Results 1,041-1,060 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Seanad: Roads Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Second Stage (7 Mar 2007)

Shane Ross: I know. I am well and truly injured. There is an unanswerable case for opening them now and paying an additional amount, which I presume would be only approximately €75 million. If the Minister is going to spend approximately €1 billion on this, which is the kind of inflation-linked calculation he would come up with, he might as well spend an additional €75 million to open those...

Seanad: Roads Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Second Stage (7 Mar 2007)

Shane Ross: Presumably the Minister will get a chance to reply.

Seanad: Roads Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Second Stage (7 Mar 2007)

Shane Ross: Why must we ensure that these roads are built and repaired only between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.? I could only use one lane when I travelled back from the airport the other day.

Seanad: Roads Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Second Stage (7 Mar 2007)

Shane Ross: We are talking about one single lane on the largest traffic jam in Europe. Nobody is using the process to ensure that Saturday, Sunday, evening and night work is carried out. This could be done. Plenty of people are prepared to do this work. I rest my case.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (20 Mar 2007)

Shane Ross: I wish to raise a matter that has been raised in the House many times previously and is particularly topical this week, namely, the situation in Zimbabwe. I congratulate the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, who has already protested about the unrest and the deprivation of human rights there. However, the situation is now becoming critical. All Members will be aware the...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (20 Mar 2007)

Shane Ross: I see no reason the Minister and the Government should not go on a solo run to make that protest, and not simply within the EU. Ireland has an honourable record on the issue of human rights and should capitalise on it. In recent times, events there have been particularly ugly and apart from the action by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, international reaction has been disappointing. One...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (20 Mar 2007)

Shane Ross: Members are aware that he has fiddled his own elections to keep himself in power and that he is torturing opposition to him. It would be honourable for Ireland, as an independent nation, to make a meaningful protest on this issue.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Mar 2007)

Shane Ross: I will speak of more mundane matters. I seek a debate on an issue which is presumably dear to everybody in this House, namely, planning matters. A recent case highlighted in the press reached a new low. In County Wicklow a farmer objected to the erection of two new windows by a man in a house on the grounds the sheep might be looking in.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Mar 2007)

Shane Ross: No, it was sheep.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Mar 2007)

Shane Ross: It is possible cows may have got through but they were not included. This appeal was sustained by An Bord Pleanála and when the houseowner offered to put in reinforced glass it was also turned down by the planners.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Mar 2007)

Shane Ross: Exactly. It was not in the interests of the sheep or the cows. We have reached a ridiculous point in planning. Planners, particularly An Bord Pleanála, should be accountable to someone, perhaps this House. This is not the only case of animals being more important than humans in planning matters. I wish to raise another, perhaps more serious, issue which was already discussed by Senator...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Mar 2007)

Shane Ross: Employers behave extremely irresponsibly on this matter. The Irish Business and Employers Confederation is an apologist for the food industry which has raised prices to an unforgivable level. This should not be allowed and should be investigated. Employers also behave irresponsibly with regard to banks and credit cards and this is another area which should be examined. It contributes to...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Mar 2007)

Shane Ross: I echo the tributes paid to people here and in Northern Ireland following the extraordinary agreement reached yesterday between the two largest parties. One or two individuals were not singled out for their contribution to this amazing achievement over the years. One of the sad results of yesterday's agreement is that many of the moderates have been sidelined. Whereas the extremists may...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Mar 2007)

Shane Ross: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Mar 2007)

Shane Ross: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Mar 2007)

Shane Ross: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Situation in Zimbabwe. (27 Mar 2007)

Shane Ross: I raise this matter relating to the Government of Zimbabwe in the full knowledge that Ireland has a proud tradition of resisting oppression in Africa and has often raised its voice in this regard independent of other nations, particularly regarding the oppressive regime in South Africa in the 1980s. This is something we have rightly trumpeted and we now have an opportunity to influence a...

Seanad: Situation in Zimbabwe. (27 Mar 2007)

Shane Ross: I appreciate the Minister of State's reply and I am aware of his good will on this issue. I also appreciate that the Government's policy appears to be to support African governments which wish to correct the inequities in the Zimbabwean regime. Is it Government policy that those responsible for state torture in Zimbabwe should be held accountable for their actions to the world community,...

Seanad: Northern Ireland: Motion (4 Apr 2007)

Shane Ross: One of the remarkable facts about this peace process is not that it was so slow, but that it was so fast. It is only 12 years since it started with the first ceasefire. To have come so far so quickly is an extraordinary tribute to people. As Senator Hayes said, we have taken two steps forward and one step back. We have had setbacks at every stage. However, in approximately 12 years, we...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Apr 2007)

Shane Ross: As everybody in the House knows, the Dáil will be dissolved soon whereas the Seanad will not be and the business of Government will go on. In view of the fact that many Members of the Seanad have raised issues they want debated, could the time be used when this House is still in session and the Dáil is not to debate those matters which several Senators wish to have debated? There is a...