Results 161-180 of 190 for speaker:Mark Dearey

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Dec 2010)

Mark Dearey: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Tributes to Member of Staff (2 Dec 2010)

Mark Dearey: On behalf of the Green Party, I wish to be associated with all of the previous remarks. I wish Shay Byrne every happiness in his retirement. I am sure his family will be pleased to see more of him and have no doubt his quiet presence will enhance his family's home life. I thank all of the ushers for the manner in which they have ushered me into the life of the Houses. While it has been a...

Seanad: EU-IMF Programme for Ireland: Statements (2 Dec 2010)

Mark Dearey: It is extraordinary that the House is discussing the merits and shortcomings of an EU-IMF programme of financial support for Ireland. What has happened is my worst nightmare. Last Saturday in Drogheda, I addressed a group of young people from Ireland and Africa at a development perspectives event. They were anxious to know how this country arrived at its current position. I found myself...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2010: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Dec 2010)

Mark Dearey: In regard to the national minimum wage, I believe in the concept of creating a social floor below which people's incomes should not drop. However, that view is not shared in the labour market throughout Europe. It is surprising to note the countries in which a national minimum wage does not apply. Sweden which has a reputation of being socially progressive has not introduced a national...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2010: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Dec 2010)

Mark Dearey: It predicts growth in job creation in the medium term.

Seanad: Crime Prevention (14 Dec 2010)

Mark Dearey: I raise the necessity for proof of identity to be provided when people engage in an exchange of gold for cash. As the Minister of State will know, this phenomenon is growing in towns and cities. One sees freestanding units in shopping centres to which people can go to a person equipped with a weighing scales to have gold assessed, following which an exchange of money takes place. The...

Seanad: Crime Prevention (14 Dec 2010)

Mark Dearey: That is a full answer, for which I thank the Minister of State and the Minister for Justice and Law Reform. In particular, it is welcome that the Minister has formally asked the Garda Commissioner to give his views on a very wide range of issues, including whether organised crime is involved in running some of the cash for gold outlets. That is an interesting angle. I imagine it is...

Seanad: Crime Prevention (14 Dec 2010)

Mark Dearey: I merely wish to thank the Minister of State. I do not have a supplementary question to pose, but I look forward to the Commissioner's report to the Minister and the Minister, in turn, letting us know what he envisages doing.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Dec 2010)

Mark Dearey: I wish to record my abhorrence at the latest revelation about bonus payments. I commend Senator Coffey for his efforts in trying to get to the bottom of why such bonuses will be paid to people who are, after all, in the public service. The notion of a bonus payment being provided in the public service seems to me to be a dreadful contradiction, a kind of thinking that may have its place in...

Seanad: Croke Park Agreement: Statements (15 Dec 2010)

Mark Dearey: I remember the dark days of winter 2009 when discussions on the 12 days unpaid leave and so on broke down. The level of ill-will and distrust that existed at that time among those who had been negotiating with the Government and who thought they had an arrangement with it was palpable and it did not promise much success for the new year. I was absolutely delighted when I watched the process...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Dec 2010)

Mark Dearey: I too call for a debate on the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights this morning regarding one of the three women who took an action over her right to an abortion in circumstances where her life might be threatened. One of the three women had her rights upheld by the court. There has already been talk of a constitutional referendum. I am not sure this is what is needed in this case...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Dec 2010)

Mark Dearey: I wish you, a Chathaoirligh, the Clerk and staff of the Seanad a very happy Christmas. I thank them for the welcome they gave me earlier this year when I arrived in the House. I extend those wishes to all the Members opposite and on this side. I have a particular affinity for sound engineers. I wish them, all the technical staff and the people who provide us with the Official Report well....

Seanad: Water Services: Motion (12 Jan 2011)

Mark Dearey: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Finneran. This debate on this most precious of resources, its management, responsibility for its delivery and environmentally friendly production processes is also welcome. Water flushes and sluices life on a daily basis but this needs to be done in a way that is both efficient and responsible in terms of how water is treated and where it ends up....

Seanad: Climate Change Response Bill 2010: Second Stage (13 Jan 2011)

Mark Dearey: I welcome the Minister of State. I welcome also the placing of the Climate Change Response Bill 2010 before the House. It is a significant day. It is probably an historic day in the sense that climate change has been on the agenda since the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. This country has been through an enormous time of economic change. We did not take account of the message of...

Seanad: Climate Change Response Bill 2010: Second Stage (Resumed) (19 Jan 2011)

Mark Dearey: The tonnages are the same.

Seanad: Climate Change Response Bill 2010: Second Stage (Resumed) (19 Jan 2011)

Mark Dearey: The Bill does not do that.

Seanad: Climate Change Response Bill 2010: Second Stage (Resumed) (19 Jan 2011)

Mark Dearey: There were higher targets.

Seanad: Climate Change Response Bill 2010: Second Stage (Resumed) (19 Jan 2011)

Mark Dearey: The targets were higher. Fine Gael agreed to that.

Seanad: Climate Change Response Bill 2010: Second Stage (Resumed) (19 Jan 2011)

Mark Dearey: If Senator Coffey proposes it, he should say it.

Seanad: Export-led Growth: Motion (19 Jan 2011)

Mark Dearey: Ireland's industrial growth, according to the innovation task force, has experienced two inflection points since we began to embrace the notion of Ireland as a country capable of industrial production and move away from an agricultural, agrarian society. That is not to say the agricultural economy is not absolutely critical to Ireland's future. The inflection points identified by the...