Results 1,301-1,320 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: Senator John Crown was in Galway last night and spoke well. It is hard to overlook the presence of the Senator at a meeting, but I am afraid I did so. The record should show he was present.

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Mr. David Begg (25 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I join the Leader and others in welcoming Mr. David Begg. It is a reunion, in a sense, because for several years on Friday mornings we heard the thoughts of Mr. Begg at the National Economic and Social Council, NESC. They were always carefully prepared and forcefully argued proposals for economic improvement. The tutorial has resumed, updated from the period when I left the NESC. At that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Matters Relating to the Economy: Discussion with Governor of Central Bank (25 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome my former colleague from Trinity College. When we started out, were letters ever intended to be part of resolution? The reason I ask that question is that when the banks were before the committee they said that this was a really good trick and that they invented the idea of the letters so as to postpone matters. There was almost a smirk on the faces of the bankers. A letter...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Matters Relating to the Economy: Discussion with Governor of Central Bank (25 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: On the issue of loan-to-value and debt-to-income ratios, now that this hopefully is being done much more sensibly than in the past, one could state in retrospect that by such rules, a loan was reckless. One could state there is no point in pursuing a case to get €340,000 out of a person who has an income of €34,000 and that this was reckless as defined by the rules now in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Matters Relating to the Economy: Discussion with Governor of Central Bank (25 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: Certainly not. However, I believe there is a problem in this regard, which members may discuss in a different context. Certainly, however, the witnesses were impressive in their lack of acknowledgement of the damage they have done to the country. An absence of basic economics was a feature of all the representatives of the banks who appeared before the joint committee and it would be...

Seanad: Business of Seanad (26 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: In view of the Government's proposal to reform the Dáil - which we are supposed to be obstructing in this House, which is the reason it has to be abolished - I draw the attention of the House to a message that arrived this morning at 10.13 a.m. inviting Deputies who wish to make amendments on Report Stage of the Taxi Regulation Bill to submit them by 11 a.m., as the debate is taking...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: This is a highly flawed Bill which requires amendment. It is yet another example of the contempt of the Executive for both Houses of Parliament. I note the intervention in a domestic debate about the future of this House by Baron Hattersley of Sparkbrook. I do not know if he is sparking on all cylinders, but he says today that the Seanad is like the House of Lords, as no-one pays a blind...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I say to his lordship that there are 550 amendments to prove the contrary. When one looks through his biography, it states that in 2008, Roy Hattersley appeared in a documentary on the DVD for the "Dr. Who" serial. "Dr. Who do you think you are"? is my response to his intervention in the affairs of this House. Baron Hattersley is the biographer of Lloyd George, who set up the Senate with...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I think so. I think The Gathering has welcomed one person who seems to have landed in the wrong country. I have asked my constituent and colleague in Northern Ireland, Dr. Jeff Dudgeon, to take up with Richard Haass and Dr. Meghan O'Sullivan who are currently investigating the causes of unrest and distress in Northern Ireland, the way the Taoiseach treats my Northern Ireland constituents....

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: There is one Björn every minute, I think.

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: Will the Senator pay €20 million to go up?

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: We will defend that right.

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: Fewer Fine Gael politicians.

Seanad: Tackling Bullying in Schools: Statements (Resumed) (26 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister, who has been a frequent attender of the House. His heart is in the right place as regards bullying, as stated by Senators Power and Conway. The Minister will always have our support when dealing with the issues of bullying. Most cyberbullying is carried out by people who were bullies anyway - we were a bit obsessed by technology when the issue first arose - but that...

Seanad: Tackling Bullying in Schools: Statements (Resumed) (26 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: Yes. In this House legitimate chastisement is verbal and quietly spoken. We do not want to set a bad example. Young people and small people will perceive our good example as the proper way to resolve disputes. I recall the great Dr. Owen Sheehy-Skeffington - in a way, I am his successor - who came to the Seanad at a time when abuse, bullying and beating of children was acceptable and we...

Seanad: Tackling Bullying in Schools: Statements (Resumed) (26 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: That is the extreme red card. This was contained in her speech of 11 May and she mentioned that possibility. It might be the equivalent of the black card which is to be introduced by the GAA for cynical behaviour, to be used for the perpetrators of bullying to participate in some form of aggression replacement therapy, together with their families, if necessary. She made the point that...

Seanad: Tackling Bullying in Schools: Statements (Resumed) (26 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister. I also thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for his indulgence. In regard to the report on anti-bullying procedures, September 2013, research suggests children with disabilities and special educational needs are more likely to be bullied than others. That presents an incredible challenge to everybody in the House. It stops one in one's tracks when one reads that people...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Oct 2013)

Sean Barrett: Shameful behaviour.