Results 641-660 of 1,677 for speaker:Ned O'Sullivan

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Apr 2014)

Ned O'Sullivan: Yesterday's edition of The Irish Times had a good cartoon by Martyn Turner relating to the recent UN panel publication on climate change. It showed the report as a massive tome and then an executive summary with one word, "Panic". That is appropriate and anyone who has read these reports - we have had a number of them - will realise this is the most serious one yet. It forecasts serious...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Apr 2014)

Ned O'Sullivan: Like the last speaker I support the Leader of this side of the House, Senator O'Brien, in his remarks about these so-called online savings and bonus operations. I am thankful to Senator O'Brien because when he raised it originally a council colleague of mine in Kerry contacted me to say she had looked up her Visa account and found out she had lost approximately €36 over a three-month...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (9 Apr 2014)

Ned O'Sullivan: I will not detain the House too long, except to commend Senator Bacik for persevering with the Bill and also compliment the lead speakers for all the parties and the Independents for their contributions. In particular, I support my party colleague, Senator Power, who has put an awful lot of work into the Bill and whose frustration I strongly sense. It is an Alice in Wonderland debate as far...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (9 Apr 2014)

Ned O'Sullivan: As Senator Norris said, we have had some remarkable coincidental arrivals of reports today and we are going to get information tomorrow that I do not think would have been forthcoming were it not for this debate.

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (9 Apr 2014)

Ned O'Sullivan: I am not being political. All I would say is that today is today. I do not think anybody will get away with this kind of thing again. Senator Conway has given us a deadline before the next school term. If we could all work towards that, I am sure it would be eminently achievable, but all in all it is not a good day for the Government.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Apr 2014)

Ned O'Sullivan: I support Senator Darragh O'Brien in his call for a debate on the Battle of Clontarf. It is a seminal date in our history. Although much Celtic legend and Paddywhackery is attached to it, a significant body of historical fact attests to the fact Brian Ború was a very important figure in the creation of our national consciousness. He is on a par with Parnell or O'Connell, and therefore...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Apr 2014)

Ned O'Sullivan: Could the Leader raise an issue with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan? Next month sees the annual general meeting of Aer Lingus and I ask the Minister to use the 25% shareholding we have in that body to protest and stop the huge remuneration packages being made to Aer Lingus senior executives, particularly the chief executive, Christoph Mueller, who is on a package of €1.5...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Apr 2014)

Ned O'Sullivan: There is a deficit of €800 million and constant tension between management and staff, which will remain until it is solved. That culture of big bonuses got us into the mess we are in and are, hopefully, coming out of. I read that the Minister, Deputy Noonan, said it would be inappropriate for him to intervene. It would be very appropriate for him to intervene and stop this carry on.

Seanad: Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Bill 2013: Second Stage (15 Apr 2014)

Ned O'Sullivan: I welcome this straightforward legislation. In 2008, Noel Dempsey, when transport Minister, initiated a process which has led to the publication of this Bill. He established a consultation process to develop a system of ship registration which would be coherent and clear. A central register was at the core of that. It is important that vessels be clearly registered, identifiable and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Road Traffic Offences: An Garda Síochána (16 Apr 2014)

Ned O'Sullivan: I welcome the assistant commissioner and his team and commend them on the forthright manner in which they dealt with the questions. Everything is straightforward and that is appreciated. The GoSafe contract was awarded nearly five years ago and it was a very competitive tendering process. The successful consortium was an international group with French and Australian involvement but the...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 May 2014)

Ned O'Sullivan: It is extraordinary that a Government which has the biggest majority in the history of the State and which was all set to go right up to Easter 2016 is starting to get so wobbly that we wonder whether it will make the Whit weekend. It has been really shaken by the revelations, mainly but not only in the Department of Justice and Equality. As my party's acting leader, Senator Mooney, stated,...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 May 2014)

Ned O'Sullivan: I apologise, Deputy Charles Flanagan. That might have been a forecast. In any event, these are tough times in politics. Another extraordinary point is that a great deal of the heavy lifting has been done. In fairness to the Government, it has carried out the Brian Lenihan blueprint for recovery almost to the letter and this has been successful. However, now that this is out of the way,...

Seanad: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Second Stage (13 May 2014)

Ned O'Sullivan: I welcome the Minister and, in general, give a broad welcome to the Bill. I find it regrettable that it must deal with the section 33 and superannuation situation. That fact makes it almost impossible for me to support the Bill without an amendment at least, as mentioned by my leader, Senator Darragh O'Brien. My colleague, Senator Averil Power, concurs but regrets that she could not attend...

Seanad: Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 May 2014)

Ned O'Sullivan: I commend the Minister on bringing forward this Bill and the frank manner in which he engaged with Members. That engagement ensured a very co-operative response from Senators.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 May 2014)

Ned O'Sullivan: I congratulate everybody who was successful in the recent elections and commiserate with those who were not. There is a trauma in losing an election and in my area, one man lost by the swing of one vote after two and half recounts. It is very difficult for him and his family to deal with that. Much has been said about the leadership of the Labour Party and how Sinn Féin performed but...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 May 2014)

Ned O'Sullivan: It shows the Seanad works.

Seanad: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (27 May 2014)

Ned O'Sullivan: I move amendment No. 9: In page 19, after line 36, to insert the following:"(4) The Minister shall establish, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, a committee including representatives of Iarnród Éireann, Shannon Group, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and other such members as the Minister may decide, to examine the possibility of constructing a railway link...

Seanad: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (27 May 2014)

Ned O'Sullivan: I thank the Minister for his reply. The figures are not optimistic but we have moved on since 2006. Although the coffers are not as full as they appeared at that time, there is a new reality in the construction sector and people are getting major projects over the line for sums that are much more realistic than the figures received by the Minister at that time because of certain financial...

Seanad: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (27 May 2014)

Ned O'Sullivan: We are opposing this section on the grounds that it is unfair, in the main, to the future of Cork Airport. It does not in any way answer the major uncertainty hanging over the future of the Cork facility. As it is so vague, it has added to the anxieties that the business community and the people of the south west have about the future of their airport. It seems as if continuing to have the...

Seanad: State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (27 May 2014)

Ned O'Sullivan: This is about the signal going out to the people Cork. I accept the Minister’s point that the situation at the airport is not correct and it is somewhat anomalous to have a company in place where there is no effective work for it to do. That is, however, what should be addressed rather than winding up the company. We should also equalise arrangements between Dublin, Shannon and...