Results 1-20 of 24 for esb speaker:David Norris

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (3 Mar 2009)

David Norris: Like the Senator's friends in the ESB. I just wanted to maintain the equilibrium.

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (27 Mar 2015)

David Norris: The Iona Institute is not a human being; it is a body. Does this mean that we cannot mention the ESB? Hello - what is happening?

Seanad: Banking Sector: Motion (25 Feb 2009)

David Norris: ...the date when one of the major international corporations was supposed to be examined. It forgot about it until it was too late. Do not give me the Competition Authority. Let us look at the ESB. We were told the ESB could not reduce its prices, as the regulator would not allow it because of competition. The idea behind that was to keep the prices high so that we could suck in people...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Mar 2018)

David Norris: ...has recently been down Fitzwilliam Street. It is very interesting. There is an enormous cleared vacant site. It is about the size of a city block. It is owned by a State company, the ESB, and in the 1960s it took on the longest continuous Georgian streetscape in the world and devastated it. It was quite extraordinary. It was an Irish State-owned company and it hired English...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Feb 2009)

David Norris: ...attacking the fundamentals on which the wellbeing of this State originated, with people such as Lemass and Whitaker and the establishment of the semi-State bodies, Bord na Móna, Bord Gáis, the ESB and so on. We were always told about competition. Senator Leyden is quite right. We privatised Aer Lingus. What happened? Now we do not service our own airlines. I and others warned about...

Seanad: Stabilisation of the Public Finances: Statements (5 Feb 2009)

David Norris: ...find the money to pay the public sector? This is an issue we must tackle. I agree with Senator Harris that we all must take a lead. I hoped yesterday to raise the issue of the pay rise for ESB workers but there was not time to do so. However, several of my colleagues raised it this morning on the Order of Business. I congratulate the Leader on the commitment he has given to use his...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Feb 2009)

David Norris: ...do not believe this is necessarily a good idea. In the short or medium term it may be, but why is Bord Gáis doing this? We are told this is competition. What kind of competition is it when the ESB has its hands tied behind its back? When it applies for a reduction it is not allowed have one.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 May 2018)

David Norris: ...extremely popular in Ireland and always have been. I remember well when Princess Margaret was getting married and there was an electricity strike. The women of Ireland ganged up and forced the ESB workers back for two hours so that they could watch the royal wedding. It was marvellous. The Queen, her gracious majesty by God-ordained, is three times directly descended from Brian Boru,...

Seanad: Situation in Gaza and Ukraine: Statements (31 Jul 2014)

David Norris: ...responsibility for the welfare of the people of Gaza.  If that means the deployment of an international force, fine.  This country should explore the possibility of using our civilian services, for example, the ESB, to rebuild the only power station in Gaza.  Cutting off electricity to people who are being squeezed into an appalling punishment camp, only to then cut back on...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Mar 2012)

David Norris: ...However, that does not surprise me, although I am not criticising the Cathaoirleach. On a previous occasion when I raised something I considered to be a national emergency, namely, a strike in the ESB, I was informed that it was not a matter of national importance. Simultaneously, the then Taoiseach, Charles J. Haughey, was declaring a national emergency in the Lower House. These things...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Nov 2010)

David Norris: ...on the same front page of The Irish Times which indicated that an 81-year-old woman perished in a fire after her electricity had been cut off. I must emphasise that this was not cut off by the ESB but by her son-in-law, who had just lost his job and was transferring the bill to his wife's name. We must retain the human element. In that context, I welcome the publication by the Irish...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2012)

David Norris: ...to get into the debate on this amendment. While I completely respect the ruling of the Chair, I wonder what it would take to get a different ruling. I remember proposing a matter in regard to an ESB strike where I was told from the Chair it was not a matter contemplated under that order or of national interest while, simultaneously, the then Taoiseach, Mr. Haughey, was declaring a...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Feb 2012)

David Norris: ...be grateful for being allowed to use one third of our own money. That shows an extraordinary degree of obsequiousness. Selling off utilities is almost always disastrous. Let us look at the ESB - the parallel is in the privatisation of energy in America, particularly in California which gave us Enron, a lovely bonanza for the public. It led to bankruptcies, people losing their pensions,...

Seanad: Water Services: Statements (25 Jan 2012)

David Norris: .... However, it must be ensured the meters are accessible, particularly for people such as me who live on their own. I am not often there when staff from the other utility companies such as the ESB or Bord Gais call and it is a complete nuisance to have to use estimates and so on. Can care be exercised in the placement of the meters in order that they can be visible without access to the...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Mar 2014)

David Norris: ...craven decision by Dublin City Council? I know that body is separate from us, but this involves a question of national heritage. I can see from this building the roofs of Fitzwilliam Street. The ESB disgraced itself 20 or 30 years ago by destroying the single longest Georgian streetscape in the entire world. It put a heap of utterly modernist brutalist rubbish in place of it. The...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (20 Jan 2010)

David Norris: ...did not do that tonight. Rulings by the Chair are incontestable; at the same time they can be inconsistent and absurd. In a previous Seanad under a different Cathaoirleach I argued that a national ESB strike qualified as a matter of national importance. An hour later the Cathaoirleach of the day read out his judgment, that it was not a matter of national urgency. This happened at...

Seanad: Stabilisation of the Public Finances: Statements (5 Feb 2009)

David Norris: I appeal to ESB workers to show the solidarity that is needed. When people are being thrown out of work, it is unfair for those workers to accept an increase. The pension levy must be imposed in a fair way. Senator O'Toole made an interesting case in this regard. I heard an interview on the radio yesterday with a civil servant who is separated from her spouse and is under pressure to...

Seanad: Budget Statement 2009: Statements (15 Oct 2008)

David Norris: .... I imagine the amount of money gained is quite small. Let us consider the situation of the poor. Liquid fuels have risen by 47% in the past 12 months, other fuels by 39%, gas by 17-19% and the ESB seeks a 17% increase. In respect of food, in the 12 months to May the price of flour has risen 39%, bread by 17%, milk by 30%, butter by 17% and tea by 11%. That shows how near the margins...

Seanad: Election of Cathaoirleach (8 Jun 2016)

David Norris: ...Orders of the Seanad. For example, while Standing Order 30 provides for the raising of a matter of national importance during the day's business, this is something that is virtually never allowed. I remember raising the matter of an ESB strike, but it was held by the then Cathaoirleach not to be of national importance, while simultaneously in the other House, the then Taoiseach, Mr....

Seanad: Electronic Voting: Statements. (11 Feb 2004)

David Norris: ...they perceive as a sophisticated continental European experience is that the machine is infallible. That is not true. It is obvious that machines can make mistakes. One has only to look at one's ESB bills, for example, to realise what computers can do.