Results 4,441-4,460 of 4,465 for speaker:Jim Walsh

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (21 Jan 2016)

Jim Walsh: May I-----

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (21 Jan 2016)

Jim Walsh: I am allowed. Standing Orders-----

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (21 Jan 2016)

Jim Walsh: So the Acting Chairman is silencing me.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (21 Jan 2016)

Jim Walsh: In that situation I find what the Minister has said is unacceptable. I think it is a dereliction-----

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (21 Jan 2016)

Jim Walsh: -----of fulfilling our constitutional responsibilities.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (21 Jan 2016)

Jim Walsh: I am going to press the amendment and it will be up to the Members on the other side to decide if they agree with the Minister's weak response.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (21 Jan 2016)

Jim Walsh: Yes.

Seanad: Local Government Review: Statements (26 Jan 2016)

Jim Walsh: Some 19 years ago when I was first elected to this House, I said at one of our parliamentary party meetings that having spent 18 years on Wexford County Council, I was not entitled to anything when I left it. I would get no payment or pension, yet when I arrived here I got a booklet telling me all my entitlements. I felt that it was manifestly unfair and discriminatory against councillors....

Seanad: Local Government Review: Statements (26 Jan 2016)

Jim Walsh: Perhaps a mini cabinet could be formed by the chair of the council and the chairs of the SPCs working together, which was part of the proposals we made at that time. Unfortunately Noel Dempsey was not reappointed to that ministry, where I think progress could have been made. We urgently need a devolution of powers from the Department to the council. I am astonished to learn that Department...

Seanad: Local Government Review: Statements (26 Jan 2016)

Jim Walsh: -----without looking for any benefit because talking about local government is probably my swansong.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Family Support Services (27 Jan 2016)

Jim Walsh: The purpose of this Commencement matter is to ask the Minister to outline the specific initiatives the Government plans to implement to promote and support married families and the objective of addressing child poverty. I was prompted by comments made by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs at the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child where he said that children who grow up in...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Family Support Services (27 Jan 2016)

Jim Walsh: I thank the Minister for her response. Joblessness is certainly an issue and, unfortunately, it is often a consequence of divorce and separation. One of the partners - it is usually the woman with children, especially if she has worked in the home - may find it difficult to cope financially. The problem is that the cycle must be broken. As the Minister correctly stated, children of...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Jan 2016)

Jim Walsh: I join with other Senators in complimenting our colleagues in the Seanad who served on the banking inquiry.They did Trojan work, as did Members from the Lower House. It shows how important the Members of this House are to the democratic process. They were not in any way outshone by Members of the Lower House. My office is just a few doors away from Senator MacSharry's and I witnessed the...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2016)

Jim Walsh: One does not seem to be able to turn on any television or radio station at the moment without hearing a debate on whether taxes should be cut or public spending increased. It is extraordinary but I suppose symptomatic of the failure within the media that at no stage have I heard anyone being questioned about tackling unnecessary or wasteful public expenditure. I have argued it here before,...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2016)

Jim Walsh: I have spoken with them.

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Feb 2016)

Jim Walsh: There has been much discussion and focus in the House for some time on drugs and excessive drinking. I wish to turn my attention to the latter. There is a need for the Government to take a much firmer hand in trying to dissuade people, particularly the young, from consuming alcohol to excess. A hotel owner who is a friend of mine said to me some years ago that if we were fortunate enough...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Feb 2016)

Jim Walsh: I am seeking a general debate on housing.

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Feb 2016)

Jim Walsh: Yes.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Registration of Deaths (3 Feb 2016)

Jim Walsh: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Teach inniu. Go n-éirí go mór leis sa toghchán romhainn. I welcome the Minister. I would like to start by expressing again our sympathy for the Enright and Walsh families on what was a real tragedy, with the loss of a wife, a daughter and a granddaughter, and a very traumatic event for the family. We covered...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Registration of Deaths (3 Feb 2016)

Jim Walsh: I know from talking with members of the family that they were appreciative of the manner in which the Minister of State approached this sensitive and traumatic situation in which they found themselves. It was a car crash and the mother was obviously driving the car. She was totally in the right and was driving on the correct side of the road when the other car veered across and crashed into...