Results 20,541-20,560 of 24,340 for speaker:Jerry Buttimer

Seanad: Flood Relief (12 Oct 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: I do not mean this in a personal way, but it is extraordinary that it takes so long to get things done. After a period of 12 months the quay walls at Grenville Place will be restored. According to the Minister of State, a report has been commissioned and will be concluded in 2011. We have already had our first flood, although it was not as bad as last year's. Business people and...

Seanad: Flood Relief (12 Oct 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: I welcome the Minister of State. It is extraordinary we have two motions on flooding in Cork on the Adjournment. Last weekend in Cork city the first flood of the winter season took place. There was a sense of fear and concern among the residents of the Marsh, the Mardyke and the Middle Parish and among business people that 12 months on from the flooding in 2009, there is still no early...

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy: Statements (12 Oct 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House, and I thank Senators Bradford, McFadden and Carty for their fine speeches. Someone just asked me since when were there cows in Cork city. There are no cows in Cork city but there are cows in Cork South-Central and they do produce milk. It is important to place this issue in context. Agriculture is important to our country, and we...

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy: Statements (12 Oct 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: I apologise, I mean Deputy Cuffe. Deputy Sargent is a former Minister of State at that Department.

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy: Statements (12 Oct 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: At this stage all members of the Green Party are in danger; therefore, getting them mixed up does not matter at all.

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy: Statements (12 Oct 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: My apologies to the Minister of State.

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy: Statements (12 Oct 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: As I am sure it will be on Twitter later on, I offer my apologies. I was struck by the comment in the Minister's speech that fair does not mean equal. In closing, he said: "[W]e have a long way to go before we arrive at a conclusion to these negotiations", and he is right. I urge the Government to use the phrase famously used by the former Minister for Agriculture, Austin Deasy, when he...

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy: Statements (12 Oct 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: I am all for consensus, as Senator Ó Brolcháin knows well. Farmers also have a responsibility in this regard. I commend the farming community and the IFA on the role they have played in the CAP discussions and the reasonable approach they have taken. Fine Gael has stated that the priority must be to secure a national envelope of farm payments and protect the single farm payment. This is...

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy: Statements (12 Oct 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: My apologies for that.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Oct 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: The pantomime to which Senator MacSharry refers has been perpetrated by the inflammatory remarks of Senator Harris . It ill behoves him to provoke people in the public sector. He is provoking and causing an unnecessary social war. The very party and the very person whom Senator Harris defended on "The Late Late Show" and with whom he nearly fell in love was one of the chief architects of...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Oct 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: You call me a party hack. You took the 30 pieces of silver and you ran-----

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Oct 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: The reality is that the language-----

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Oct 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: I am seeking a debate on the role of the public sector. The remarks today are not about teachers. They are about the men and women who work here. They are about the nurses, guards, doctors and civil servants who work for our people. You are the type of person who wants to come in here and lampoon all these people. That is not consensus.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Oct 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: I have no problem in taking a cut, none at all.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Oct 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: I have only one salary.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Oct 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: I will take a cut, no bother.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Oct 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: I am making no personal remarks.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Oct 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: I will defend the integrity of the public sector worker who did not make a fortune in the boom, and if you want to protect this society and the country, go after those who can pay and who can afford to take the cut, and not the ordinary men and women who are struggling.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Oct 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: That is the point I am making. Following the remarks made by Senators MacSharry and Harris, we are now creating a gargantuan divide in our society, which is something we should not do. It ill behoves us. If we want consensus, we must bring people with us. Ní neart go chur le chéile.

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Oct 2010)

Jerry Buttimer: I join Senator O'Toole in asking that we have a debate on what the Government means by consensus politics and what is planned for the upcoming budget. To me, a consensus is not having Fianna Fáil dictating with the rest of us following and jumping to its tune. A consensus is a process involving meaningful interaction between the three parties. Fine Gael proposed an alternative budget last...