Results 1,641-1,660 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Seanad: Budget 2010: Statements (10 Dec 2009)

Shane Ross: It was wrong then and it remains wrong. We want to see the senior Minister here to debate important matters of this sort. That is the reality and it is downgrading this debate to have a junior Minister in here, however able and ambitious.

Seanad: Budget 2010: Statements (10 Dec 2009)

Shane Ross: It is an extremely important point and it is in the interests of this House that we have the senior Minister here for these issues. The senior Minister listens to debates in this House. He listens to suggestions and it would be more complimentary and amount to taking these debates more seriously if he were here and had not despatched a junior Minister to take on board the suggestions,...

Seanad: Budget 2010: Statements (10 Dec 2009)

Shane Ross: It is in the Taoiseach's constituency.

Seanad: Budget 2010: Statements (10 Dec 2009)

Shane Ross: What is happening in that regard? No one has tackled this problem. The quangos have got away with murder in the budget, the reason for which I cannot explain. The level of current spending in CIE has been reduced from more than €300 million to €276 million, although I am open to correction by the Minister of State on that figure. It has been reported in an independent report that...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Dec 2009)

Shane Ross: I endorse the calls by Senator Donohoe for a full-blooded inquiry by the Oireachtas into the banks over the past ten to 15 years. If there is not to be an Oireachtas inquiry, why does the Seanad not hold an inquiry? We have the required procedures.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Dec 2009)

Shane Ross: Let us not go back to the Taoiseach, who was deeply involved as Minister for Finance. Let us just do this. Can we do that?

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Dec 2009)

Shane Ross: Banking has been cowboy country for ten years in this nation. The bankers were the cowboys, there was legalised looting and this is worthy of an inquiry. One of the interesting points about Professor Honohan's appearance at the committee meeting yesterday, which I attended along with Senator Coghlan, is that he was very keen to put clear water between him and what happened before. In the...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Dec 2009)

Shane Ross: I apologise. I cannot turn it off; it does not work as a telephone.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Dec 2009)

Shane Ross: We should call in politicians, developers, bankers, regulators and civil servants. The type of inquiry sought by Professor Honohan would not be an expensive legal witch hunt but would be undertaken on the basis of the precedent set in this House and the Dáil by the DIRT inquiry. That was the most successful inquiry by a committee ever held in the history of this House. It was cheap, quick...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2009)

Shane Ross: I oppose the measure. The threatened abolition of the scheme affects two groups of people. Those who support the measure tend to paint dentists as some sort of fat cats, which is not necessarily true, and do not consider the problems it will present for patients. I do not know what the figures are but from listening I gather that some 2 million people can take advantage of this. This will...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2009)

Shane Ross: I thank the Minister for her reply. The saving is €54 million, which I do not dispute because that is an acceptable figure. I have just been contacted by some dentists in the last few minutes. I was asked to ask the Minister the following. While the savings are being made, what is the estimate of the Department of Health and Children or the Department of Social and Family Affairs of the...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (20 Jan 2010)

Shane Ross: I thank Senator Quinn for sharing time and congratulate Senators Norris and O'Toole on tabling this motion. It appears the only place there is any real enthusiasm for change is on these benches. I should remind Members that I was first elected to this House in 1981. The first thing I did when elected was table a motion seeking Seanad reform. People shook their heads at me and said, "You...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (20 Jan 2010)

Shane Ross: That is exactly what they said and they were right. In the past two sessions I was very privileged to sit in the Cathaoirleach's Chair before he did, and on both occasions I made a plea for some kind of Seanad reform which fell on deaf ears. A series of committees were set up since then, the purpose of which is not to advance Seanad reform but to delay such reform. The committees were put...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (20 Jan 2010)

Shane Ross: There may be a compromise, namely, that all will agree the one thing that really must be changed will be the university seats and consequently we will become the target for all the political parties. I do not apologise for believing - as I think everybody on these benches believes - that the university seats need to be reformed. It is grossly unfair that some graduates of universities have...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (20 Jan 2010)

Shane Ross: I hope I may speak without interruption from the Leader. Those people are elected by the outgoing Dáil and Seanad and the county councils. This guarantees that the favourite sons and daughters of the people in power in those parties are elected. It is even more of an inside job than Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Labour Party electing their own people. It means the leadership gets its...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2010)

Shane Ross: Will the Leader ask the Taoiseach to come before the House at the earliest possible opportunity? In view of the debate at the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party which took place last night and about which a number of newspaper reports appeared this morning, it appears the Taoiseach is still a prisoner of the Department of Finance. The extraordinary episode we are witnessing with regard to...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2010)

Shane Ross: There is no mention of bonuses.

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2010)

Shane Ross: The bonuses are not included.

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2010)

Shane Ross: Enniskerry.

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2010)

Shane Ross: Jekyll and Hyde.