Results 5,361-5,380 of 20,831 for speaker:David Norris

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2008)

David Norris: However, I have not heard any demands from Muslims or members of immigrant groups. Our own boyos have gone off with a kick of their own. They are Christmas crackers. I agree with Senator O'Toole on how ridiculous it is that we will not be allowed to have an Order of Business. It cannot be a question of time because we never start before ten minutes have passed on the clock. We are not...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2008)

David Norris: Since we should discuss matters of interest, I propose an amendment to the Order of Business to take first non-Government motion No. 23 on the Government's appalling Christmas effort to savage and destroy the Combat Poverty Agency.

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2008)

David Norris: If the Deputy is supporting Christianity, he should try to be honest for a change.

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2008)

David Norris: No, it was not. The sequence is quite clear.

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2008)

David Norris: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2008)

David Norris: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2008)

David Norris: This is important as it concerns the abolition of the Combat Poverty Agency. I hope we will have the opportunity to debate the reasons so I should be able to persuade my colleagues——

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2008)

David Norris: Very much, and in both ways, as they say.

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2008)

David Norris: Under Standing Order 61, I would like to have the luxury of an ambulatory vote.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Second Stage (9 Dec 2008)

David Norris: On the other hand, perhaps the Senator does grasp the point.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Second Stage (9 Dec 2008)

David Norris: How does the Minister feel about her statement? It appears that she is ashamed of it. I have known her for a long time and she is a decent person but she is being used as an instrument in a nasty and cynical way. The reason I think she is ashamed is the extraordinary way in which copies of her statement were circulated to Members. Can she tell me what typeface was used and whether she has...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Second Stage (9 Dec 2008)

David Norris: Is it not? I think she should look at it, however, and compare it with the copy she was given.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Second Stage (9 Dec 2008)

David Norris: I have macular degeneration of the retina, so I find it virtually impossible to read the script. It was not printed in this form to save money because the rear of the pages are blank. The intention was that we would not be able to follow her as she made her statement. It is a deliberate disincentive. I have no doubt it was Government policy.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Second Stage (9 Dec 2008)

David Norris: I appreciate that. The Minister is very courteous, as always. However, while I pay tribute to her courtesy and decency, I continue to assert that she should be ashamed of her statement not only because of the way in which it was printed but also because of the underhand practice throughout this Government of swingeing the most defenceless. I will not begin my criticisms of the Bill with the...

Seanad: Report of Sub-Committee on Ireland's Future in the EU: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

David Norris: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Roche, back to the Chamber where he was once so comfortable and happy as a member of our little group here. There is no point in re-running the Lisbon treaty referendum campaign and I do not think the Minister of State did that. Once or twice he wobbled a bit because his tenses got a little confused or because of the way in which he expressed himself....

Seanad: Report of Sub-Committee on Ireland's Future in the EU: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

David Norris: That will mean 27 of them.

Seanad: Report of Sub-Committee on Ireland's Future in the EU: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

David Norris: The Commission will be quite big. That reverses all the arguments. They are now on their head, and that is fine, but if we were the only one, ours would be put in charge of the tea-making committee. Then there is the matter of the tax regime. The international financial system is now very volatile. Certainly, I could not predict what would happen with regard to that particular protection...

Seanad: Report of Sub-Committee on Ireland's Future in the EU: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

David Norris: I hope it will be an expansive minute.

Seanad: Report of Sub-Committee on Ireland's Future in the EU: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

David Norris: Fianna Fáil decided to be neutral in the Falklands war in order to get up Margaret Thatcher's nose. That is a policy with which I am in complete sympathy. The final article by this splendid woman, Dr. Devine, states: The primacy of the UN and its peacekeeping is eliminated under article 28A(1), as EU missions do not require a UN mandate. The neutrals' proposals for EU missions to require a...

Seanad: Report of Sub-Committee on Ireland's Future in the EU: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

David Norris: I will leave the final word to Henry Kissinger, who said: "No foreign policy — no matter how ingenious — has any chance of success if it is born in the minds of a few and carried in the hearts of none." Our position is not quite so extreme. However, my distinguished colleagues, Patrick Keatinge, Peadar Ó Bhroin and Ben Tonra, are anxious about the prospect of achieving Danish status....