Results 761-780 of 891 for speaker:John Minihan
- Seanad: Adult and Further Education: Statements. (21 Jun 2006)
John Minihan: I welcome the Minister of State and her officials to the House. I also welcome the statements I have heard today. In April of this year, I voiced serious concerns in this House about adult and further education. I sneaked my comments in under the radar when statements were being made on youth affairs. I would not have done so had I realised today's debate would take place. During the earlier...
- Seanad: Adult and Further Education: Statements. (21 Jun 2006)
John Minihan: Senator O'Toole had a very significant contribution to make.
- Seanad: Adult and Further Education: Statements. (21 Jun 2006)
John Minihan: I know that the Senator will take credit for all of the successes and disown the failures.
- Seanad: Adult and Further Education: Statements. (21 Jun 2006)
John Minihan: He should let us have our say now. It has been estimated, in consultation with management and staff interests, that the recommendations for staffing would involve, at a minimum, the creation of at least 800 new posts at a cost of over â¬48 million. While this level of additional provision cannot be considered in isolation from other areas of education, I am worried that it is not being...
- Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)
John Minihan: I also welcome the Minister and his officials to the House. The opportunity to speak on this topic is a particularly welcome one. It is said that things come in threes and as far as this issue is concerned, they certainly do for me. It is almost three years to the day, 25 June 2003, since I first raised in this House the specific concerns which I still have today. In addition, the Bill has...
- Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)
John Minihan: I welcome this Bill for what it includes, allowing for participation in field exercises, more appropriate wording to reflect common practice and participation in certain humanitarian missions. However, I am disappointed with what it does not include, which is an amendment to reflect what I believe is the view of the Irish people, that specific nations should not unilaterally be able to hold...
- Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)
John Minihan: Surprisingly, I find myself almost agreeing with Senator Ryan's last comments, which is probably a first.
- Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)
John Minihan: I raised this issue last night as I did three years ago. The triple lock is a necessary mechanism to deal with our own insecurities about neutrality. Let us call a spade a spade. That is the reason we had to do that. It is a question of having a more mature debate about what our neutrality means and the real crux of the issue for me is the power of veto. We are not in a position to change the...
- Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)
John Minihan: What the Senator is saying is irrelevant. There will be no negotiations between Fine Gael and the Labour Party.
- Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)
John Minihan: I thank the Minister for the clarity of his response to a number of the issues I raised. Section 3(1)(f) had not slipped past me. I clearly see that we have the ability to deploy, which means that we would not have to succumb to NGOs. However, someone will have to make a decision on what is humanitarian and what is not. I presume that it will be made by the Government and by the Department of...
- Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)
John Minihan: There could be civil unrest.
- Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)
John Minihan: I thank the Minister and his officials for facilitating us in this debate. It is unfortunate that more debates on defence matters are not held. The role of the Defence Forces is widely acknowledged as a source of pride among the public. The Defence Forces have undergone a significant transformation over the past number of years and I commend the Minister on the leadership he has given in...
- Seanad: Housing (Stage Payments) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (28 Jun 2006)
John Minihan: I welcome the Minister of State and his officials to the House this evening. I congratulate Senator Coghlan on maintaining his initiative on this issue. This is not the first time I have spoken about stage payments â inside or outside this House â and I am grateful for the opportunity to outline my views again. I have a certain level of experience of stage payments in County Cork, where...
- Seanad: Housing (Stage Payments) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (28 Jun 2006)
John Minihan: They do not have stage payments.
- Seanad: Housing (Stage Payments) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (28 Jun 2006)
John Minihan: What has this to do with stage payments?
- Seanad: Housing (Stage Payments) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (28 Jun 2006)
John Minihan: The Senator is only worried about the ones in Cork.
- Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Jun 2006)
John Minihan: That is a terrible thing to say.
- Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Second Stage. (30 Jun 2006)
John Minihan: Preserving and promoting justice for Irish citizens is a core objective of my party. In Government, the party has striven at every opportunity to ensure that the Ireland of 2006 is as safe as possible. Today's legislation is a significant part of that process. Certain Members have expressed dissatisfaction with the delay in bringing forward this legislation but when one considers the...
- Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Second Stage. (30 Jun 2006)
John Minihan: Political games. Tragedy is the other side of crime. Crime is still a problem but in modern society the viciousness and seriousness of the offences has increased. Just as what we considered normal 20 years ago in terms of our security habits has been transformed so, too, has what constitutes a serious incident. During a debate in this House in 1971, the television programme "Garda Patrol" was...
- Seanad: Order of Business. (4 Jul 2006)
John Minihan: Senator Bannon will be gone fishing.