Results 1,441-1,460 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross
- Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2009)
Shane Ross: It is an extraordinary situation. I do not apologise for making political points because this Government is somehow paralysed. It is constantly taking the cowardly course and refusing to take unpopular or, sometimes, popular decisions on its own. I ask the Government to start governing, accept the mandate the people gave it nearly two years ago and get on with it for the sake of the...
- Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2009)
Shane Ross: The Senator is in trouble. He should withdraw that.
- Seanad: Order of Business (5 Feb 2009)
Shane Ross: I endorse some of the cries for a national effort, whether one calls it national government or solidarity among the parties. There is a sense of urgency in this House, among both Government and Opposition, about the emergency situation we face. In Northern Ireland, when they were trying to make the big leap they said they would all jump together. If we are prepared to make sacrifices, it...
- Seanad: Order of Business (5 Feb 2009)
Shane Ross: It is unforgivable that it should happen at this time. This is a well-paid workforce where people earn up to â¬70,000 per year, with some, I suspect, earning a great deal more. This body is owned by the Government, although a semantic defence is put that it is private sector under partnership. That is nonsense. The ESB is owned and controlled by the Government. It was refreshing to hear...
- Seanad: Stabilisation of the Public Finances: Statements (5 Feb 2009)
Shane Ross: With the permission of the House, I will share time with Senators Bacik and O'Toole.
- Seanad: Stabilisation of the Public Finances: Statements (5 Feb 2009)
Shane Ross: I was struck by Senator O'Malley's comments. Regardless of some of the debate's party political spats, we must recognise that we are facing a large schism in society. The situation is fundamental. According to Senator O'Malley, she was raised at a time when all her generation did was save money to go abroad, a situation she never wants to recur. While it is now recurring, it is worse in...
- Seanad: Stabilisation of the Public Finances: Statements (5 Feb 2009)
Shane Ross: Perhaps I could have ten minutes and give Senator O'Toole eight and Senator Bacik two, or seven and three.
- Seanad: Stabilisation of the Public Finances: Statements (5 Feb 2009)
Shane Ross: I thank the Cathaoirleach. We are not in an alarming situation with multinationals but we will desperately need them. The main reason for their coming to the country, apart from the young educated labour force, is the 12.5% corporation tax. People who have ideological difficulties with that should not because the multinationals have produced employment on a scale that we could not have...
- Seanad: School Staffing (5 Feb 2009)
Shane Ross: I have been approached by a constituent who has availed of extra personal vacation, EPV, days abroad and is faced with the prospect of no longer being allowed to avail of them. The Minister of State will be well aware of the purpose of EPV days, which is to give teachers the chance to attend courses in order to gain skills which can then be used for educational benefit. Teachers can go back...
- Seanad: School Staffing (5 Feb 2009)
Shane Ross: I am gobsmacked by the Minister's reply. I do not understand the reason that this course has been discontinued. The only reason given is that the "nature of the work or experience can vary considerably". What does that mean? Does it mean some of it is good and some of it is bad? Will the Minister expand on the reply? What is the reason for it being discontinued? The only reason given...
- Seanad: School Staffing (5 Feb 2009)
Shane Ross: That would have been a more honest answer.
- Seanad: School Staffing (5 Feb 2009)
Shane Ross: Will the Minister of State ask the Minister to send me a reply by letter?
- Seanad: School Staffing (5 Feb 2009)
Shane Ross: No, but I am as happy as I can be.
- Seanad: Education Matters: Statements (10 Feb 2009)
Shane Ross: I have never been able to understand why education is so readily and obviously chosen as a target for cuts when it comes to cut public expenditure. Of all Departments of State, I would have thought the Department of Education and Science was the one which did not need to be cut. It is the one Department about which there have been fewer allegations of waste than any other of which I am...
- Seanad: Order of Business (11 Feb 2009)
Shane Ross: Nothing would surprise anybody about Anglo Irish Bank and the activity it has been up to. There is probably a lot more to come from that particular source. What was discovered by David Murphy of RTE last night was far more serious because I have never seen more obvious evidence of a cartel being run by the banks than this particular activity which has been revealed for everybody to see. It...
- Seanad: Order of Business (11 Feb 2009)
Shane Ross: That is desperately serious. The question we must now ask is whether Irish Life & Permanent is doing this for Anglo Irish Bank, and it is normal behaviour, who else is doing it for whomever else? Is the Bank of Ireland doing it for AIB and vice versa? On a day when the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, will announce that he is putting â¬7 billion from the pension fund into these...
- Seanad: Order of Business (11 Feb 2009)
Shane Ross: Hear, hear.
- Seanad: Order of Business (11 Feb 2009)
Shane Ross: On a point of order, I wish to raise under Standing Order 30ââ
- Seanad: Order of Business (11 Feb 2009)
Shane Ross: Can the Cathaoirleach take it after the Order of Business?
- Seanad: Order of Business (11 Feb 2009)
Shane Ross: That is fine.