Results 1,361-1,380 of 7,640 for speaker:Rónán Mullen

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jan 2011)

Rónán Mullen: There was another fine hearing yesterday when the Irish Human Rights Commission appeared before the Joint Committee on Health and Children in light of the commission's report into services at the John Paul Centre for intellectual disability in Galway. Key recommendations of that report have not been acted on by Government, including in regard to problems of overcrowding, under-funding,...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jan 2011)

Rónán Mullen: I will finish on the this point. Mr. Maurice Manning, a former Senator, and Professor William Binchy attended yesterday. They deserve to be complimented on their work but they also deserve to be supported by this House in asking those kinds of questions. It is greatly to be regretted that we are not in a position to ask the hard questions in the way we need to because of the chaos that has...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2011)

Rónán Mullen: The tablets are out of date.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2011)

Rónán Mullen: When Senator Walsh mentioned the British aristocracy, I thought he was going to talk about the Sinn Féin candidate for Louth. I am very glad he mentioned Lord Nicholas Windsor, who is an eloquent advocate of the need to protect the dignity of human life at all stages from conception to natural death. By raising this very important issue today, Senator Walsh highlights the Seanad working at...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2011)

Rónán Mullen: Above all, I want to ask the Leader the following question.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2011)

Rónán Mullen: Is it not the case that the real failure was that time and again, Seanadóirí failed to stand up for the privileges of the Seanad? They failed to stand up to party leaders. The next Seanad must not seek to be radical rather than redundant.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2011)

Rónán Mullen: It must be seek to be independent rather than redundant.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2011)

Rónán Mullen: We will not be well served by a future Seanad composed of members of the governing parties who seek only to do the wishes of the rulers of those parties.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Jan 2011)

Rónán Mullen: I listened with interest to what Senator O'Toole had to say. The point on which we all agree is that there needs to be clarity about the bonuses people are getting, the precise mechanism by which they get their bonuses and what is required for them to get the bonuses. Senator White is right to bring forward this recommendation, but there are certain problems with it. I tend to agree with...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed). (29 Jan 2011)

Rónán Mullen: I too support Senator Regan's recommendation, and my colleagues have spoken eloquently about this issue. We live in dangerous times. Because the country finds itself effectively in an economic state of emergency there is a temptation at times such as these to take draconian measures, just as there is a temptation at a time when people are frustrated with the workings of the Oireachtas, for...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed). (29 Jan 2011)

Rónán Mullen: The Minister is shutting the stable door after the horse is shot.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Report and Final Stages (29 Jan 2011)

Rónán Mullen: I find myself not in a position to support this recommendation although I do not suspect for the same reasons as the Minister. I also find it odd to hear sweeping references to every Member in this House being in favour of the civil partnership legislation passed last summer. I am sure Senator Hanafin feels like me that we have been cast into the cellar of Seanad memory.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Report and Final Stages (29 Jan 2011)

Rónán Mullen: It may be, of course, that the debate on the legislation in question was run through so fast that some find it difficult to recall how some Members felt. This recommendation probably teeters on – if not falls over – the brink of unconstitutionality. The Minister rightly expressed some caution this morning about whether another amendment would impact on the status of the Finance Bill as a...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Report and Final Stages (29 Jan 2011)

Rónán Mullen: Senator Regan is to be congratulated on his attention to detail. At the time of the civil partnership legislation, there was a degree of ill-will shown to those who had objections to the Bill and sought specifics on it. There was also a desire to have press conferences and other unseemly and unparliamentary activities.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Report and Final Stages (29 Jan 2011)

Rónán Mullen: The reason I raise this is that I would have liked to have had the opportunity during the civil partnership legislation to put on record how much I would support the granting of certain rights and privileges normally associated with marriage, including in the area of taxation, to non-marital situations. For example, there are cases of people living in a mutually dependent situation, loving...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Report and Final Stages (29 Jan 2011)

Rónán Mullen: The Minister is going somewhat easy on the Green Party.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Report and Final Stages (29 Jan 2011)

Rónán Mullen: The Minister is in government.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Report and Final Stages (29 Jan 2011)

Rónán Mullen: In Dublin South.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Report and Final Stages (29 Jan 2011)

Rónán Mullen: Senator Norris's memory is faulty.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Report and Final Stages (29 Jan 2011)

Rónán Mullen: That was not actually said.