Results 10,001-10,020 of 20,831 for speaker:David Norris

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Jan 2013)

David Norris: -----that what has happened repeatedly is that sentences have been found to be too severe and returned on appeal when they have either been reduced or quashed. That is what we are dealing with. To blame the judge is utterly wrong and it is not a function of this House.

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Jan 2013)

David Norris: I say this as someone who has consistently spoken out on issues of child abuse and incest and all the rest of it. However, we do not do a service if we do not face the facts and if we let ourselves be driven by tabloid headlines. That is why the Judiciary deserves respect and, at the very least, to have its judgments examined and looked at dispassionately, not simply taken up from a...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Jan 2013)

David Norris: I was very taken by the fact that President Obama, for the first time, used the word "gay" in an inaugural speech. He also spoke about gay marriage. It is significant that an Irish priest has been silenced-----

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Jan 2013)

David Norris: -----and is about to be excommunicated for daring to raise questions. All we hear about is respectful dialogue. However, the agents of a curious state which, like the point in geometry, has a location but no dimension are attempting to force him, as happened during the Inquisition, to recant and violate his own conscience. How about that for bullying?

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Jan 2013)

David Norris: Will the Leader give an indication of when he would be prepared to take No. 36, motion 12, which is about the devastating war in the Congo? He indicated that he believed there was a possibility to put forward and pass an all-party motion early in this session. The motion has also gone through the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade. I add my voice to those who have raised the issue...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Jan 2013)

David Norris: Hear, hear. Two privacy Bills have been drawn up - my Bill and the Government's Bill. The Senator could push his own party on this legislation.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Jan 2013)

David Norris: It is not an exact science.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Jan 2013)

David Norris: The value of a house is its price on the day of the auction - nothing else.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Jan 2013)

David Norris: The Leader might have intended to give me some information about Private Members' business.

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Second Stage (23 Jan 2013)

David Norris: I would like to share time with Senator Feargal Quinn.

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Second Stage (23 Jan 2013)

David Norris: I welcome this Bill. The Minister of State in his opening remarks described it as a defining year for the taxi industry. It may be; it is certainly about time. It has been a complete and absolute mess and a large part of that mess comes from the Government and regulators. I remember speaking in this House on the question of the nine-year rule where taxi drivers were forced to get rid of...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2013: Second Stage (23 Jan 2013)

David Norris: She is interrupting herself.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2013: Second Stage (23 Jan 2013)

David Norris: I welcome the Minister of State, who is an old colleague and friend, to the House. I also welcome the legislation. It is quite appropriate that we should pay for what we use. I am less impressed by the fact that this appears to have been done at the diktat of the troika. I do not care for introducing this kind of force majeure into it. I have a few comments about the legislation. In...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2013: Second Stage (23 Jan 2013)

David Norris: I thank the Minister of State for his courtesy and for putting that on the record. The average cost was computed by an independent source at ¤370 per year. I welcome the legislation. By and large, it is a good idea, and I welcome that we should pay for what we consume. Any excess in the money raised should be used for the water services. I hope that any profits could be put towards...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2013: Second Stage (23 Jan 2013)

David Norris: It is a dangerous metaphor. He will be called a dead sheep next.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2013: Second Stage (23 Jan 2013)

David Norris: He supports the interruptions.

Seanad: Community Development: Motion (Resumed) (23 Jan 2013)

David Norris: I welcome the Minister of State. Even though I do not believe the motion is of particular concern to him as an individual Minister of State, he was his usual charming self in delivering his script. It seems there is a certain level of tick-tacking between one element of the Government and another. It is obvious from the warm welcome extended, the expression of thanks and so on that there...

Seanad: Community Development: Motion (Resumed) (23 Jan 2013)

David Norris: However, we have at least been spared the usual tit-for-tat point-scoring across the floor of the House, which is positive. With the regard to the amendment which I shall be supporting, it gets to the nub of the matter in terms of policing, a matter to which I will return. However, I express surprise that my Sinn Féin colleagues are seeking to delete all words after "between April and...

Seanad: Community Development: Motion (Resumed) (23 Jan 2013)

David Norris: I beg your pardon?

Seanad: Community Development: Motion (Resumed) (23 Jan 2013)

David Norris: I did not hear.