Results 4,001-4,020 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Proceeds of Sale of Aer Lingus: Motion (7 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: The numbers are there.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Proceeds of Sale of Aer Lingus: Motion (7 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: So the Government has €2.6 billion-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Proceeds of Sale of Aer Lingus: Motion (7 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: -----and there is no cost-benefit analysis for a metro and there is no evidence that the Government-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Proceeds of Sale of Aer Lingus: Motion (7 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: There is no cost-benefit analysis in respect of the proposed project and that is what we are seeking. It goes into the fund to succeed the pension fund. The National Pensions Reserve Fund was raided for over €500 million in order to install water meters. I would hate to-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Proceeds of Sale of Aer Lingus: Motion (7 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: Having landed ourselves in this situation, what do we do? I would have spent the money on primary schools, I would have repaired the pension fund, built nursing homes and funded hospitals. It is for these things that there is a real need. Calling it connectivity, with the kind of transport policy we have and the lack of expertise in the Department of Transport - which landed us in this...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: I echo Senator Coghlan's comments. I compliment the Labour Party Senators, in particular Senators Whelan and Landy, and the Minister of State, Deputy Ann Phelan, for agreeing to study the question of legal costs and the substitution of a no-fault system for the adversarial system. It is a most interesting matter as we do have high legal costs in Ireland. A figure in the NTMA annual report...

Seanad: Horizon 2020: Statements (8 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State, as I always do when he visits this House. I shall illustrate one programme where Ireland did lead and does lead. I refer to aviation economics which Professors Ryan and McAleese promoted in TCD. We produced in Mr. Michael O'Leary an outstanding student. His business today carries over 100 million passengers and his model is used worldwide. The previous...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: I echo everything that has been said so sincerely by our colleagues concerning the loss of lives at Carrickmines and Omeath. This is the House of the people and if there is anything that we, the Members, can do for those bereaved people they can call upon us. I am sure there will be expressions of solidarity with them on the days of the funerals. I welcome the fact that the Government is...

Seanad: Budget 2016: Statements (13 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, said that the increase in public expenditure will be just under 4% higher than in 2014, and he contrasted that with earlier times of more spendthrift operations. Those of us who sit on the Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis know how much that has cost and I welcome the increase in...

Seanad: Budget 2016: Statements (13 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: What was mentioned today was a ratio of 28:1. I do not know what is the difference between the two figures but what we want is 16:1. That is what I commend because all the evidence, as several speakers have said, is that the early years of education are vital and valuable in the development of the next generation. Perhaps the Minister of State will check those figures. On the issue of...

Seanad: Budget 2016: Statements (13 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Construction Contracts (14 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the statement by Professor John McHale of the National University of Ireland Galway, who is also chairman of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, in which he expressed caution about the budget. The very large increase in corporation tax revenues this year may not recur. The problem in the past was that non-recurring revenues mostly associated with the construction industry became...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Second Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. He was here earlier for a Commencement debate. As Senator Landy has said, the Labour Party produced a climate change Bill in 2009. Our official briefing document refers to how in 2010 the then Minister, John Gormley, stated that his Bill would provide a strong legislative framework to support the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Hospital Services (20 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: I, too, welcome the Minister. The last time I met him in person was at the funeral in Dundalk last Thursday. I was with him this morning via the use of technology during his interview on "Morning Ireland" on the care of people in hospitals outside the jurisdiction. I tabled this issue for discussion in the Commencement debate having read in a newspaper article that Baggot Street Hospital...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Hospital Services (20 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister as always. I am concerned that the big increase in the city centre population is not being factored into much of our planning for the future of the city centre. In addition, those who work in the city centre need access to hospitals.As a person who lived in the city centre for a long time, I am aware that hospitals such as the Adelaide had a significant place in the...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Hospital Services (20 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister for giving his experience as a hospital doctor which is better than that of any economists.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: I echo what Senator Bacik said about Professor Philip Lane and the tributes paid to him by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, as he assumes the office of Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland. It is a quarter of a century ago that he came to my scholarship class before going on to Harvard and Columbia. I am sure he will bring many talents to his new post. In the presence of...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: -----particularly when one considers the €64 billion that was secured for the banks on 29 September 2008. The Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Simon Harris, heard that debate and could confirm that nobody supported what was done. Whether or not one likes privatisation is not really the issue. I did not like this particular one and have opposed it in this House....

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: Yes. As my colleagues, Senators Norris and Darragh O'Brien, both indicated, it should be spent on the pensions. The Government has rewarded the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport for the way it treated the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications by giving it another €350 million of pocket money to spend on electric trains and whatever else it wants. Connectivity is...