Results 161-180 of 5,294 for speaker:Michael McCarthy

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 Mar 2003)

Michael McCarthy: Now he has made remarks about Senator Paddy Burke who withdrew his statement.

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 Mar 2003)

Michael McCarthy: No. What was good-—

Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 Mar 2003)

Michael McCarthy: I felt obliged to say that for the sake of clarity and balance.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Michael McCarthy: He made it well.

Seanad: Order of Business. (12 Mar 2003)

Michael McCarthy: I want to raise an issue regarding the State's only Integrated Coastal Zone Management Initiative, that is, Bantry Bay Charter, which has been in operation in west Cork since 1997. It was set up under EU guidelines in conjunction with UCC, CIT and Cork County Council and brought together a number of competing interests regarding the use of the coastal zone in that area. Cork County Council...

Seanad: Order of Business. (12 Mar 2003)

Michael McCarthy: I am indeed. The Minister and his Department were unable to comment yesterday on the fact that this initiative has now been wound up. I wonder if the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources was in Cheltenham with his colleagues from other Departments.

Seanad: Order of Business. (12 Mar 2003)

Michael McCarthy: Why did he not comment on this? Perhaps his mind was in Cheltenham. It is important that the Leader of the House should arrange for the Minister or one of his delegates, because he might have gone to Cheltenham, to come in to debate this serious issue.

Seanad: Motor Insurance: Motion. (12 Mar 2003)

Michael McCarthy: I approach this debate from a rather different angle from that of other speakers. I have been directly affected by this issue since I started driving some seven years ago. The discriminatory practices rampant in the insurance industry over several years are no surprise to anybody at the receiving end. Ms Dorothea Dowling, the author of that splendid report from the Motor Insurance Advisory...

Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Mar 2003)

Michael McCarthy: That is understandable.

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Motion. (21 Mar 2003)

Michael McCarthy: Semi-neutral? You are either neutral or not.

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Motion. (21 Mar 2003)

Michael McCarthy: I regret that the situation in Iraq has reached its current level. Like many other reasonable people in this country, I am a pacifist and opposed to war by any means. However, when one looks at the circumstances surrounding the blatant murder being perpetrated by the USA and the UK in Iraq, one would have to take cognisance of the issues which have led to this illegal war. The war will,...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (25 Mar 2003)

Michael McCarthy: Would the offer be means tested?

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (25 Mar 2003)

Michael McCarthy: It is a venial sin on this side of the House.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (25 Mar 2003)

Michael McCarthy: I agree.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (25 Mar 2003)

Michael McCarthy: I welcome the Minister for Social and Family Affairs and I extend the opportunity of political transition to Senator Cox who feels hard done by. She is welcome to take a seat on this side of the House.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (25 Mar 2003)

Michael McCarthy: That is the impression the Senator gave. When people speak with such passion and conviction, we read into what they say. The budgets of the past six to seven years have reflected an economic buoyancy we had not experienced for quite some time. In the black days of the recession when money was scarce, young people flocked to ports and airports as the dole queues became increasingly longer. It...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (25 Mar 2003)

Michael McCarthy: The Minister for Social and Family Affairs has outlined in great detail the effect of this blatant disregard for those who are worst off. I acknowledge the detail in the context of the difficulties some of us would have had in sifting through and comparing various figures. I commend the Minister for doing it for us. I hope it is a trait she will not lose during her term of office.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (25 Mar 2003)

Michael McCarthy: I expect things to deteriorate over the coming years. When the national finances take a turn for the worse through the actions of the apostle of fiscal rectitude, the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, the poorest will be hit. I sympathise with the Minister, Deputy Coughlan, as I would with any Cabinet Minister who has to ask the Minister for Finance for money for his or her Department....

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (25 Mar 2003)

Michael McCarthy: The Government has been reckless. It is a shame that a Government Senator would defend this. In fairness to other Senators, they may have decided not to come into the House for this debate but I hand it to Senator Cox for being brazen in her defence of the Government. The figures spell out the reality. What happened to the money? What happened to the Celtic tiger?

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (25 Mar 2003)

Michael McCarthy: Why did she not cry and shout for the people about whom we are talking in the context of this Bill? The rate of domestic inflation is now double the EU average. This achievement is the sole responsibility of the apostle of fiscal rectitude, the person responsible for the mismanagement of the country's funds, the Minister for Finance. The net effect is that the social welfare increases are...