Results 1-20 of 2,274 for speaker:Barry Cowen in 'Dáil debates'

Programme for Government: Motion (15 Mar 2011)

Barry Cowen: I wish to share my time with Deputy Willie O'Dea.

Programme for Government: Motion (15 Mar 2011)

Barry Cowen: During the course of the recent election, when I was asked by constituents as to how I and my party might in the short term, rectify, alter, change or amend existing policies with a view to improving the lot of our people or allaying their fears and their worries and anxieties, my answer was always that neither or my party nor any other candidate could profess to offer any simple panacea,...

Programme for Government: Motion (15 Mar 2011)

Barry Cowen: We know where Fine Gael stands on that. It proposed selling Bord Gáis Energy, ESB power generators and ESB Customer Supply. What about Bord na Móna and Coillte? I know the value of these to my constituency, as does Deputy Corcoran Kennedy. The Labour Party does not seem to know about them.

Programme for Government: Motion (15 Mar 2011)

Barry Cowen: I am not scaremongering at all. On public reform, Fine Gael and Labour have shown themselves to have misled the electorate on the issue. On 9 February the Minister, Deputy Quinn, said the Fine Gael proposals to cut 30,000 jobs public sector jobs would have a devastating impact on front line services. We have proposed reductions of 18,000, and Fine Gael demanded a further 12,000 and we have...

Road Traffic Bill 2011: Second Stage (23 Mar 2011)

Barry Cowen: I join other speakers in congratulating the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, on his appointment. He comes highly recommended. I hope and pray that he can live up to the aspirations of many, which I am sure he will, but I wish him well in his role. The main objective and thrust of any road traffic Bill is to reduce fatalities and save lives. Recent years have seen reductions in that regard and I...

Order of Business (24 Mar 2011)

Barry Cowen: Banjaxed.

Programmes for Government (5 Apr 2011)

Barry Cowen: Question 28: To ask the Minister for Communications; Energy and Natural Resources if the conditions to be agreed with the International Monetary Fund in order to allocate funding for NewEra, as stated in the Fine Gael election manifesto, have been agreed and if not, when this will happen [5791/11]

Order of Business (7 Apr 2011)

Barry Cowen: When will the animal health and welfare Bill be published? Will it include a section pertaining to farmer welfare, considering the announcement made yesterday in which the agri-environment options scheme, AEOS, was-----

Order of Business (7 Apr 2011)

Barry Cowen: ----- cut by 20%? Consequently, I expect the aforementioned Bill now will include a farmer welfare section as farmers' welfare was hit so severely yesterday.

Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2011: Second Stage (7 Apr 2011)

Barry Cowen: I thank my colleague, Deputy Browne, for sharing time with me. As he and many others speakers have noted, a very similar Bill was before the House in January. It obviously did not reach Second Stage because of the subsequent dissolution of the Dáil. This Bill is almost identical to it, the single exception being a change in the length of prison sentence in respect of which the Judiciary...

Leaders' Questions (12 Apr 2011)

Barry Cowen: Another U-turn.

Leaders' Questions (12 Apr 2011)

Barry Cowen: What the Taoiseach calls "a jobs budget".

Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Bill 2010 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (12 Apr 2011)

Barry Cowen: I note and acknowledge the rationale for the Bill and its background, dating to when it was first flagged in 1988. The first EU directive came forward in 1997 followed by a second directive in 2002 and a third in 2008. As Deputy Buttimer said, there was a gradual phasing in of competition before the third and final directive. A total of 60% of the sector has been open to competition and...

Appointments to State Boards (13 Apr 2011)

Barry Cowen: My comment is in the same vein. While I welcome the appointment of Mr. Meaney and I am sure he is most suited and capable to do the job at hand, it was an appointment that was overdue in the sense that the previous Government did not pursue an appointment to the chair of that board, as the Taoiseach well knows. The Government has made this appointment. Yesterday we were enamoured to hear...

Appointments to State Boards (13 Apr 2011)

Barry Cowen: This is for the sake of optics.

Appointments to State Boards (13 Apr 2011)

Barry Cowen: It is an optical illusion.

Expenditure Reviews (10 May 2011)

Barry Cowen: Question 36: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if, in view of her recent press briefings regarding projected spending for 2011, she is alleging that false assumptions were made; and if she will detail the nature and extent of same. [10526/11]

Expenditure Reviews (10 May 2011)

Barry Cowen: Further to her answer, will the Minister outline whether in the context of the overall spend of her Department throughout the year on these demand-led initiatives the figures provided are those of her officials? Are they based on the normal assumptions such as the projected growth rates and unemployment predictions etc. for demand led schemes? Will the Minister confirm that provision has...

Expenditure Reviews (10 May 2011)

Barry Cowen: It was officials.

Expenditure Reviews (10 May 2011)

Barry Cowen: I am somewhat puzzled. The officials available to the previous Minister were the same as those available to the current Minister. The figures are those of the Minister's officials. The supplementary provision is in place as always. If the provision is to be out by 1% in the context of a €20 billion budget, then why, on the basis of those two points, this extraordinary, cynical,...