Results 461-480 of 566 for speaker:Niall Ó Brolcháin

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Nov 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: Yes.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Nov 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I want to share some good news with the House because we have heard enough bad news.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Nov 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: Some 24,000 people are employed in medical technology companies in Ireland, the exports of which are valued at €6.9 billion per annum. Irish companies have invested €189 billion abroad, whereas foreign companies have invested some €169 billion here. These are up-to-date figures.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Nov 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: Half of the world's fleet of leased aircraft are managed in Ireland. Some 16,000 people are employed in forestry, a sector that has exports valued at €1.9 billion. Funds to a value of some €1.4 trillion are managed in Ireland. The value of exports has increased significantly, while the value of imports has decreased. Senator Donohoe referred to industrial disputes. The number of...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Statements (25 Nov 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: Unbelievable.

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Statements (25 Nov 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: We should concentrate on renewable energy. It is more important than this.

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Statements (25 Nov 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I find this debate interesting. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Cuffe, to the House and thank him for his action-packed speech. It was heavy on facts and it is important we get the facts out there. I listened intently to Senator O'Toole and I found it very interesting. It is interesting that many people on different sides of the House have been informing themselves about the...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Statements (25 Nov 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: It is certainly not a flaky thing now and it is still a Green thing. We would be delighted if other parties looked for ownership of the issue. People use interesting phrases when they talk to me about this. Senator Carroll referred to the wind Arabs and that we have the potential to be the wind Arabs of the future. We need to be careful about this because we are talking about sustainable...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Statements (25 Nov 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I could speak for three hours on this subject. We do not pay much attention to hydropower. The capacity is not huge. We have built Ardnacrusha but there is capacity of between 1 MW and 2 MW on the River Corrib. This is consistent and does not just arise when the wind blows. The Minister of State also mentioned biomass and other renewable technologies. We must also consider biofuels....

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Nov 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I endorse the comments of Senator Quinn and congratulate the former Senator Doherty. Can we have a debate on the minimum wage? It is important we have a debate on the issue because it is going almost unnoticed that it is proposed to reduce the minimum wage by €1 an hour, which amounts to approximately €2,000 per annum to the lowest paid in society. The Croke Park agreement protects the...

Seanad: Lost at Sea Scheme: Motion (1 Dec 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I welcome the Minister of State. The debate on this matter relates to the fact that the MFV Skifjord sank in October 1981 and that five people, Mr. Francis Byrne, his 16 year old son, Jimmy, and three other crew members died. Mr. Byrne left behind a widow, five sons and three daughters. Where is the humanity in this debate? The debate has become a political football that is being kicked...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Dec 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I agree with Senator Norris that we should take on the people concerned, to whom obscene amounts of money are being paid. As Senator Ó Murchú noted, we need to show leadership. Senator Boyle has shown it in his call for politicians to accept reductions in their remuneration in order to retain legitimacy as we make difficult but necessary decisions. I certainly did not become a Senator...

Seanad: EU-IMF Programme for Ireland: Statements (2 Dec 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am delighted to be present to speak on this matter. It is an honour to do so in the present company because the Members present are very fair minded. I very much welcome Senator Bradford's speech and concur with much of what he said. In my speech I would like to examine the past, present and future. This document is an appalling one. Most...

Seanad: EU-IMF Programme for Ireland: Statements (2 Dec 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I would need approximately three hours to make the various points I want to make, but I will respect the ruling of the Chair.

Seanad: EU-IMF Programme for Ireland: Statements (2 Dec 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: The idea that under our clientilist system senior politicians should be obliged to deal with anything other than the current financial and economic crisis is both atrocious and wrong. Major political reform is required. This must come from across the various parties and outside the political system. Matters will be very difficult for the next Government, but I would genuinely hate to see a...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Dec 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I join with other Senators in calling for a debate on reform, not just of our political system but of society as a whole. It will happen whether any of us like it or not. I would prefer not to see bloodied revolutions. I would prefer to see a reasoned debate and a reasoned, quiet reform of our society. People are calling for the abolition of the Seanad, for example, which is a knee-jerk...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Dec 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: Reform always comes from without. When I was growing up people used to say, it is not what you know it is who you know. That is something which needs to be ditched. The clientelist politics we have in this country is not the way forward. It is not the norm in Europe to the same extent that it exists in this country. Even at a local authority level we have the business of repairing...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Dec 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I renew my calls for a debate on wage structures following yesterday's budget. I was pleased to see that a maximum wage in the public service was introduced by the Minister in the budget. I called previously for the maximum wage to be linked to the minimum wage, but that was not done. I was looking for a linking of eight times the minimum wage. The figure of €250,000 is between 14 and...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2010)

Niall Ó Brolcháin: I share many of Senator Coffey's concerns. As regards child benefit, we should have a debate, in particular, on the computer systems in use, because quite frankly, although we have some of the world's best computer professionals in Ireland, many computer systems are well out of date. I raise this in relation to child benefit in particular because, apparently, the reality is that it is...