Results 441-460 of 13,291 for speaker:Joe McHugh

Seanad: Schools Building Projects. (27 Apr 2005)

Joe McHugh: I thank the Minister of State for his response. The school staff and board of management intend to lobby hard to achieve this. The Minister for Education and Science will be hearing from them as their lobbying will be a very professional operation.

Seanad: Schools Building Projects. (27 Apr 2005)

Joe McHugh: The Minister of State is absolutely correct.

Seanad: Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines: Statements. (28 Apr 2005)

Joe McHugh: I welcome the Minister to the House. I acknowledge his contribution in accepting that there is a tradition of dispersed planning patterns in rural Ireland. Rural people want to continue to live in rural areas. Particular areas have suffered greatly from population decline in the last 20 years. In Glenvar, where my mother was born, the national school has closed down and there has been severe...

Seanad: Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines: Statements. (28 Apr 2005)

Joe McHugh: Certainly not. I was under strict instructions to mention it. I feel there should be increased resources to planning departments, especially in areas where many decentralised offices are up and running.

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (4 May 2005)

Joe McHugh: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (4 May 2005)

Joe McHugh: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (4 May 2005)

Joe McHugh: I also welcome this legislation, as is proper for anything that deals with safety on the sea. I did not have an opportunity to speak because my colleague Senator Feighan took this Bill through the Seanad previously. As good as this legislation is from bureaucratic and administrative points of view, there is a serious problem with people who are now preparing for the summer by purchasing jet...

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 May 2005)

Joe McHugh: I agree with Senator White who raised a very relevant point with regard to the long-term sustainability of indigenous industry. Our economists can only forecast as far as 2006 regarding predicted growth of 5.5%. One does not have to be a rocket scientist to know that we will have that growth because 12% of all investment resources are tied up in the construction sector. We must examine the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 May 2005)

Joe McHugh: We should facilitate the people who are currently tied up in the construction sector by offering them training programmes for the future post-construction sector. We need a debate on this issue in the short term.

Seanad: British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second and Subsequent Stages. (5 May 2005)

Joe McHugh: I welcome the Minister to the House. Fine Gael will support this Bill because it is technical in nature. I thank civil servants for bringing it to our attention yesterday and briefing us in anticipation of today's debate. The real issue here is rushed legislation. I do not have the experience to decide whether rushed or unrushed legislation is better but history shows that rushed legislation...

Seanad: Order of Business. (12 May 2005)

Joe McHugh: Whenever RTE is successful in getting coverage in the Six Counties, it might nip over to Donegal, where some parts do not receive RTE either.

Seanad: Order of Business. (12 May 2005)

Joe McHugh: That is quite original; I have not heard it before. I concur with Senators Ó Murchú and O'Toole, and when the Six Counties get sorted out, I will just nip across the Border. We have had the special privilege in Donegal over the past six months of being visited by several Ministers including Deputies Cowen, Hanafin, O'Donoghue, who came three times and is there again today, Roche, Martin,...

Seanad: Order of Business. (12 May 2005)

Joe McHugh: Bear with me a Chathaoirligh, I have just one more Minister to mention and it is a fairly minor one. The Taoiseach has also visited.

Seanad: Order of Business. (12 May 2005)

Joe McHugh: My point is that while Donegal has had the special privilege of these visits, the people of the county are not interested in a decentralised Cabinet on tour en masse but in decentralised jobs. I look forward to the debate on decentralisation and to the comments of Senator Dooley and the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, who is the boy we want up in Donegal.

Seanad: Schools Building Projects. (12 May 2005)

Joe McHugh: A high standard has been set, today on the Adjournment debate, so I hope I am up to speed. It is appropriate that we have had a debate on rural housing today. In this context we tend to talk about addressing depopulation and the decline of services, whether post offices, shops or schools. There is a connection as regards the corollary of depopulation and the decline of rural schools. The...

Seanad: Order of Business. (19 May 2005)

Joe McHugh: I did not intend to speak on the Order of Business but wish to make a point in regard to rushed legislation. I am a Member of this House only a short while and do not have the experience or dexterity of many other Members. However, I have made one discovery during my time here. I have learned that better legislation is formulated when it is teased out and debated. Rushed legislation is bad...

Seanad: Order of Business. (19 May 2005)

Joe McHugh: It is very hard to get around to each person individually.

Seanad: Sea Pollution (Hazardous Substances) (Compensation) Bill 2000 changed from Sea Pollution (Hazardous and Noxious Substances) (Civil Liability and Compensation) Bill 2000: Committee and Remaining Stages. (19 May 2005)

Joe McHugh: On the Order of Business this morning, it was stated that rushed legislation is bad legislation. One might think that Members are rushing this legislation through, but this is not the case. As the Minister of State is aware, it has been bandied about for four years. I congratulate the Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Gallagher, on...

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Statements. (25 May 2005)

Joe McHugh: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue. We first debated this matter in May of last year and we should continue to do so to keep up-to-date, focus and undertake research in this area. CNN and Fox News broadcast a simplified version of the Iraq war as a war on terror whereas Senator Norris believes the war was about oil and...

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Statements. (25 May 2005)

Joe McHugh: The word was used by people I met on the tour circuit. I was quoting US citizens who imparted their opinion that the US President was an idiot.