Results 1,841-1,860 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2010)

Shane Ross: I apologise to the Cathaoirleach. That was an aside. I am not surprised that the banks are again getting bonuses, as reported in today's newspapers. That is what we have come to expect from them. The Government now has a duty, because it in effect fully controls Allied Irish Bank, to stop these bonuses being paid to people-----

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2010)

Shane Ross: -----for performances in 2008, when we all knew the banks were bankrupt. I cannot understand how one can reward people for being principal players in a State owned company which has brought the State to its knees. I simply do not understand this. It is no good saying there are legal reasons and so on. It is unacceptable, ethically, that people should be rewarded for this type of...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2010)

Shane Ross: I am asking the Government, through the Leader, to do something about this. I am not at all convinced this will not continue to happen. We have had assurances on this before. We were told before that these bonuses would no longer be paid but that is not the case. This bonus culture appears to be prevalent and not alone in AIB. In regard to the €250,000 cap imposed in the budget on the...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2010)

Shane Ross: Except for one person, Mr. Dick Fearn, who only earns €258,000 and as such will be only sacrificing €8,000. The people are the top are refusing to accept this cap.

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2010)

Shane Ross: On top of this, these people are to receive performance related bonuses. Why on earth is the Government allowing-----

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2010)

Shane Ross: -----people at the top of semi-State bodies to receive performance related bonuses when they are losing money?

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2010)

Shane Ross: I do not understand this. I ask that the Leader answer that question for me today.

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Dec 2010)

Shane Ross: Perhaps we need to have a debate specifically on Allied Irish Banks which has been virtually 100% nationalised. The fiasco in recent weeks has been extraordinary. We do not need to congratulate the Government on its performance in this matter.

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Dec 2010)

Shane Ross: The Minister behaved in an appropriate manner at the last minute only because he was forced to do so by public opinion. It is highly disturbing that AIB and the Government have moved in tandem rather than in opposite directions on the issue of bonuses. This was evident in their simultaneous release of press statements yesterday in which they tick-tacked to each other exactly what they would...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Dec 2010)

Shane Ross: We expect and are used to AIB helping itself to money to provide bonuses and that atrocity has been exposed in the past week. However, the idea that public servants, the Department of Finance in particular, should be at the same racket is extraordinary, because these public servants are the guardians of the public purse.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Dec 2010)

Shane Ross: Of all the Departments in which this should happen, this is the worst because the Department of Finance is the one that distributes and controls the money. It makes decisions on how money is spent and about social welfare and elsewhere. Now we find that hundreds of thousands of euro are going into the pockets of some of these Department officials on the q.t. It was done quietly and we knew...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Dec 2010)

Shane Ross: I am certainly looking for a debate on this. I know the Deputy Leader, because of his past history, will be sympathetic to this. We need to know what the hell is going on in the Department of Finance. It has been a kind of secret Department and its activities have been covered in secrecy for many years. Its mandarins appear before Oireachtas committees but give us no information. Now we...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Jan 2011)

Shane Ross: I support what Senator Fitzgerald has said. There is a large problem here, which is not so much about the detail of what happened between Seán FitzPatrick and Brian Cowen. It is about the fact that the chairman and former chief executive of a rogue bank should have such easy access to the Taoiseach. This happened not once or twice but three times and, as I believe Senator Fitzgerald...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Jan 2011)

Shane Ross: Yes, I have a fundamental question for the Leader.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Jan 2011)

Shane Ross: The Leader would not allow a debate on a subject such this although I asked many times for it, especially concerning CIE. When Members debated a Bill on cronyism, it was voted down. Funnily enough, it was voted down by the Green Party, which placed exactly the same Bill before the Dáil.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Jan 2011)

Shane Ross: Cronyism is practised by all sides and not simply by Fianna Fáil. I wish to ask one further question. I do not understand and perhaps someone can explain to me the reason the finance Bill must go through both Houses before an election is held. We do not. It is complete and utter nonsense to suggest this is necessary. It is camouflage and is a smokescreen being put forward by the Green...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Jan 2011)

Shane Ross: It must be very convenient for the Fianna Fáil element of the Government that its Members will happily discuss climate change today, a subject they have carefully avoided for three and a half years. Today it is a source of great relief for them because the rest of the nation is talking about Anglo Irish Bank and the relationship between the Taoiseach and people in the bank. That subject is...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Jan 2011)

Shane Ross: I am seeking a debate and wish to ask the Leader questions. Does he think it is significant that Mr. Drury, a director of Anglo Irish Bank, also happened to be patronised by the same Government, undoubtedly with the approval of the Taoiseach when he was made chairman of the RTE Authority? That is a powerful gift within the power of the Government. Does the Leader think it is significant...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Jan 2011)

Shane Ross: -----but the frequency and the pattern of these meetings.

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Jan 2011)

Shane Ross: We must not have the Taoiseach simply-----