Results 2,141-2,160 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Central Bank (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (22 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: No. I thank the Minister for his reply. He has set a very demanding standard and I hope we can live up to it.

Seanad: Central Bank (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (22 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 4: In page 4, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following:“2. The Central Bank shall inform Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann of the total costs arising from an Inquiry conducted under this Act at the end of each month. The notification shall show separately the expenses of members of the Oireachtas, legal expenses, accommodation and office...

Seanad: Central Bank (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (22 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following:“(ahc) to the Committee on Public Accounts,”,”.In the spirit the Minister has just described, which is unanimous throughout the House in the context of the Bill, would it be of use - as suggested in amendment No. 1 - to give the Governor of the Central Bank the power to supply information,...

Seanad: Central Bank (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (22 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister for his reply.

Seanad: Central Bank (Amendment) Bill 2014: Second Stage (22 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister and I support the Bill he has brought before the House. I commend the Minister and the Taoiseach for their efforts to persuade the ECB to participate in the inquiry. I commend the Minister on his speech in Dublin Castle on Monday. The Minister mentioned a gremlin and I also have experience of one. I had sought to amend the Central Bank Reform Act 2010 with amendment...

Seanad: Universities (Development and Innovation) (Amendment) Bill 2015: First Stage (22 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Universities Act 1997, to develop the operation of the universities, to encourage education, innovation, research and scholarship in the universities, and to make provision for related matters.

Seanad: Universities (Development and Innovation) (Amendment) Bill 2015: First Stage (22 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: On Tuesday, 27 January 2015.

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: I ask the Leader to amend the Order of Business as I would like to introduce No. 14 on the Order Paper - the Universities (Development and Innovation) (Amendment) Bill 2015. I also propose that Second Stage be taken on 28 January. I wish to express concern about the poverty numbers issued by the Central Statistics Office yesterday. They indicate we have a major task ahead of us in the...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Senator.

Seanad: Water Services: Motion (21 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey. I despair when this item comes up for discussion. We, in this House, tried to improve the whole water business but neither the previous two Ministers nor the current two would accept any of the amendments which would have improved the legislation. The charge of €260 per household is a poll tax, straight from the Mrs. Thatcher school...

Seanad: Improving the Quality of Early Years Education: Statements (21 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Improving the Quality of Early Years Education: Statements (21 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister. What we are doing is most important. The research indicates that these are really important years in a student's life. Professor James Heckman won the Nobel prize for his work in this area. I wish the Minister good luck and more power to her in addressing this issue. This could be the era of people's lives in which they will learn fastest and do the most valuable...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Annual Growth Survey 2015, Alert Mechanism Report 2015 and An Investment Plan for Europe: Discussion (21 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: I welcome our visitors. I have misgivings about what the Commission is up to. The fiscal council has shown that, in terms of gains being made in a small, open economy, there is no multiplier. On Senator Thomas Byrne's point, we had to cut capital spending because of the debt burden, partly due to the bank guarantee. Prior to that happening, however, we did not run too many Government...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: I thank Mr. Regling for his report. Was ELA available in 2008?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: Why was it not availed of in either Brussels or Frankfurt, or in Dublin?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: Mr. Regling mentions on page 15 that Canada was very successful in avoiding a banking crisis, despite being next door to the United States. What aspect of Canada might this committee look at?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: How many of our problems were imported from the design faults in the euro at the beginning?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: Most Irish economists opposed joining the euro because of those design faults. I think while Mr. Regling has been very tough on the mistakes we made here, the mistakes in Frankfurt and Brussels contributed handsomely to the difficulties. The loss of the exchange rate----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: The loss of the interest rate, weak fiscal federalism, no bank regulation----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: ---no controls over capital flow, no exit mechanism - these are still a problem.