Results 1,221-1,240 of 16,492 for speaker:Ciarán Lynch

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2009)

Ciarán Lynch: The research commissioned by the select committee, which was passed on to the Minister, gave an interesting opinion on the system we have employed to date. It stated that our current system of electoral spending was like inviting two people to participate in a race, with one participant turning up on a bicycle and the other in a sports car. I hope this legislation will change this and move...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2009)

Ciarán Lynch: It could have. Some candidates have claimed opposing parties have robbed some of their posters and stuck them up after the election, thus attracting fines.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2009)

Ciarán Lynch: Awful things can happen. I advocate a common sense approach whereby a candidate would be given some indication that a poster is still up. If a candidate receives a telephone call about a poster, it will be taken down that evening. Nobody leaves posters up after an election deliberately. Deputy Michael Higgins is correct that the Minister should refrain completely from placing posters in...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2009)

Ciarán Lynch: Is that the island of Ireland, or just the Republic of Ireland?

Written Answers — Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (11 Mar 2009)

Ciarán Lynch: Question 43: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the steps he has taken to deliver the programme for Government commitment to establish a commission on climate change; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10153/09]

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (11 Mar 2009)

Ciarán Lynch: Question 97: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the decision of the German Constitutional Court to rule out the use of Nedap electronic voting machines similar to those in storage here on the grounds that it should be possible to check election procedures and results in a reliable fashion and without any particular...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

Ciarán Lynch: I move amendment No. 2: In page 3, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following: "(b) in subsection (1)(b) by inserting the following after subparagraph (ix)— "(x) expenditure incurred in preparing or publishing material on the internet, where the material was published prior to the period during which election expenses are to be calculated under this Act.".". The purpose of this...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

Ciarán Lynch: I thank the Minister for his extensive explanation and I thank his officials for taking the time to examine this matter. I realise that a website can be put in place specifically for the election period alone, which could be costed entirely as election expenditure. However, where there are previous press releases or even the loading of current press releases during the duration of a...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

Ciarán Lynch: I move amendment No. 3: In page 4, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following: "and (c) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (11): "(12) Where a political party incurs expenses and payments under this section as amended by the Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2009 on a local election to which that Act applies and in particular to which Part IIIA of this Act as...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

Ciarán Lynch: I have welcomed it.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

Ciarán Lynch: The Minister seems to be bringing us all around the House on this matter. He is going from 2009 to 1999 and 1997. We are well aware that when Deputy Howlin was the Minister in 1997 substantial changes were made, which were subsequently diluted and diminished by his successor, the Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, when a whole range of provisions that would have facilitated electoral control...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

Ciarán Lynch: Perhaps it has got something to do with the Litter Pollution Act 1997.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

Ciarán Lynch: On a point of information, I believe the incident can be viewed on the "Youtube" website.

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

Ciarán Lynch: Is he getting to the punch line?

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

Ciarán Lynch: I welcome the amendment and the move to the census reports. However, the issue of the link between the personal public service number, PPSN, registration system and the register of electors must be attended to, because the register of electors and the census figures for given areas are showing great disparities throughout the country. In some cases, there are more people on the register of...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

Ciarán Lynch: I move amendment No. 6: In page 6, line 1, to delete "50" and substitute "182". On behalf of the Labour Party, I moved a Private Members' Bill more than one year ago on the issue of electoral spending. Earlier in his address, I note the Minister mentioned and gave credit to the Labour Party as the party which has consistently called for this move and that it has been a driving force on this...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

Ciarán Lynch: There is no legal difficulty with the amendments, nor do problems arise in the context of retrospection. While I accept this is new legislation and its implementation in the coming months will give rise to difficulties, it is in the nature of legislation that minor difficulties and anomalies will emerge. The fundamental principle arising from the amendments is whether the Minister is...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

Ciarán Lynch: I move amendment No. 7: In page 6, line 2, to delete "60" and substitute "365".

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

Ciarán Lynch: The principle behind section 4 is setting a timeline for election spending. After listening to the previous speaker, I am at a loss as to the direction in which this debate is proceeding. My colleagues in the Joint Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government agreed that election spending should be measured and limited. Various suggestions were made regarding methodologies...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2009)

Ciarán Lynch: I move amendment No. 8: In page 7, before section 9, to insert the following new section: "9.—The Schedule to the Act of 1999 is amended in paragraph 1(a) by the insertion after "disseminating such advertising" of "and in this paragraph, 'advertising' in the case of advertising in any newspaper or other periodical publication means advertising in a publication which was first published...