Results 1,201-1,220 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Seanad: Order of Business. (4 Mar 2008)

Shane Ross: It is a question of language. If we have that debate we must be very focused and look also at Iran and other countries in that area which are guilty of atrocities of which we cannot approve either. If we are to have a debate, it must be balanced. I agree with Senator Quinn about financial regulation. Regulation in this country is ridiculous and is out of hand. I do not know whether the...

Seanad: Pharmaceutical Pricing: Statements (4 Mar 2008)

Shane Ross: I thank Senator Quinn for sharing his time with me, particularly as I do not agree with a word he said, something of which he was perhaps unaware when he generously agreed to my request. I see this as a kind of David and Goliath struggle, with the HSE on one side and the pharmacists on the other. An unequal battle is taking place because the weapons the pharmacists must use are very...

Seanad: Pharmaceutical Pricing: Statements (4 Mar 2008)

Shane Ross: ——whereas the pharmacists have virtually no bodies to do this work for them. The survey undertaken by the pharmacists indicates the consequences of the action proposed will be far more severe than the spin which emanates from the Department and the HSE. The number of closures, possible unemployment and the cost to rural communities will be immense and ultimately unacceptable.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Mar 2008)

Shane Ross: Senator Harris put his finger on it to some extent when he said we waste valuable time making speeches in the House for very local and parochial reasons, particularly this week when this is the only House of the Oireachtas sitting and we could use our time particularly well. It seems to me that we have missed out on one issue which is rocking the world, and it is extraordinary it has not...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Mar 2008)

Shane Ross: This reflects very badly on the Seanad. We have two sitting days, today and tomorrow, and we can sit on Friday, if necessary. Could we have the Minister for Finance to the House to explain the Government's attitude to what is a major financial crisis and what it is doing about it? Ordinary people are walking the streets asking, "What does this mean to me?"

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Mar 2008)

Shane Ross: The Government is keeping its head in the sand and saying, "Don't worry. Don't panic". That is wrong. We should be panicking. This is a time for panic. Across the road from Leinster House today, RTE union members are meeting to ask about their pensions. The Irish stock market is down 40%. People are worried that they will not get their pensions at all — they are wrong, but they are...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Mar 2008)

Shane Ross: They do not know what are the implications for themselves and we have the opportunity to offer them that. I ask him to do that.

Seanad: Health Services (20 Mar 2008)

Shane Ross: In the spirit of goodwill being expressed by all parties in the House, I do not doubt that the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government will accede to my request in a fit of Easter generosity. I wish to raise the issue of the need for the Department of Health and Children to secure core funding for the Irish Osteoporosis Society. It is obviously a delicate matter when one...

Seanad: Health Services (20 Mar 2008)

Shane Ross: I realise that this is not the Minister's portfolio so a detailed question would be inappropriate and unfair. However, the Minister's reply was not encouraging and when he says there is a Department, a council, a steering committee, the HSE and a sub-group, all in a few sentences, then we are not going very far. It is a giveaway that this issue will be submerged in bureaucracy. That is a...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Apr 2008)

Shane Ross: I agree with what Senator Leyden said in at least one respect, namely, his remark that the 12.5% tax rate is worthy of a debate in this House. The Cathaoirleach interrupted him to say that this could be raised in the debate on the Lisbon treaty. It has nothing to do with the treaty. I know it probably will be part of that debate but the danger is that it will become a red herring and a...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Apr 2008)

Shane Ross: I would guess that it would also be the same in the Dáil and among virtually every person in Ireland. Let us have no more truck with the French on this issue. The Minister for Foreign Affairs should also come to the House to discuss the issue of Tibet, which was raised by Senator O'Toole, because it is a matter of immediate importance. Senator O'Toole has ploughed this furrow with a great...

Seanad: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (9 Apr 2008)

Shane Ross: I raise the need for the Minister for Education and Science to implement the programme for Government relating to class sizes in both primary and secondary schools, reducing pupil-teacher ratio to the appropriate level of 24 pupils per teacher. I salute the teachers of Ireland for their recent concentration on the pupil-teacher ratio. It was refreshing to witness the union conferences at...

Seanad: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (9 Apr 2008)

Shane Ross: I note the most important sentence in the Minister of State's reply, namely, "The Minister for Education and Science has made it clear that while she would have liked to have been able to reduce primary class sizes further for the next school year that simply was not possible in the present economic circumstances". That indicates to me that the pupils of Ireland are the first casualties of...

Seanad: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (9 Apr 2008)

Shane Ross: Including this one?

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Apr 2008)

Shane Ross: I also wish to be associated with the tributes to former President Hillery. I regret that I was unable to attend the funeral yesterday. However, it is appropriate that everyone should pay tribute to this man who was, in his quiet way, as great a President as we have had. I also wish to ask the Leader of the House to facilitate a full debate on financial regulation. While it sounds like a...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Apr 2008)

Shane Ross: We have accepted the findings of the courts.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (17 Apr 2008)

Shane Ross: Oh, no.

Seanad: Schools Building Projects: Motion (23 Apr 2008)

Shane Ross: I second the motion and I thank Senator O'Toole for tabling it in the name of the Independent Senators. He has put his finger on a serious problem. While we pay lip-service to education, I see real dangers and a similarity between the state of Irish education and the state of the Irish economy when the Celtic tiger started taking off. What we seem to have had in 1993 was a tremendous boom...

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Apr 2008)

Shane Ross: Bullshit.

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Apr 2008)

Shane Ross: Senator Coghlan spoke on the issue which I wish to raise. It was also raised by one of the Senators on the Government side of the House last week. What has happened to the auctioneering Bill? It has been promised for years. Senator O'Toole and I brought up this matter approximately five years ago and it has been promised every year since then. It is relevant today because, as I am sure...