Results 81-100 of 447 for speaker:Brendan Kenneally

Seanad: Decentralisation Programme: Motion. (2 Jun 2004)

Brendan Kenneally: They know people want it because of the advantages it can bring to a town or city. However, they play politics with the issue in the House. They are not fooling anybody.

Seanad: Decentralisation Programme: Motion. (2 Jun 2004)

Brendan Kenneally: Perhaps, but I would not hold my breath on that one.

Seanad: Decentralisation Programme: Motion. (2 Jun 2004)

Brendan Kenneally: When decentralisation was first mooted, a decision was taken regarding the then Department of Posts and Telegraphs. The telegraphs part of it was to come to Waterford and the post end of it was to go to Dundalk. That never happened. Both sections were hived off to become An Post and Telecom Éireann. It was a matter of great frustration to me at the time.

Seanad: Decentralisation Programme: Motion. (2 Jun 2004)

Brendan Kenneally: We went around in circles trying to get Telecom Éireann to come to Waterford. In 1992, when I was Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Transport and Communications, I looked at the file on it and discovered that we would never get Telecom Éireann to decentralise because it did not want to go and, as matters stood, we could not make it do so. We then went after the Land Registry...

Seanad: Decentralisation Programme: Motion. (2 Jun 2004)

Brendan Kenneally: I accept there will be difficulties. Nobody suggested that problems would not arise. It is a huge undertaking and no one thought it would be straightforward. It will not be straightforward and more problems and difficulties that we have not yet even envisaged will arise.

Seanad: Decentralisation Programme: Motion. (2 Jun 2004)

Brendan Kenneally: However, we are determined to proceed. A great deal of misinformation has been put about. A Department carried out a trawl of its employees and inquired as to how many people wanted to decentralise to the location to which it proposes to move. It was stated that decentralisation would not work because so few people wanted to move to that location. However, when the Department of...

Seanad: Decentralisation Programme: Motion. (2 Jun 2004)

Brendan Kenneally: My final point relates to new agencies that are being established. Some of the legislation with which I have been dealing contains proposals to start various new agencies. As a matter of policy, all of these agencies should be located outside Dublin. They are all quite small at present but some of them could become the large semi-State organisations of the future. If we move them out of...

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Second Stage. (30 Jun 2004)

Brendan Kenneally: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and wholeheartedly welcome the Bill. The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources is to be congratulated on bringing forward this legislation which represents a decent effort to curb activities of mechanically propelled watercraft and which will regulate an element of our leisure sector which needs to be brought into line with...

Seanad: Order of Business. (2 Jul 2004)

Brendan Kenneally: A House debate on electricity generation would be timely. Some people may not be aware that there could be a difficulty later this year regarding the capacity of the ESB and other suppliers to meet demand. A couple of years ago, a new company, EirGrid, was set up to take over the running of the national grid. That has not yet been done. The idea was to create competition and reduce prices but...

Seanad: Disabled Person's Grant Scheme. (21 Oct 2004)

Brendan Kenneally: I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this matter and the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, for his attendance. The disabled person's grant scheme has been successful over the years and particularly helpful to some of the most vulnerable in society. Like all schemes, however, there comes a time for review and that time has arrived. There should be less bureaucracy in the operation of...

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 Oct 2004)

Brendan Kenneally: It would be useful to invite the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to the House — I realise he is new to his brief and has not yet come before us — to discuss the charges levied by mobile telephone operators which are much higher here than in any of our European neighbours or, as far as I can gather, any other country in the world. We have debated the matter at...

Seanad: Dumping at Sea (Amendment) Bill 2000 [[i]Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil[/i]]: Report and Final Stages. (28 Oct 2004)

Brendan Kenneally: There has been much debate and media attention about illegal dumping. There have been instances of domestic and commercial waste moving from the Republic of Ireland through the North and on to Scotland and elsewhere. I accept that this legislation has not yet been enacted. However, under the Dumping at Sea Act 1996, have prosecutions been taken in respect of people involved in moving domestic...

Seanad: Dumping at Sea (Amendment) Bill 2000 [[i]Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil[/i]]: Report and Final Stages (Resumed). (28 Oct 2004)

Brendan Kenneally: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House this morning. I am not sure if it is his first time in the House since he was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources but it is certainly his first time here on official marine business. He will not have to read into that brief because he has significant knowledge of it. Civil servants...

Seanad: National Sports Facilities: Statements. (3 Nov 2004)

Brendan Kenneally: I welcome my good friend the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Deputy O'Donoghue, back to the House. I am glad of the opportunity to participate in the debate. It would be impossible to speak about sporting facilities in Ireland without raising the vexed question of Croke Park. I am not going to tell the GAA what it should or should not do — that is not my business — but, like most, I...

Seanad: National Sports Facilities: Statements. (3 Nov 2004)

Brendan Kenneally: The Cathaoirleach does not have to say it, as he has already said so. A few years ago I recall a game of American football in Croke Park and games cannot get more foreign than that. Therefore a precedent has already been set for those type of games being played there. It will be detrimental if an Irish soccer team or an Irish rugby team has to play abroad because no grounds are available in...

Seanad: National Sports Facilities: Statements. (3 Nov 2004)

Brendan Kenneally: What is going on over there is ridiculous and one wonders why one should help such an organisation.

Seanad: National Sports Facilities: Statements. (3 Nov 2004)

Brendan Kenneally: Somebody rightly made the comment that the GAA is an amateur organisation run by professionals and the FAI is a professional organisation run by amateurs. That was proved today. In light of what happened in Lansdowne Road, I was a strong advocate of the Abbotstown project and I was disappointed when it did not proceed. While the stadium aspect is not going ahead the National Aquatic Centre is...

Seanad: Order of Business. (9 Nov 2004)

Brendan Kenneally: It would be useful to have a debate with the relevant Minister, whether the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment or the Minister for Finance, arising from a decision in the Italian High Court yesterday. The Italian director of consumer affairs took a case against the banks claiming they were treating their customers inequitably by applying only a yearly interest on deposits but...

Seanad: Hospital Services. (17 Nov 2004)

Brendan Kenneally: I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise this matter and I welcome the Minister of State to the House. This is an important matter for the people of Waterford and the south east region. I have never seen a region so united on any issue as the people of the south east are on this one. The Irish Society of Medical Oncologists has made the following submission to the National Cancer...

Seanad: Book of Estimates 2005: Statements. (24 Nov 2004)

Brendan Kenneally: I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Estimates. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy de Valera, to the House. The Estimates have become far more important than in the past. I have been a Member of the Oireachtas since 1989. For a long period, even though we had the Estimates and the Finance Act, everybody watched out for the budget. Over the years the Estimates have...