Results 1,521-1,540 of 4,465 for speaker:Jim Walsh
- Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (resumed) (1 Apr 2009)
Jim Walsh: On the face of it, Senator White's argument appears to be quite plausible. I accept the reasons for it. As they get older, many people who were adopted as children want to acquire information about their natural parents. This amendment will not prevent those who wish to retain their confidentiality from doing so. The manner in which it is structured ensures such people will not be...
- Seanad: Order of Business (2 Apr 2009)
Jim Walsh: I agree with what Senator Harris said. I was invited to speak at the Belfast Film Festival last Saturday as part of a debate entitled "Dealing with the Past: Conflict and Consensus". I was not the only person present at the debate who detected the audience's extraordinary concern about the increase in support for dissident republican groups, particularly within certain areas of nationalism...
- Seanad: Order of Business (2 Apr 2009)
Jim Walsh: We enjoy parliamentary privilege and freedom of expression when we speak in this House. We should not deny those who do not have parliamentary privilege their right to freedom of expression. My constituency colleague, Senator Twomey, commented on my motion, which relates to the extraordinary fees that are charged by barristers. I was told recently that a senior counsel sent someone a bill...
- Seanad: Order of Business (2 Apr 2009)
Jim Walsh: ââbringing their salaries to over â¬150,000 a year, or 50% more than their counterparts in Britain. If we are talking about increasing taxes to buttress inflated incomes and waste across the public service, we are sowing the seeds of a revolution on the part of the productive side of our economy. We should have a 10% reduction in salaries across the board in the public sector â I...
- Seanad: Order of Business (2 Apr 2009)
Jim Walsh: Let us move in that direction or we will not go anywhere near solving our fiscal problem that could retard growth and the productive economy for decades to come.
- Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Apr 2009)
Jim Walsh: I have a request for the Minister on the same line of thought as Senator Fitzgerald. I mentioned this to him privately but I got delayed at a parliamentary party meeting which disabled me from being here to put it forward. I ask the Minister to examine section 121 for Report Stage. It raises a most serious issue. It deals with an employee of the authority who is immediately seconded from...
- Seanad: Order of Business (7 Apr 2009)
Jim Walsh: On Senator Fitzgerald's comments on the budget, it would be advisable to await the details of the budget before commenting. Clear signals have been given that the budget will be very fair and I agree it is important it is fair and is seen to be so. I do not know about anybody else, but I have been encouraged by the number of Cabinet meetings that have taken place.
- Seanad: Order of Business (7 Apr 2009)
Jim Walsh: It shows that a degree of scrutiny is being put into the detail of the budget. While Senator Healy Eames might find it funny, many people hopeââ
- Seanad: Order of Business (7 Apr 2009)
Jim Walsh: ââthat this budgetââ
- Seanad: Order of Business (7 Apr 2009)
Jim Walsh: ââwill lay a foundation on which the economy can recover. We live in unprecedented times and the challenges are extraordinary. We have a daily diet of negativity and doom and gloom which, in its own way, exacerbates the situation with regard to consumer and investor confidence. Without those recovering to some degree we will see a continuing decrease in the economic fortunes of the...
- Seanad: Order of Business (8 Apr 2009)
Jim Walsh: I join those who expressed sympathy to the family of Garda McCallion and the Garda authorities on his untimely death. What happened to Garda McCallion is a timely reminder of the selfless service gardaà give in defence of society. Time should be set aside for a debate on banking. The Minister for Finance has proven to be particularly adept in dealing with a difficult and complicated issue...
- Seanad: Order of Business (8 Apr 2009)
Jim Walsh: It would be important for the House to debate these matters.
- Seanad: Appointments to State Agencies and Public Bodies: Motion (8 Apr 2009)
Jim Walsh: Ba mhaith liom mo bhuÃochas a ghabháil leis an Seanadóir MacSharry as deis a thabhairt dom cúpla focal a rá ar an ábhar seo. I welcome the Minister of State. I also compliment Senators Boyle and de Búrca of the Green Party for tabling the motion. It is opportune and timely that we discuss this issue. Reference was made to the public service in general and the OECD review of the...
- Seanad: Appointments to State Agencies and Public Bodies: Motion (8 Apr 2009)
Jim Walsh: If I am allowed to finish my point, the Democratic Left party, which is now called the Labour Partyââ
- Seanad: Appointments to State Agencies and Public Bodies: Motion (8 Apr 2009)
Jim Walsh: There was a reverse takeover.
- Seanad: Appointments to State Agencies and Public Bodies: Motion (8 Apr 2009)
Jim Walsh: During that period 1994 to 1997, I noticed the carve-up and I spoke to Ministers in Government at that time when they had difficulty carving up various boards because all three parties, Fine Gael, Labour and Democratic Left, had to be catered for. In many instances they appointed good people and perhaps this is a preferable way to do it than the way we are doing it. To some extent over the...
- Seanad: Appointments to State Agencies and Public Bodies: Motion (8 Apr 2009)
Jim Walsh: I concur with those who said that local representatives should not be automatically excluded. Many of them have the commitment and are imbued with the spirit of public service. I note that they are much more the active members of any boards to which they are appointed compared with some other members. They should not be excluded simply because they are involved in local politics. There...
- Seanad: Order of Business (9 Apr 2009)
Jim Walsh: I call on the Leader to arrange an early debate on a matter which I consider to be of extreme importance. This evening, the HSE is sponsoring the invitation to a debate in Cork University Hospital entitled "Why euthanasia should be legalised". The invited speaker is in favour of involuntary euthanasia and believes in killing patients whose cost benefit ratio is unfavourable to plough money...
- Seanad: Order of Business (9 Apr 2009)
Jim Walsh: The Senator is correct.
- Seanad: Order of Business (9 Apr 2009)
Jim Walsh: I am sure it will scare every patient in nursing homes throughout the country. It is scandalous and deplorable. This comes from the ethics forum â if one does not mind â of Cork University Hospital. We remember what the ethics forum at UCC did with regard to embryonic stem cell research.