Results 441-460 of 1,886 for speaker:Fergal Browne

Seanad: Agriculture: Statements. (27 Apr 2004)

Fergal Browne: I thank Senator Moylan for arranging extra speaking time. In Carlow the average farming income has fallen to approximately 52% of the average industrial wage from 70% in the past few years. I do not wish to sound negative about agriculture but it is important to examine the factual information. Many young people are not going into agriculture and the number of farms is decreasing while the...

Seanad: Agriculture: Statements. (27 Apr 2004)

Fergal Browne: When the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, was canvassing in the general election in Laoighis-Offaly, he created the impression that he would solve every problem in agriculture, yet the minute he was elected, he ran as far away as possible from the Department of Agriculture and Food and has not been heard of since. He did not bring the House down when the Government immediately following the...

Seanad: Agriculture: Statements. (27 Apr 2004)

Fergal Browne: Perhaps the Minister of State and Councillor White will both be elected to Europe.

Seanad: Agriculture: Statements. (27 Apr 2004)

Fergal Browne: What will happen to the spare staff?

Seanad: Agriculture: Statements. (27 Apr 2004)

Fergal Browne: I hope the Minister of State reminds them about Teagasc as well. What about the 2,000 extra gardaí?

Seanad: Agriculture: Statements. (27 Apr 2004)

Fergal Browne: It is not an exciting time for young farmers.

Seanad: Order of Business. (28 Apr 2004)

Fergal Browne: The announcement by the Minister for Education and Science of additional resources to provide learning support for children was made some time ago but schools must wait for up to one year to have it sanctioned. I understand a new weighting system will be introduced but schools do not know as of yet if they will lose, retain or gain teachers. I know of a school that applied for a special needs...

Seanad: Road Safety: Statements. (29 Apr 2004)

Fergal Browne: I welcome the Minister. As an Opposition Senator I should be happy to be able to prove the Minister and the Government wrong. However, I take no pleasure in saying that the penalty points system is no longer as effective as it was initially. Thirty more lives have been lost in road accidents since the penalty points system was introduced and 30 more families have been devastated. When the...

Seanad: Road Safety: Statements. (29 Apr 2004)

Fergal Browne: They occasionally make mistakes. I previously raised with the Minister the issue of motorcycles. I was appalled to learn from him that 70% of motorcyclists do not hold a full licence and that a similar proportion have not taken a test or received a single day's training. To quote the Minister: "They simply buy a bike, obtain a provisional licence and off they go". The Minister pointed out...

Seanad: Road Safety: Statements. (29 Apr 2004)

Fergal Browne: Is that so? Nonetheless, the case in point is that of the provisional driving licence. While the Minister made the correct decision to clamp down on provisional drivers, nothing has happened since and chaos has resulted. On 7 May last year, the Minister admitted there were almost 300,000 provisional licence holders and, if those holding fourth provisional licences were included, the figure...

Seanad: Road Safety: Statements. (29 Apr 2004)

Fergal Browne: Males are the most vulnerable drivers, particularly those aged 18 to 30 years because we all think ourselves invulnerable at that age, which we are not.

Seanad: Road Safety: Statements. (29 Apr 2004)

Fergal Browne: Maybe not, but it has happened, as the Senator would know if he studied the relevant documents.

Seanad: Road Safety: Statements. (29 Apr 2004)

Fergal Browne: Systems can be introduced to prevent this. For example, cars might be modified to make beeping noises if eye movement, as an indicator of fatigue, was detected. Perhaps the Minister, in his EU Presidency role as head of the European Council of Transport Ministers, could consider this area. A fascinating recent American television programme, "Eye on America", showed that television monitors...

Seanad: Special Educational Needs. (29 Apr 2004)

Fergal Browne: I welcome the Minister of State. He has certainly been very busy lately and I was bamboozled by him yesterday, as was a group of people from Carlow who were looking at him in action in the Dáil Chamber as he discussed the citizenship referendum. We all left humbled——

Seanad: Special Educational Needs. (29 Apr 2004)

Fergal Browne: I am glad we were not caught between him and Deputy Jim O'Keeffe, both of whom were arguing away.

Seanad: Special Educational Needs. (29 Apr 2004)

Fergal Browne: This matter is much simpler than others that have been raised. As the Minister of State is aware, great strides have been made in recent years regarding special needs assistants and extra resource hours for children in primary schools. However, we now have a ludicrous scenario such that decisions have been made by the Department of Education and Science concerning hundreds of primary schools...

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Apr 2004)

Fergal Browne: I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to the House to debate the deplorable financial condition of An Post, a semi-State company that needs a major shake up. Unlike Aer Lingus which has turned deficit into profit, An Post has a long way to go. I am disturbed to read reports in this morning's newspapers of possible disposal of property by An...

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 May 2004)

Fergal Browne: Why was the e-voting report not supplied in Irish as well as in English? This is in breach of the regulations. Only the heading was in Irish. We will shortly debate the Ombudsman's report, which is in English and Irish, as is normal practice.

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 May 2004)

Fergal Browne: The Leader should make inquiries. Will the Leader tell us why the voting system failed in this House last week? When we tried to vote electronically, we could not do so.

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 May 2004)

Fergal Browne: Members should be given the details.