Results 6,141-6,160 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Order of Business (14 Oct 2015)

Shane Ross: I understand that under Standing Order 26(3), I can raise this matter on the Order of Business today because it is on the Order Paper. It has nothing to do with the Taoiseach and the recent difficulties he has had with deciding the date of the election. I ask him whether he would consider amending the Constitution so that all future taoisigh do not have this absurd and very unfair power to...

Order of Business (14 Oct 2015)

Shane Ross: Yes.

An Bille um an gCúigiú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Tréimhse Shocraithe le haghaidh Ré Dháil Éireann) 2015: An Chéad Chéim - Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Fixed Period for the Duration of Dáil Éireann) Bill 2015: First Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Shane Ross: Tairgim:Go gceadófar go dtabharfar isteach Bille dá ngairtear Acht chun an Bunreacht a leasú. I move:That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Constitution. This is a very simple and straightforward Bill to amend the Constitution to provide for a fixed Dáil term and to remove the power of the Taoiseach to decide the date of the dissolution.

An Bille um an gCúigiú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Tréimhse Shocraithe le haghaidh Ré Dháil Éireann) 2015: An Chéad Chéim - Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Fixed Period for the Duration of Dáil Éireann) Bill 2015: First Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Shane Ross: Or the Tánaiste, as the case may be. I am putting this forward because it is a matter of great public concern. This process has been brought into disrepute in recent times, particularly by the present Taoiseach. The equivocation about the general election and the frenzy which has followed have persuaded many that the system we operate, whereby the Taoiseach of this country has the...

An Bille um an gCúigiú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Tréimhse Shocraithe le haghaidh Ré Dháil Éireann) 2015: An Chéad Chéim - Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Fixed Period for the Duration of Dáil Éireann) Bill 2015: First Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Shane Ross: It also means-----

An Bille um an gCúigiú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Tréimhse Shocraithe le haghaidh Ré Dháil Éireann) 2015: An Chéad Chéim - Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Fixed Period for the Duration of Dáil Éireann) Bill 2015: First Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Shane Ross: It was those Fine Gael Deputies who last week were calling for a general election.

An Bille um an gCúigiú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Tréimhse Shocraithe le haghaidh Ré Dháil Éireann) 2015: An Chéad Chéim - Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Fixed Period for the Duration of Dáil Éireann) Bill 2015: First Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Shane Ross: They were the ones who were so disappointed with what the Taoiseach did last week. They are the ones who are cheering him so loudly today.

An Bille um an gCúigiú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Tréimhse Shocraithe le haghaidh Ré Dháil Éireann) 2015: An Chéad Chéim - Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Fixed Period for the Duration of Dáil Éireann) Bill 2015: First Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Shane Ross: If the Taoiseach had been able to make up his mind on what day he would call the general election, they would not have been sitting there last week kicking up about it. The Labour Party contributed to this unseemly decision which was taken in the face of a media frenzy that the Taoiseach was conjuring up.

An Bille um an gCúigiú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Tréimhse Shocraithe le haghaidh Ré Dháil Éireann) 2015: An Chéad Chéim - Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Fixed Period for the Duration of Dáil Éireann) Bill 2015: First Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Shane Ross: It encouraged it and-----

An Bille um an gCúigiú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Tréimhse Shocraithe le haghaidh Ré Dháil Éireann) 2015: An Chéad Chéim - Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Fixed Period for the Duration of Dáil Éireann) Bill 2015: First Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Shane Ross: -----now today they are looking for a general election in February, not November. The Taoiseach has the power but equivocated. I am asking that we take it away from him.

An Bille um an gCúigiú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Tréimhse Shocraithe le haghaidh Ré Dháil Éireann) 2015: An Chéad Chéim - Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Fixed Period for the Duration of Dáil Éireann) Bill 2015: First Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Shane Ross: It is very difficult.

An Bille um an gCúigiú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Tréimhse Shocraithe le haghaidh Ré Dháil Éireann) 2015: An Chéad Chéim - Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Fixed Period for the Duration of Dáil Éireann) Bill 2015: First Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Shane Ross: The problem is there is an abuse of executive power and it is embedded in the Constitution. Every Taoiseach has looked - as the Taoiseach did last week - at opinion polls-----

An Bille um an gCúigiú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Tréimhse Shocraithe le haghaidh Ré Dháil Éireann) 2015: An Chéad Chéim - Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Fixed Period for the Duration of Dáil Éireann) Bill 2015: First Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Shane Ross: -----and decided on the date of the general election, depending, simply and solely, on his own popularity.

An Bille um an gCúigiú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Tréimhse Shocraithe le haghaidh Ré Dháil Éireann) 2015: An Chéad Chéim - Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Fixed Period for the Duration of Dáil Éireann) Bill 2015: First Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Shane Ross: Last week the Taoiseach said he would make the decision in the national interest. One day he decided in the national interest that it would be held in November but the next he decided in the national interest that it would be held in February.

An Bille um an gCúigiú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Tréimhse Shocraithe le haghaidh Ré Dháil Éireann) 2015: An Chéad Chéim - Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Fixed Period for the Duration of Dáil Éireann) Bill 2015: First Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Shane Ross: What he was really deciding was that holding it in November would be in the interests of Fine Gael, but then the Tánaiste came in and put a bit of pressure on him. He backed off to the absolute disgust of his own backbenchers and decided to hold it in February. This behaviour must stop and there is only one way of doing so. It would mean removing that power from the Taoiseach-----

An Bille um an gCúigiú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Tréimhse Shocraithe le haghaidh Ré Dháil Éireann) 2015: An Chéad Chéim - Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Fixed Period for the Duration of Dáil Éireann) Bill 2015: First Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Shane Ross: -----by amending the Constitution and providng for a fixed term.

An Bille um an gCúigiú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Tréimhse Shocraithe le haghaidh Ré Dháil Éireann) 2015: An Chéad Chéim - Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Fixed Period for the Duration of Dáil Éireann) Bill 2015: First Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Shane Ross: I thank the Taoiseach.

An Bille um an gCúigiú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Tréimhse Shocraithe le haghaidh Ré Dháil Éireann) 2015: An Chéad Chéim - Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Fixed Period for the Duration of Dáil Éireann) Bill 2015: First Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Shane Ross: Tairgim: "Go dtógfar an Bille in am Comhaltaí Príobháideacha." I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Properties (20 Oct 2015)

Shane Ross: 356. To ask the Minister for Defence his plans to close Saint Bricin's Military Hospital in Dublin 7; if so, the timeframe for the closure; in the event of closure, if the Government is committed to building a purpose-built military hospital in another location; if it is not to close, if the Government will ensure that it is included in the upcoming legislation from the Department of Health...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Water Fluoridation (3 Nov 2015)

Shane Ross: 760. To ask the Minister for Health if he has concerns regarding the methodology undertaken by the Health Research Board earlier in 2015, when reviewing the effects of the fluoridation of water, particularly the board's failure to assess the cumulative exposure for the population to fluoride consumption from not only water fluoridation, but also from the consumption of food, beverage, and...