Results 561-580 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: As the Official Report will show what was said and the Minister of State said that he expects all members to attend, it is not necessary to press the amendment. I would be most disappointed if anybody used it to prevent the members from attending.

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: Thank you.

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 21: In page 15, paragraph 11, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:?(3) The chairperson and members of the Fiscal Council shall, whenever requested to do so, advise a Committee of either House of the Oireachtas of the attainment and retention of fiscal stability.?.I will press this amendment because we must discuss the macroeconomic issues. We have the...

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister. The fiscal council that has been assembled is a very good body. Many institutions, people and bodies got us into this trouble and none should be exempt from scrutiny by the fiscal council. We are spending much time and effort, not least on the Government benches, trying to rectify these problems. We must ensure it never happens again. The real moral hazard is that...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: Last week we had one of our best Seanad debates with the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Shane McEntee, on ash dieback disease. I thank the Leader for arranging that debate and commend the Minister of State on his enthusiasm. I was joined by a number of botanists at the David Webb centenary celebration on Friday. There are several dangers in...

Seanad: Transport (Córas Iompair Éireann and Subsidiary Companies Borrowings) Bill 2012: Second Stage (21 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. What we are faced with is that CIE is simply not a competitive company, and Senator O'Neill spoke well on it. We have been bailing it out, one way or the other, since 1932. We have spent 80 years trying to control its competition. Once there were 70 bus companies in Dublin and many up and down the country. Most of them were eliminated to...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment)(No. 2) Bill 2012: Second Stage (21 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Bill and the spirit in which the House has approached it. This is when the Seanad is at its best. One wonders what the view will be when the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, is next discussing with Niall O'Dowd what it would have been like in Ireland if Ian Paisley had retired at 65. We only saw the best of him afterwards when there was peace on the island. The later...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: No. 1 on the Order Paper relates to the changing of the majority required for Private Bills to be passed by the Oireachtas to 50% instead of the previous 75%. I have written to the members of the committee, whom I hold in the highest respect, on this matter. It is important that people's property rights are not infringed and that there should be full discussion. There is literature on...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: The Minister for Health has just announced the intention to extend free GP care to the entire population. I am sure this will have many desirable effects but the warning from the extension of medical cards to the over 70s should be borne in mind because that cost far more than was expected. The cost per patient varies between 4.4 times and 4.8 times the average when treating an affluent...

Seanad: Transport (Córas Iompair Éireann and Subsidiary Companies Borrowings) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, line 23, after "expenditure" to insert "and the distortion of market competition".I welcome the Minister to the House.

Seanad: Transport (Córas Iompair Éireann and Subsidiary Companies Borrowings) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I was welcoming the Minister of State to the House. We held an interesting debate on some related matters last week. The Minister of State raised a valuable point about a matter on which he was working, namely, the empty leg of a school bus trip when the driver goes home after delivering the children to school. The Minister of State wondered whether there would be any way to use that leg...

Seanad: Transport (Córas Iompair Éireann and Subsidiary Companies Borrowings) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Acting Chairman for his guidance. Amendment No. 4 reads: "and not for the purpose of distorting market competition". I have addressed this point and I thank the House for its indulgence. Amendment No. 3 relates to the top of page 4. As I interpret this section, the CIE board establishes the priority of such charges. I hope that my interpretation is correct. I am citing the...

Seanad: Transport (Córas Iompair Éireann and Subsidiary Companies Borrowings) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: We also have commitments to the IMF, and mention was made of the rail review and not to further distort competition. It is concerned about this area but I will not press the amendment because I am having a dialogue with the Minister, and not in a confrontational way. It is documented in the strategic rail review that the independent bus companies have provided a service without subsidy or...

Seanad: Transport (Córas Iompair Éireann and Subsidiary Companies Borrowings) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 2: In page 3, line 26, after ?determine)? to insert ?and the National Transport Authority?.We have covered that amendment. It concerned a role for the National Transport Authority. It is being moved separately but we discussed it.

Seanad: Transport (Córas Iompair Éireann and Subsidiary Companies Borrowings) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 5: In page 4, line 20, after ?capital? to insert the following: ?and where an independent investment appraisal of the capital expenditure has been published?.

Seanad: Transport (Córas Iompair Éireann and Subsidiary Companies Borrowings) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: My amendment seeks to add ?and where an independent investment appraisal of the capital expenditure has been published? after "the provision of moneys for meeting any expenses incurred in connection with any permanent work the cost of which is properly chargeable to capital;".

Seanad: Transport (Córas Iompair Éireann and Subsidiary Companies Borrowings) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I am trying to deal with the capital side. We have dealt with the current side and our concerns about competition. This is a problem the Governor of the Central Bank wrote about in his ESRI days. Far too many capital expenditure appraisals in Ireland are part of the PR industry and are prepared by the promoters of projects. The promoters of the project know very well where the Exchequer...

Seanad: Transport (Córas Iompair Éireann and Subsidiary Companies Borrowings) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 6: In page 4, to delete line 22.My amendment proposes to delete "the acquisition of any other transport undertaking;". This is giving money to a company, which is short of money, to buy out its competitors. It is an utterly inappropriate use of public money. I do not want this money to be used to buy out competitors.

Seanad: Transport (Córas Iompair Éireann and Subsidiary Companies Borrowings) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 7: In page 4, line 39, after ?fit? to insert the following: ?with the consent of the Minister, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the National Transport Authority?.These again relate to the safeguards we discussed. We want the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the National Transport Authority. The provision currently provides...

Seanad: Transport (Córas Iompair Éireann and Subsidiary Companies Borrowings) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: Page 31 of the Aecom report states that the rail safety programme between 1999 and 2013 cost ¤1.7 billion. Indecon looked at that and found that it had saved 123 animals. They must be the most expensive animals ever. We must see where these programmes yield a return. In comparison, the safety budget of the Road Safety Authority is ¤18.6 million and the budget for the Health and Safety...