Results 1,001-1,020 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Order of Business (30 May 2013)

Sean Barrett: I note today that the EU Commission has urged the Government to confront a re-emergence of the lax lending standards in the banking system. The Commission has warned that it has found fresh signs of these lax standards in the recent past. I have asked the Leader to bring to the attention of the Government and the EU Commission that the Seanad has taken a strong stand on this. This is why...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Sean Barrett: Senator Norris will be voting against the Bill. I would like to welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Alex White. In the Report of Review Group on State Assets and Liabilities published in April 2011, the national development plan forecast that real GDP would be 42% higher in 2013 than is now expected. We have a political culture to spend the 42% we do not have. Nobody wants to be in...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (30 May 2013)

Sean Barrett: Yes.

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (30 May 2013)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 27: In page 14, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following subsection: “(3) The pay reductions in this Act shall apply to all bodies in receipt of state subventions, subsidies and transfers including those in the Schedule to the Act of 2009.”.I welcome the Minister to the House. It is frequently stated in the House that where the chief executives of...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (30 May 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister and will not push the amendments. As he said, there are items in there that are debates for another day. I believe measures to regulate charities are being considered at present. I wish the Minister every success with the €250,000 cap.

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (30 May 2013)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 28: In page 14, subsection (1), between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following:"(e) an actuarial assessment of the impact of this reduction in pension related deductions will be published annually.".This is a brief amendment. The Minister earlier a reduction of €125 in the pension levy. The concern I have is based on the report of the review group on State...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (30 May 2013)

Sean Barrett: I will not press the amendment. I again thank the Minister for his elucidation and determination to build a properly funded pensions scheme.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Jun 2013)

Sean Barrett: The Senator's side started it.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Jun 2013)

Sean Barrett: Members on all sides of the House have been concerned with improving the standard of mathematics in this country. Based on the statements made this morning on "Morning Ireland" by Ms Catherine Lewis of Rathdown School and the Irish Mathematics Teachers Association, yesterday was not a great day for anyone. The House is united on this issue and has assisted the Minister, Deputy Quinn, and...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Jun 2013)

Sean Barrett: I urge the Leader to draw those matters to the attention of the Ministers, Deputy Quinn and Deputy Bruton and the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, because promoting ourselves as a high-technology economy and making those kind of mistakes - to the demoralisation of young people - is damaging to the country. We are all agreed on that. There is expertise in that the Minister himself is an...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Jun 2013)

Sean Barrett: I note that the library in the summit venue is named the Senator Gordon Wilson Library. I am sure the G8 will be as inspired by Gordon Wilson as we were when he was a Member of this House. I wish the summit every success. Having Gordon Wilson so honoured by the G8 in the choice of venue and the naming of the library after him is a tribute to a great man whom we sorely miss in our deliberations.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Jun 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Cathaoirleach's decision to accept Senator Clune's motion on the Adjournment regarding the leaving certificate problems encountered yesterday and discussed thoroughly in the House. This is the second morning in a row that the State Examination Commission, SEC, has declined to appear on "Morning Ireland". The damage done to young people by the mistakes in the mathematics paper...

Seanad: Youth Unemployment: Motion (12 Jun 2013)

Sean Barrett: I wish to share time with Senator Mooney, who will speak first.

Seanad: Youth Unemployment: Motion (12 Jun 2013)

Sean Barrett: I join with those who have thanked our Sinn Féin colleagues for putting down this motion, as it is very important that we discuss these matters. Our problem is that we have an "insider-outsider" labour market and it is all designed to protect those with jobs. The people outside have borne the burden, with 143,000 people under 25 emigrating in the last four years. We would be in...

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister to the House and always have wished him well in his reform agenda. As for this one, I refer to the attempt at an internal devaluation, given we do not have a currency to devalue externally. In itself, that opens up issues as to the reasons we did not read the small print before joining up with the single currency. However, it is very difficult where one has an...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: State Examinations Issues (12 Jun 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister to the House. We are all on the same side. Not that long ago the Minister wished 116,845 people good luck in the examinations. We had a very good discussion in the House yesterday but it was overshadowed by much less creative events. Mistakes were made and the apologies so far have been like those give by one senior counsel to another. This is the State apologising...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: State Examinations Issues (12 Jun 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister for yet again illustrating his hands-on approach to these matters. The suggestion of announcing that there is a mistake in something in writing is not good enough. When these errors are discovered after printing we should be able to print erratum slips to deal with that because I can imagine difficulties arising under examination conditions if an announcement is made in...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Jun 2013)

Sean Barrett: I wish to relate to the House how much the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, appreciated the interventions of this House on the examinations in response to a matter Senator Clune raised on the Adjournment. It is fair to say that he is firmly on the side of students but he will convey the deliberations of this House to the review of what went wrong with the leaving certificate....

Seanad: Hospital Services: Statements (13 Jun 2013)

Sean Barrett: I would like to hear the Minister also. I welcome the Minister and reiterate our support for what he is doing on tobacco. I note that under a previous Leader of his party, he would be expelled for voting for his own Bill on the branding of tobacco. I believe he is against plain packaging. We will be on the Minister's side on that issue. We are moving in the right direction in the health...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Jun 2013)

Sean Barrett: The Chancellor of the Exchequer in the UK said the issue of corporate taxation has moved more in the past 24 hours than in the previous 24 years. I draw the attention of the House to an OECD report produced in May on base erosion and profit shifting. A follow-up volume was produced for Enniskillen, entitled A Step Change in Tax Transparency. It goes forward to the July meeting of the G20....