Results 781-800 of 31,239 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 13: In page 53, column 3, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following: "(n) credit union affairs.". We have had a lot of discussion on this in the House and many Members have raised concerns about the need to strike a balance between the needs of the credit union movement and the broader regulatory duties that the organisation will have. We understand the role the...

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 15: In page 53, column 3, between lines 42 and 43, to insert the following: "(4) No person shall be appointed for more than two terms.". It is important in an organisation such as this, when the financial world is so fast moving and the organisation which it seeks to regulate is so sophisticated, that there should be some mandatory turnover of people who are at the head...

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 17: In page 56, column 3, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: "(2) In publishing its proposed levies, it shall publish an impact assessment of the proposed levies including relevant comparisons of cost effectiveness of its operations with comparator countries.". This amendment seeks to ensure that the new Central Bank, in the reports it will produce, makes...

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 18: In page 60, column 3, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following: "(c) the benchmarks or domestic and/or international comparison against which its regulatory performance should be viewed,". There have been occasions in which the advice Ministers received was so overwhelming that they had no choice but to follow it. The amendments provide that any advice...

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I concur with Senator Ross on this point and made a similar point on Second Stage. I propose to respond to the Minister's argument that we are damaging the reputation of politics and proposing to undermine the independence of the Central Bank. I disagree completely because I do not for one moment suggest that politics is bad. I am proud and pleased to be a politician and any inference to...

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: This is not a matter of people failing to show respect to the institutions of the State. That does not drive the points Senator Ross and I have made. The Fianna Fáil Party has made appointments in a manner that does not show respect for State institutions.

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: It is a fact, rather than an opinion, that appointments were made by the Fianna Fáil Party in the past ten years that did not show respect for State institutions.

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I am aware of that. I am responding to a point made by Senator MacSharry and I contend that this issue is relevant to the spirit of the debate. A range of mechanisms are available for making the appointments. In this country and elsewhere advertisements are placed in the media inviting people to put forward their name for positions and selection is made by a body on which politicians do...

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: That is what the Senator said. I have been misquoted.

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 23: In page 83, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following: "This Part shall not come into effect until an order for its commencement is approved by both Houses of the Oireachtas. The Minister shall, at the same time making such an Order, publish a report on the impact of this Part on Credit Unions in Ireland generally.". There has been discussion among many Members...

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Minister for his contribution. I understand the changes made to the Bill on Report Stage in the Dáil. They were helpfully detailed by the Minister for Finance earlier. That said, we believe the issues raised are legitimate and the amendment deserving of support.

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: On the note of bankers, last night on the Second Stage debate on the Central Bank Reform Bill 2010, the Minister, Deputy Brian Lenihan, indicated he would be laying down the orders of reference for the new banking investigation before the summer recess. He indicated he would do so in this House. Given that the Dáil will no longer sit after this week, I ask the Leader if he is aware of the...

Seanad: Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Bill 2009: Second Stage (7 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I am proud to make my contribution in the wake of one such as that made by Senator Boyle.

Seanad: Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Bill 2009: Second Stage (7 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: This is an important and good day for the Seanad and the Oireachtas in general, particularly given the passage of legislation of this nature. I wish to outline the reasons my party and I are supporting the Bill. I also wish to examine some of the arguments made to the effect that passage of the Bill is a bad development and that it will in some way harm our society. The personal insight...

Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Sep 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: Senator Bradford hit the nail on the head with his request for a new tone of debate. I wish to pick up on his request and put two questions to the Leader. There is a growing fatalism in the discussion on the future of the country and its economic security. The most concrete example I have of this is the number of commentators who say or infer it would be an acceptable course of action for...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Sep 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I wish to pick up on the theme raised by Senator Fitzgerald about the challenge our country is facing. I was listening to the radio this morning and heard what was going on as I was on my way to drop off my young son at primary school which he has been attending for three weeks. Young life is full of possibility. Schoolchildren are going to a place that is secure, provided for by the...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Sep 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: We must find a new way of working together and create new institutions and a new culture that will make that happen. A definition of insanity is often offered to be to do the same thing again and again and to expect a different result. We are facing such a crisis in our country that it is incumbent on all of us to reflect on how we do our business and to find a way to change that to keep...

Seanad: Order of Business. (6 Oct 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: That is not happening over here.

Seanad: Order of Business. (6 Oct 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I was very much taken with Senator Mary White informing us she had been preaching from the pulpit last Sunday. Will she clarify if she is a candidate for the priesthood as well as for the presidency?

Seanad: Order of Business. (6 Oct 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I want to raise the matter of the relationship between the Government and the Opposition, one which I raised last week. I am glad I did because it has caused some debate since then. I raise it in the context of the call for a debate by Senator Boyle on the four-year agreement that will be negotiated between the Government and the European Commission. I have three questions for the Leader....