Results 1,701-1,720 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Seanad: Order of Business (19 May 2010)

Shane Ross: -----and a Government which is prepared to stand over this and not put pressure on this board to appear before the committee.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 May 2010)

Shane Ross: Yesterday I raised the issue of CIE on the Order of Business and I am grateful for the support I received from several Members of the House. However, I do not think much will happen, unless we act on the matter. I ask the Leader to consider introducing a Bill to make semi-State bodies subject to the Freedom of Information Act. It is very important that we realise semi-State bodies are not...

Seanad: Euro Area Loan Facility Bill 2010: Second Stage (20 May 2010)

Shane Ross: I must admit I was staggered when I first heard the news that we were volunteering to produce in one way or another, or certainly to put ourselves on the line for €1.3 billion. I really thought there was a certain degree of unreality about Ireland which, as Senator Twomey stated, has the largest deficit in Europe and is certainly the nation which has fallen the furthest in recent times,...

Seanad: Whistleblowing in the Financial Sector: Statements (2 Jun 2010)

Shane Ross: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Whistleblowing in the Financial Sector: Statements (2 Jun 2010)

Shane Ross: I wish to share my time with Senator Quinn.

Seanad: Whistleblowing in the Financial Sector: Statements (2 Jun 2010)

Shane Ross: I share Senator MacSharry's last sentiments but little else of what he said. This promise of legislation is deeply disappointing. As the House knows, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr. James Hamilton, made a statement on the need for whistleblower legislation on "The Week in Politics" programme. Suddenly, a week later, the Minister for Justice and Law Reform announced he would...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jun 2010)

Shane Ross: I am always delighted to see the Deputy Leader of the House taking the Order of Business because he has such sympathy with the views expressed on this side of the House.

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jun 2010)

Shane Ross: I wish to address the issue of quangos, which I know is dear to his heart. I would be grateful for his response. Indeed, Senator Boyle introduced a Bill on quangos in the other House, but voted against it in this House. That is a fair achievement in terms of acrobatics, but it is certainly something with which we can sympathise. I am seeking a debate on Anglo Irish Bank. That bank is now...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jun 2010)

Shane Ross: It seems these appointments were absolutely disgraceful. One, Mr. Aidan Eames, was a Fianna Fáil fund-raiser who was the election agent for a parliamentary candidate here on two occasions. He was also the national youth officer for Fianna Fáil in his day. The other was an insider from the banks themselves, Mr. Gary Kennedy.

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jun 2010)

Shane Ross: It is all in the public arena. These are State appointments and if I cannot identify the issues, where will accountability lie? That is exactly the point I am trying to make.

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jun 2010)

Shane Ross: It is absurd if I cannot identify the people who were named by the Government. If the appointment of Mr. Kennedy, who is an insider - he was with AIB at the time that the frenzy of property development was getting out of hand - cannot be examined by this House, who can examine it? If the appointment of Mr. Eames, who was appointed to this House by Mr. Haughey in years gone by, cannot be...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jun 2010)

Shane Ross: Anglo Irish Bank is now in State ownership. The appointments to the bank's board must be examined by this House.

Seanad: Property Services (Regulation) Bill 2009: Report Stage (3 Jun 2010)

Shane Ross: Yes, it has been a long road. The process started in this House six or seven years ago when Senator O'Toole and I said something had to be done about auctioneers. We progressed to a special commission to examine auctioneers, followed by recommendations. Whereas there are many inadequacies in the Bill, the situation is far better than it was. Not to put too fine a tooth in it, prior to...

Seanad: Banking Reports: Statements (15 Jun 2010)

Shane Ross: This is a different type of banking debate because of the publication of these reports, which I welcome. I also regret to some extent that the reports almost inevitably are used in a kind of blame game between the Government and the Opposition. I do not refer to the Minister of State's contribution, which was not so much like that. Inevitably, however, what happens here is that Members...

Seanad: Banking Reports: Statements (15 Jun 2010)

Shane Ross: It is what they call "scoping"; however, I do not know what that means.

Seanad: Banking Reports: Statements (15 Jun 2010)

Shane Ross: They were meant to be preliminary reports, blazing a trail for the next one. Professor Honohan said he was not sure there was an awful lot left to investigate. I would be interested in hearing the Minister of State's response to that remark. Professor Honohan was really saying we had got to the bottom of the problem by analysing it. I do not really agree with that because one of the...

Seanad: Confidence in the Taoiseach: Motion (16 Jun 2010)

Shane Ross: It is unusual to have a debate of this sort with a motion tabled in such blatant terms in this House. This always puts Independents in a difficult situation as they have to come off the fence on a motion as crude as this but it is my view and that of a large number of people in the country that, for various reasons, Fianna Fáil has been too long in office. The numbers will be more familiar...

Seanad: Confidence in the Taoiseach: Motion (16 Jun 2010)

Shane Ross: The evidence for that is obvious not so much in the conduct of people in these Houses or the legislation they put forward but in the way semi-State companies are governed. One will find the infiltration of these companies by Fianna Fáil over that period has been quite devastating. Anybody who looks at the boards of the quangos in this country will realise it will take many years to...

Seanad: Confidence in the Taoiseach: Motion (16 Jun 2010)

Shane Ross: There will be an election. I accept the democratic will of the people.

Seanad: Confidence in the Taoiseach: Motion (16 Jun 2010)

Shane Ross: I am entitled to a point of view.