Results 1,541-1,560 of 1,637 for speaker:Labhrás Ó Murchú

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: Senator Barrett has made a telling case for his amendment. We had an exceptionally good debate in the House yesterday evening. It was clear in the House and outside beforehand that there was a fair degree of tension. This was because people come at an issue like this from different points of view. That is what democracy is about at the end of the day. Then people vote and accept the...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: There is something edifying about a Minister who comes into the House showing passion and expressing idealism. That must be welcomed at any time and we should not distract from or denigrate that in any way. Public life could do with much more of that. I could see the passion he had in expressing his position on changes in the ownership of the water of Ireland in the future, but I remind...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: That is all we can do here today, to look into our own hearts.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: When I look into my heart, I must agree with Senator Cullinane, whom I admire as a good Tipperary man.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: When I look into my heart on the plebiscite, I see a contradiction straight away. If the Minister was happy that the Bunreacht provides us with a safeguard, then there is no need for the plebiscite in the first place.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: If that is the case, is it merely a cosmetic exercise? If the Minister looks into his own heart, which I am sure he is doing regularly, he knows that people do not want a cosmetic exercise. The anger, the suspicions and the lack of trust are real. Senator John Crown made the point yesterday that we are not talking about any single lobby group. We are talking about the middle ground. We...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: It is quite clear from the debate we have had for the past six or seven hours that a void exists in this debate regarding including protection for the water of Ireland in Bunreacht na hÉireann. It is even clear in the comments generously put forward by the Minister. It is also clear to those of us who are trying to find a resolution with regard to this that we must find a mechanism....

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: He knows that. I know it. Everybody in this House is aware of that. Given all the unanswered questions, doubts and lack of trust which seem to be coming forward in the messages we are receiving; what Senator Byrne said; and the work and thought he has put into this without standing up in any confrontational way - I admire his logic and it is quite clear he is trying to be helpful - would...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: I am not pointing at the Minister but if we ignore that as legislators, many of us could be crying into our beer after the next general election. I do not drink beer incidentally. I drink tea and coffee.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: Many of us could be crying into our coffee or tea. The Minister should make a name for himself on this issue.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: Last night, Senator Feargal Quinn set out his stall clearly, independently and courageously in the House with an open mind on the issue of possible privatisation. This was good as we should hear every opinion here. He had an addendum to his contribution, that when the Minister came in today, he would hold his counsel until he saw the reaction we would get from the Minister on the amendments...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: Senator Norris is quite right that the chance of any amendment being passed today is very small. However, the Minister is beginning to hear positions here that he did not hear in the Dáil. I watch the body and face language and the responses we are getting and get the feeling a new narrative is being provided here to the Minister. The first chink of light I got out of all of this that...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: That is the reason I say the Minister has listened closely to the positions put forward here. What would be helpful at this stage to decide our position on the amendment - this is up to Senator Byrne to decide - would be for the Minister to formalise what he has said in some way. That might provide a worthwhile position to Senator Quinn and would certainly help Fianna Fáil. Above all...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: Yesterday and today on several occasions I complimented the Minister. The more I hear from him, the more he goes up in my estimation. I do not want to personalise it but what I like about him is his absolute lack of arrogance. We have had Ministers from all parties sitting in that chair there when we felt we may as well have been at home.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: I just get the feeling the Minister is wrestling with positions that had not come to his notice in the Dáil. That is what it is about. The more he speaks, the more he opens up possibilities. It is incumbent on us in this House that we take on the board the flexibility that is growing into this. The distance between the amendment and what the Minister is saying is getting less all the...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: The amendment proposed by Senator Healy Eames is relevant and important to the debate we are having. We all accept and understand that metering is an integral component of what we are trying to achieve in terms of conservation and usage. The removal of the conservation and usage elements of this project weakens precisely what we are trying to achieve. It seems to me that it would make a...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: -----and not in the context of scoring political points. If we ignore the human aspect and the pleadings which are coming into us on a regular basis, and if we just shun them or push them under the carpet, I do not think we will be happy with ourselves. We certainly will not be doing right with people who feel vulnerable and are particularly worried about what the future holds for them.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: As I said yesterday, I will be paying the water tax. I do not regard it as excessive and would be prepared to pay more. However, as a citizen, a republican and a socialist, I feel guilty because by making it easy for me to pay it, I am depriving children of poor families of their food. That might seem dramatic, but if we do not accept it as the truth and the reality, we are out of touch...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: Will the specifics to which the Minister is referring be included in the new Bill? Is that the idea that is coming before us? If a penalty is levied on people who have not paid, and further penalties apply, at what stage does the build-up stop? What is the methodology for recouping that money? It is not clear to me? Is that part of what will be in the new Bill? Am I correct in saying...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: It looks to me as if we are in for a very long night. I do not see this finishing between 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. We are on section 4 at the moment. I remember the night of the bank guarantee. We sat here until 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. There were many people in this Chamber asleep at that time and I often asked myself - I knew there was an emergency - if that was the way to do business. We would be...