Results 1,501-1,520 of 3,356 for speaker:Feargal Quinn

Seanad: Organic Food Industry: Statements (20 May 2009)

Feargal Quinn: I did not intend to interrupt the flow of Senator Daly, who was addressing some interesting topics. I am delighted the Minister of State is present for this debate. I am interested in much of what he has had to say. I came up with some figures when I did my research for this debate, but I do not intend to use them after seeing what happened to Senator Bradford. It is obvious the Minister...

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Feargal Quinn: I have listened very carefully to Senators Cannon and O'Toole. It seems that Senator Cannon has a point: if the Director of Corporate Enforcement is seeking a particular document, which is in a filing cabinet, it would appear on the basis of this that he or she has the right take away the whole filing cabinet. I know there are protections in place and I am not sure what the answer is, but...

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Feargal Quinn: As I remarked on Second Stage, the concern of everyone is to ensure and enable business to operate and I realise the Tánaiste's heart is behind that concern. I cannot improve on the words of Senator Cannon. There is great doubt about the phrase "as soon as practicable" and it seems rather vague. I realise it is dotted throughout legislation but it is essential we have some control on a...

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Feargal Quinn: I understand the reason for this being included in the Bill and the reason the legislation attempts to cover the matter, because any director on a board who does not bother reading the papers, does not accept responsibility nor bother attending to his or her duty should be found guilty. On the other hand, many companies are not simple companies. I recall my experience as chairman of An...

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Feargal Quinn: The Minister explained very well why she is not accepting amendment No. 7 but the paragraph this amendment seeks to delete is very blunt: "Where a company makes default in complying with this section, the company and every person who at the time of that default is a director of the company shall be guilty of an offence." I do not know whether the explanation the Minister gave in respect of...

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Feargal Quinn: I have prepared some figures, but since most of them have been read out already or are about to be, I will take the opportunity to place on record a letter that appears today in The Irish Times, which I am not sure the Minister of State will have seen: Madam, The present dispute about whether, because of the economic tsunami, Ireland is justified in cutting overseas aid evokes a historic...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 May 2009)

Feargal Quinn: The abuse we read about in recent days has horrified us. Those of us who knew something about it and had covered some of it earlier had no idea of the extent of it. It is interesting to be reminded that Archbishop Diarmuid Martin had warned us of how serious this report would be. We welcome the opportunity to debate it tomorrow. The onus is on us to do that. I was impressed by what...

Seanad: Reappointment of Ombudsman and Information Commissioner: Motions (26 May 2009)

Feargal Quinn: I support the appointment of Ms O'Reilly as Ombudsman. I thank the Minister for widening the remit of the office and the scope of her duties, of which I had not been aware. I knew Ms Emily O'Reilly before her appointment as Ombudsman, and I knew the two previous holders of the office. There is little doubt that the Office of the Ombudsman has been helped by the people appointed to that...

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency: Statements (26 May 2009)

Feargal Quinn: I wish to share time with Senator David Norris.

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency: Statements (26 May 2009)

Feargal Quinn: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh. It is very tough to stand up and speak after Senator MacSharry, who spent four hours with me at the committee meeting today, because he has given a full report of it. I am delighted I attended the meeting. I went to it feeling doubtful, questioning and unsure whether this was the right thing to do. I was influenced by the amount of media...

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency: Statements (26 May 2009)

Feargal Quinn: He is. He was very positive. He talked about the alternatives but he seemed to support the Government's approach. He did not necessarily say he supported it, but he said he understood what the Minister was doing and asked about it in a logical way. There is a widespread view that NAMA will estimate the long-term value of the banks at €90 billion worth of development loans and that it...

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency: Statements (26 May 2009)

Feargal Quinn: That would not be possible.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 May 2009)

Feargal Quinn: I intended raising the issue raised by Senator Regan and others on alcohol. One of the points that emerges from the research is that the image of Ireland is tainted by the amount of alcohol consumed, and the question of how we can handle it. It will be difficult for us to deal with controls on advertising and sponsorship in Ireland alone if we do not manage to get some level of agreement on...

Seanad: Monageer Report: Motion (27 May 2009)

Feargal Quinn: I welcome the Minister of State for this pertinent debate. I have no problem supporting the Fine Gael motion. When I discovered that the Garda Commissioner, Fachtna Murphy, and the HSE chief executive, Professor Brendan Drumm, were the only two people who have technically seen the report, I realised we must do something about it. The report into the Monageer tragedy is as notable for what...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2009)

Feargal Quinn: Senator Norris and I agree on many things, but we do not agree upon the exemption of the churches from equality legislation. I was in the House when it was introduced many years ago and I believe the churches should have the right to be able to be exempted. I mention this because The Irish Times today referred to the fact that I supported Senator Norris and I would like to correct that. On...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2009 (Certified Money Bill): Second Stage (28 May 2009)

Feargal Quinn: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kelleher. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, was also welcome, as were his words. I must agree with Senator MacSharry when he stated the world has changed. We cannot sit back and merely do what we have done in the past. We must change as well. If these changes are taking place, to what extent are we taking the right steps and to what...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jun 2009)

Feargal Quinn: I second Senator O'Toole's proposal to debate the Schengen Agreement motion today. I am not sure why we are not debating the motion or why it is proposed not to have that debate. Last year I wrote an article for The Irish Times on this matter and I received much comment stating it was ridiculous Ireland was the only country out of the EU 27 that decided to join Britain's travel arrangement....

Seanad: Criminal Procedure Bill 2009: Second Stage (10 Jun 2009)

Feargal Quinn: I welcome the Minister, the Bill and the effort to ensure there is respect for legislation. I was in the House in 1993 when the Criminal Justice Act 1993 was passed. Repealing section 5 is clearly necessary because there is a danger that the respect on the side of victims is in danger of being damaged. This Bill will end the ban on retrials of those acquitted even where important evidence...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Jun 2009)

Feargal Quinn: The decision yesterday by the Minister for Defence to give the order for food for the Army to two Ulster companies is interesting. One of them, which obtained the order for eggs for the Army for the coming year, is based in County Monaghan. The other, which obtained the order for fresh poultry, worth €350,000, is in County Down. This is a reminder that we are one country in this area and...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Jun 2009)

Feargal Quinn: Figures were published today in Britain showing that numbers of organ donations have increased since changes to legislation were implemented two years ago. The reason I mention this and bring it to the attention of the Leader is because we have adjourned a debate on a motion put forward regarding presumed consent. The Minister accepted the point that she wanted more discussion and has been...