Results 801-820 of 4,717 for speaker:Martin Mansergh

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Martin Mansergh: The historian in me cannot help but observe the irony that a century or two ago, Trinity College proved to have the overwhelming number of placemen, apart from those who were brought from across the water. As the Duke of Wellington once observed when he was young, every gentleman in Ireland had his price.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Martin Mansergh: As Shakespeare observed: "Thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges." We now have the reign of virtue and sea-green incorruptibility from Trinity, which is probably a very good thing.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Martin Mansergh: If carefully looked at, the motion refers to reforming——

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Martin Mansergh: Does the Senator have any manners at all?

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Martin Mansergh: College lout.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Martin Mansergh: One sometimes hears reservations expressed about democracy in this State. There is a feeling that people ought to have a stake in the country or that the best people, however defined, have to be appointed. I am glad to say we have an egalitarian democracy and people from all walks of life and different levels of expertise can represent us on these bodies. I am very proud, as I believe most of...

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Martin Mansergh: Yes, some of the train services are very good also, although I accept that not all of them are. The vast majority of the organisations I mentioned made a major contribution to the economic life of the country and still do. One should judge governance by its results. Prisons were mentioned. There is a great prison reform programme in place, which will involve the building of new prisons. I...

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Martin Mansergh: Ministers make nominations from many different sources. Some appointments they make are on the recommendation of particular bodies or sectors. Therefore, all appointments are not at Ministers' discretion. It is important that appointees to boards broadly share the objectives of the Government and are of like mind with it. The Leader, when she was a Minister, had some difficulties with one...

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Martin Mansergh: ——with bonuses and dividends.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Martin Mansergh: You were referring to people getting remuneration——

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Martin Mansergh: ——which is barely equivalent to the minimum wage.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Martin Mansergh: I will address the Chair. These people do not belong to any golden circle. In many cases, public sector governance compares remarkably well to private sector governance and, to be fair to Senator Ross, he sometimes makes this point in his Sunday Independent column. He is not uncritical of the private sector in that regard. Of course political affiliation should not be the sole or the main...

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Martin Mansergh: We all know many people who are constantly lobbying for State appointments and who are unsuccessful. One must have and should have qualifications. If there are examples in which this is not the case, attention should be drawn to them. On higher education, I had a meeting with some heads of universities recently and they told me the problem was not with the political appointees, because they...

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Second Stage. (11 Mar 2004)

Martin Mansergh: I welcome the Minister and his officials. This is an important, substantial and, perhaps slightly unusually, cost-reducing Bill. I will dwell for a moment on its economic importance. It is obviously about reducing the cost of insurance claims and — something on which the Minister may not have placed undue emphasis — associated legal costs and, by extension, the costs on business. There is...

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Mar 2004)

Martin Mansergh: It is about sandbags——

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Mar 2004)

Martin Mansergh: On a point of order, have we started Second Stage of the Social Welfare Bill on the Order of Business?

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Mar 2004)

Martin Mansergh: The Senator can squeeze to his heart's content on the Bill.

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Mar 2004)

Martin Mansergh: We will provide seconds.

Seanad: Finance Bill (Certified Money Bill) 2004: Second Stage. (23 Mar 2004)

Martin Mansergh: What is wrong with that? That is not a tax.

Seanad: Finance Bill (Certified Money Bill) 2004: Second Stage. (23 Mar 2004)

Martin Mansergh: I warmly welcome to the House the Minister and his officials, former colleagues of mine on the tax strategy group. The Minister for Finance is now the longest serving Finance Minister since the 1930s and there is no doubt that he has made an impact, which both friend and foe will agree is greater than any of his predecessors. His period in office since 1997 coincides, but is not coincidental,...