Results 1,821-1,840 of 4,717 for speaker:Martin Mansergh

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Martin Mansergh: I accept that. What he was saying was that the Minister did not have to make choices. That completely ignores the macro-economic context. The Minister has increased expenditure in the Revised Book of Estimates to the order of approximately 13%, and tax concessions of €900 million were provided. If we put more than a certain amount into the economy, we run a significantly higher risk of...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Martin Mansergh: That is the effect it would have. If we put too much money into the economy we find that a year or two later we must cut back. We want steady progress rather than jerky, stop-go policies, particularly of the kind related to elections. Many economists, having regard to economic cycles, argue that the Government should be running more of a surplus than it runs currently. Senator John Paul...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Martin Mansergh: I agree with the remarks made by my colleague, Senator Jim Walsh. It may be puritanical to state that the 25% lump sum may not be withdrawn. People are entitled to a little financial flexibility and to make choices when they retire. A good point was made on the difference between public and private sector pensions, which counters the argument that the figures are too high. The Minister...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Martin Mansergh: I am sympathetic to the objective of a greater habit of philanthropic donations but beyond a certain point they do not necessarily have to come from individuals, because almost all wealthy individuals are connected to companies and institutions where perhaps the same restrictions would not apply. I accept the argument the Minister gave yesterday that it is difficult to make exceptions in a...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Martin Mansergh: Perhaps we need to encourage a different corporate ethic such as exists in the United States.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Martin Mansergh: Many are offshore.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Martin Mansergh: This section relates to the termination of the stallion tax exemption, which by the time it ends on 31 July 2008 will have been in force for almost 40 years and is probably one of the most successful tax incentives ever introduced here, as the Cheltenham Festival showed where we not merely won the Gold Cup but places one, two and three plus nine other races. Our equestrian industry is at its...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Martin Mansergh: We should not rage at success. Coolmore Stud is the largest in the world. Should we not take pride in that instead of raging against it?

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Martin Mansergh: Alas.

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Mansergh: Like everyone else in this House, I deplore the squalid murder of Mr. Denis Donaldson that took place in Donegal, compounding the tragedy for those close to him. I welcome the unequivocal condemnation by the Sinn Féin leadership, which I believe to be sincere. I hope those agencies that used Mr. Donaldson to make various manoeuvres, feel suitably proud of themselves today, but I suspect they...

Seanad: Middle East Peace Process: Statements. (26 Apr 2006)

Martin Mansergh: I welcome the Minister of State. Along with Senator Ó Murchú, I am comfortable with Government policy, both in recent times and for the past 26 years, going back to the Bahrain declaration made by the Minister of State's father, the late Mr. Brian Lenihan. Our policy has been informed by our experience of peacekeeping and the peace process, as well as by the entire history of dispossession...

Seanad: State Airports: Motion. (26 Apr 2006)

Martin Mansergh: I welcome the Minister. I have absolute confidence that he is committed to all the State airports to ensure they are able to develop. I had the pleasure in the past fortnight of travelling three times to and from Shannon and a fourth time from Dublin. If people realised what a pleasurable experience it is going through Cork and Shannon airports — obviously if it is a transatlantic flight...

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 Apr 2006)

Martin Mansergh: It is understandable that a body such as the Institute of Industrial Engineers would like to reopen a debate on nuclear energy. However, I am sure all of us remember being warned that the lights would go out in or around 1985 and, therefore, this matter will be treated with a great deal of scepticism. A debate on the subject would be useful in order to set out certain realities. There is not...

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 Apr 2006)

Martin Mansergh: I want to say only one sentence——

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 Apr 2006)

Martin Mansergh: I am saying nothing controversial.

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 Apr 2006)

Martin Mansergh: We did not have a debate. There was a demand in the House for a debate on 1916 but we never held it.

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 Apr 2006)

Martin Mansergh: Mr. de Valera said that James Connolly was the person to whom he felt closest among the leaders of 1916 and Connolly was very close to Countess Markievicz, who went on to become a founding member of our party.

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 Apr 2006)

Martin Mansergh: I was very glad to see the deputy leader of the Labour Party dressed up as Countess Markievicz recently.

Seanad: Order of Business. (9 May 2006)

Martin Mansergh: I wish to associate myself with remarks made by other Senators and pay tribute to the role of Archbishop Eames in the peace process. For over 20 years, he was a sounding board and source of advice for successive Irish Governments. He also played a crucial role in the transformation of what is now referred to as the Hume-Adams initiative into the Downing Street Declaration, which was the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 May 2006)

Martin Mansergh: We all want to see a resolution of this problem. It is not the Garda Síochána that is in conflict with the Oireachtas but the Garda associations. As far as the principle is concerned, which is accepted and working very well in many other countries, it is our duty to uphold the institutions of the State and not to call that into question. I am rather surprised at Senator Finucane's...