of Business. (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: In the 1980s, there were continual calls for elections. A government would only be voted into office and people would call for another election to be held. Those were unstable political times. I agree with Senators Fitzgerald, Alex White and others who stated that a level of consensus is required in respect of the four-year budget.

Seanad: Order of Business. (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I stand corrected. I agree that a new approach from Government is needed.

Seanad: Order of Business. (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: There is also a need for a new approach from the Opposition. There is a need to examine the position with regard to the governance of this country. It is clear we are in a crisis and there is a need for everyone to pull together. The last thing people need is to hear Deputies or Senators bickering about who should hold ministerial office, who should take various actions, etc. What the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I am putting questions to the Leader and calling for a debate on governance. There have been calls from various Senators today relating to the four-year budget framework coming before the Houses of the Oireachtas. We must be imaginative and have an approach that includes everybody.

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Mary White. It is always a pleasure to have her here. She always gives us a good reception. I refer to the PSO levy and the motion because much of the debate has not referred to the motion. The motion refers to introducing the PSO levy, which is imminent. My information is that the PSO levy was introduced in 1999, 11 years ago. I do not quite...

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I do not quite understand the point of that Bill.

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: As the Senator will recognise, the whole point of the PSO is that it is a balancing act. Opposition is a wonderful place to be and right now it is an absolutely fantastic place to be because the wonderful thing about Opposition is that it is quite possible to put forward points by raising one side of the balance sheet and not the second side. It can talk about all the good stuff while...

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: They will raise it on the markets.

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: They will raise money for current expenditure-----

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: Indeed.

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: The NewERA document refers to an investment of €7 billion to create 105,000 new jobs, yet these particular jobs would be under threat if the PSO levy was removed, and that is a reality. I would like Fine Gael to come clean and say if it is in favour of closing the power stations to which I referred. Is it against jobs in the turf powered stations in the midlands? One cannot really have...

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: The figures we have show that we are 98%-----

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: It is said there are lies, damn lies and statistics, and people can quote all sorts of different figures. However, the reality is that when we came into Government the price of electricity was considerably higher than it is post-PSO levy. That is a reality and if Fine Gael wants to refute that point I would like to see its figures because the figures are quite clear that electricity prices...

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: That is the way to do it, with the bogs to be restored and it is possible to do that with revenues from wind energy and perhaps other types of biofuel energy in the midlands region. A lot of damage has been done to the ecosystems in the Bog of Allen and that is what the PSO levy is partly used for. There are serious environmental issues around this. The point Fine Gael is making is that in...

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: Absolutely.

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: This is a political debate.

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: This has been framed as a political debate.

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I would like to see domestic rates being reduced on a council by council basis. I am sure Senator Coffey would also like to see them being reduced. Using renewable energy resources is definitely the way to do. Fine Gael speaks about swapping in regard to the €6 billion spent on imported fossil fuels every year, for which I commend it. The NewERA document is a good one. We do need to...

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: It is a big issue for individuals, but we can deal with that matter.

Seanad: Electricity Prices: Motion (6 Oct 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: We will have to deal with that matter in imaginative ways.