Results 541-560 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Shane Ross: Hear, hear.

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Shane Ross: I thank the Senators for their helpful and provocative contributions to this excellent debate. They have given everyone much food for thought through this valuable exercise. My view is simple. We face what Mr. Ted Heath called the "unacceptable face of capitalism". This is not a willing buyer and a willing seller negotiating a deal in any sense of the word. This is an imposition on ordinary...

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Shane Ross: Senator Dooley did not know what he was talking about when he spoke and he does not know now. I feel sorry for him as he was hung out to dry——

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Shane Ross: ——by his own people.

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Shane Ross: I will try but the Cathaoirleach should silence the rabble on the other side of the House.

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Shane Ross: I felt sorry for various elements of the other side of the House because they were hung out to dry. Let us live in the real world. Senator Morrissey suggested that we should get real and use Eazy Pass. That is nonsense.

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Shane Ross: Eazy Pass is not the solution. I telephoned someone who uses Eazy Pass every day and was told that the queue is often so bad with Eazy Pass that it is better to join the cash queue. This is from someone who uses it daily——

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Shane Ross: I spoke to someone who uses it daily and has more experience of it than Senator White. Let us get real about this. What has emerged from the Government side of the House are obfuscation, excuses and difficulties. I commend the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Callely, because when the price increase was announced, he said it was not acceptable. He still believes that,...

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Shane Ross: Through the Chair, does the Minister of State still believe that?

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Shane Ross: The Minister of State stands over that statement, so we have an ally in him. We have, however, a difficulty with NTR——

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Shane Ross: The Minister does not have a vote and thank God, from his own point of view, because he would lose the party whip if he had. We have had some encouragement from the Minister today. He did not rule out the buy out. Those Senators on the other side of the House who jumped the gun by ruling it out should be careful. The buy out——

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Shane Ross: The buy out could take several forms. The Minister did not rule it out. What is more, those Senators who were not at the transport committee meeting today would not realise that the NRA representatives made it quite clear, through body language, that the buy out is on the table.

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Shane Ross: The other matter I want to raise is the dispute about technology. The NRA said today that barrier free tolling could not be introduced until 2008 at the earliest, if not 2009. The Minister has directly contradicted that and said it is not acceptable. I side with the Minister on this and commend the motion.

Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Apr 2005)

Shane Ross: I ask the Leader to arrange that the Minister responsible, who was appointed by the President and the Taoiseach, come to the House and explain what has been happening at Dublin Airport with regard to the security breaches in the past two days. It is alarming that simulated bombs and other dangerous items got through security and could have been smuggled on to aeroplanes without apparent...

Seanad: Order of Business. (14 Apr 2005)

Shane Ross: So did I.

Seanad: Order of Business. (14 Apr 2005)

Shane Ross: We are being a little unfair to Ben Dunne and those people who made suggestions to Joe Duffy's "Liveline" show yesterday. It may be what Senator McDowell calls trite and superficial. However, it is a meaningful gesture that will make a difference.

Seanad: Order of Business. (14 Apr 2005)

Shane Ross: It may be a publicity stunt but there is nothing wrong with them as Senator Leyden knows.

Seanad: Order of Business. (14 Apr 2005)

Shane Ross: There has already been a serious debate on the health services. Gestures of this sort, which may be designed to attract publicity, have a role. If good comes out of it, it is extremely laudable. We must say thank you to those individuals, whose names we will not remember, who offered to make contributions to the hospital in question on "Morning Ireland" and Joe Duffy's "Liveline". They should...

Seanad: Order of Business. (14 Apr 2005)

Shane Ross: A Chathaoirligh, it was not the GAA I mentioned but the DAA, the Dublin Airport Authority. The DAA has responded to these events by saying nobody was harmed and no lives were in danger, a pathetic response. The only reason no lives were in danger was because the bomb that got through was a replica. To say no lives were in danger is an admission of the seriousness of the security situation. It...

Seanad: Order of Business. (14 Apr 2005)

Shane Ross: They are worse.