Results 621-640 of 1,591 for speaker:Eugene Regan

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: I support Senator Fitzgerald's amendment to the Order of Business. It is extraordinary that in both Houses, the Opposition is continuously calling——

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: Yes, I am opposing the Order of Business. The Opposition has been calling for information on the economy, indications from the Government on its proposals, and some sense of direction on where we are going. The pleas of the Opposition have been rebuffed at every turn. We are asking today whether we can have a briefing on what is happening. My understanding is that the Leader is not...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: The question is for the Leader. The Taoiseach's nerves may be shattered after the disastrous decisions that have been taken in the budget, be it on medical cards for the elderly and so on. However, I would have thought that the Taoiseach would have found his composure after the long recess and found an ability to take decisions. I hope that he will be in a position to do that this...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: Stop him, a Chathaoirligh.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: I appreciate the praise from the Fianna Fáil benches of a former Fine Gael Taoiseach. It is obvious that the Senators on the Government benches consider that attack is the best form of defence. As they read from their prepared scripts today, they are attacking the Opposition——

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: They are attacking and criticising the Opposition. That criticism is rather cheap. In both Houses we have supported the Government and taken it on trust with regard to the State guarantee. We knew decisions had to be made. At the time we suggested that recapitalisation of the banks would have to be addressed. That was rubbished by the Government, yet ultimately it realised that it had to...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: At least they are my own notes.

Seanad: Human Rights Issues: Motion (4 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: I propose to share time with Senators McFadden and Fitzgerald.

Seanad: Human Rights Issues: Motion (4 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Power. He has done a good job as apologist for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Dermot Ahern, in regard to the disproportionate cutbacks in the budgets of the Human Rights Commission and the Equality Authority and the elimination of the Combat Poverty Agency. The Minister of State's speech suggests that fundamental human...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: Senator Harris expressed irritation at all the talk in this House and the questioning of Government economic policy. He suggests that we need a national Government. The reality, however, is that politics is a battle of ideas, exchange and dialogue as to what are the best policies for the State. That is what parliamentary democracy is about, pure and simple. The Senator may feel...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: These remarks are a preface to my question to the Leader. A national Government is required when the incumbent Administration does not have the numbers to take decisions. Leadership and competent Government are essential in this crisis and are precisely what we do not have. There has been much constructive engagement by the Opposition. We have offered many ideas and have acknowledged the...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: By way of constructive criticism, I have a question for the Leader. The Taoiseach made the announcement on Tuesday of his grand plan to secure a reduction in Exchequer expenditure. Of the €2 billion in savings to be made this year, €1.4 billion is to come from the public sector pension levy. In The Irish Times today, Dominic Coyle writes that, after tax relief, the saving will be...

Seanad: Road Network (5 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: I welcome the Minister to the House to deal with this matter, which concerns a forgotten road in the Dún Laoghaire ward, Pottery Road. It is in the Dún Laoghaire development plan to redesign and reconstruct that road and there has been a part 8 procedure and a recent public consultation. It has been decided at local level in the council to proceed with the improvement scheme for that...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: I refer to the Taoiseach's speech at the Dublin Chamber of Commerce function last week, in which he——

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: I am introducing my question to the Leader. The speech showed a new realism by the Taoiseach and indicated he was getting a grip on the issues in the economy.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: It was an off-the-cuff speech, on which I compliment him. As speeches go it was a good speech. He said we all need to pull together and only on that basis will we get out of these problems, which is an important point. However, in our respective roles in this, the Government governs. The Taoiseach has earned the right to govern because at the last general election he convinced the country...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: It really is embarrassing to be associated with this Government and even those of us in Opposition are tainted. For the avoidance of doubt, Fine Gael does not acquiesce in, endorse or approve of the economic policies of this Government nor of its policy on the banks. We have the proof of why we have adopted this type of position. Senator Mullen talks about ethics in government. It is a...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: I have. We are not necessarily blaming the Minister for his lack of qualifications and experience for the job. Normally, it would be a prerequisite to have some such qualifications to be Minister for Finance, but he is a lawyer and it is the lawyer's training to read his brief. We now know the Minister did not do that. This is a document of which he should have been a master, digesting it...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: The two issues I want to put to the Leader are regulation and how much is being hidden by the Government concerning Anglo Irish Bank and other banks. Our international reputation is at stake. The economy depends very much on the Irish Financial Services Centre and asset management funds in Dublin. Will the Leader comment on that? Until December, despite this report and what we now know is...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: We expected better from the Minister. It is disappointing when the incompetence of the Minister has been shown up in this regard. Will the Leader agree that the Minister for Finance is on borrowed time?