Results 6,361-6,380 of 7,278 for speaker:Dick Roche
- Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2007: Second Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Dick Roche: A mix-up in dates would be embarrassing, but perhaps Deputy O'Dowd has more brass neck than I give him credit for.
- Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2007: Second Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Dick Roche: The mistake suggests that the roadblock the Deputies wish to create in the Houses on this issue is little more than an ill-founded diversion. That they could get a basic aspect of their argument so desperately confused raises a fundamental question about the competence of their approach and their party's competence, somewhat similar to its confusion on stamp duty, which the Labour Party...
- Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2007: Second Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Dick Roche: Arguments can be made for and against the choice of a particular day of the week as the polling day.
- Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2007: Second Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Dick Roche: The Ceann Comhairle was not present at the time, but I mentioned stamp duty because two or three Deputies referred to it. I would have believed they would have been incredibly embarrassed given that they needed to climb down when Deputy Rabbitte pointed out the incompetence and sheer stupidity of their proposition last week.
- Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2007: Second Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Dick Roche: I can accept the Deputies' embarrassment.
- Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2007: Second Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Dick Roche: The flexibility in the law is better than Fine Gael's proposition.
- Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2007: Second Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Dick Roche: Those in favour of voting at weekends may say that a Friday, Saturday or Sunday poll would facilitate students who are registered in their homes, but who attend full-time education elsewhere and return home at weekends. Others would not support a Friday poll, as students might be travelling home for the weekend. As Deputies should know, workers and students who are unable to get to polling...
- Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2007: Second Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Dick Roche: Let us not be silly. A postal vote can be sent to people.
- Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2007: Second Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Dick Roche: It must be borne in mind that postal voting is provided for in respect of certain categories of person and was introduced specifically with students and certain workers in mind. Since 1997, full-time students registered at home who are living elsewhere while attending an educational institution in the State may apply for postal votes. Students need not be adversely affected by the timing of...
- Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2007: Second Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Dick Roche: It may also be argued that people have more leisure time at the weekend, so electors would have greater opportunity to vote at an election when they are freed from demanding work schedules. Equally, it could be said that, given busy modern lifestyles, the weekend represents valuable spare time for family, sporting and other pursuits and religious and spiritual time. It may be the case that...
- Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2007: Second Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Dick Roche: The idea of holding an election over two days would probably require a referendum. In general, it can be said that weekend voting would facilitate those electors who are normally away from home on weekdays and would reduce or eliminate school closures, a necessary feature of weekday elections. There are, equally, arguments against weekend voting. It can be said that weekend voting could...
- Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2007: Second Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Dick Roche: I will deal with the evidence from Europe but the Deputy could not even get the dates right for the 1999 and 2004 elections.
- Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2007: Second Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Dick Roche: I am not changing the argument, I am making the point that the basic thesisââ
- Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2007: Second Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Dick Roche: Fine Gael always gets ratty when it is embarrassed. I am prepared to listen to any argument and I listened to the Fine Gael argument in silence. I am glad Deputy Gilmore has joined us because his colleagues in Fine Gael could not even get the dates of the two elections right, something that speaks volumes. The truth is that in attempting to accommodate one group of voters by choosing a...
- Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2007: Second Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Dick Roche: I was.
- Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2007: Second Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Dick Roche: That was the election that ran the most incompetent Government we had ever seen out of office.
- Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2007: Second Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Dick Roche: It doubled the national debt and was running 35,000 to 45,000 people per year out on the emigrant ship. That election got rid of a Government that had elevated unemployment to 250,000. That was why on a Tuesday in 1987, 73.3% of the electorate turned out. Turnout figures recorded for the same day of the week vary significantly from poll to poll and from year to year. As I have said, the...
- Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2007: Second Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Dick Roche: I have made the point before to the effect that his party was very enthusiastic in the past, but the point is that this is part of an ongoing debate we should have, removed from the white heat of electoral politics. We should examine how we conduct the democratic process and what powers should be given to an independent commission very early in the life of the next Dáil. I simply make that...
- Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2007: Second Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Dick Roche: I am simply making the point, and I did not once interrupt the Deputy other than to query the date.
- Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2007: Second Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Dick Roche: I did not. I asked out of a sense of not wanting to embarrass the Deputy, when I pointed out the error as regards the dates.