Results 22,461-22,480 of 24,340 for speaker:Jerry Buttimer

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Feb 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: The Senator should back track and come back out again.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Feb 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: It is like the song title, "You've got to pick a pocket or two".

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Feb 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: The Senator should not make such general accusations. As Leader of the House the Senator should act responsibly.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Feb 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: The Senator should name the people.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Feb 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: The Senator should name the people.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Feb 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: They had no choice.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Feb 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: Go on.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Feb 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: Well said.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: I am disappointed the commission did not get the job of overseeing elections. That matter should be transferred out of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government into a specific election department. I do not say that against any official. It is time that we had an independent electoral commission dealing exclusively and solely with elections. I agree with Senators...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: ——where there is an equitable distribution of votes across the board. That might lead to all sorts of mathematical permutations and it might mean the Clerk of the Seanad would go on tour throughout the country to educate all the returning officers. There are anomalies in the system. We have seen them and they are undemocratic. The other matter with which I am disappointed is one which...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: The commission should have been given the power to tell the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government get rid of the electronic voting machines and consign them to history. I do not say that as a political point. I love the cut and thrust of the count. I have been beaten and I have been director of elections on count day. I remember ringing a great friend of mine, former...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: One does.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: Exactly. The electronic voting machine is like Murphy's law. It is like going in to Dunnes Stores and getting a receipt. It is cold, uninviting, non-participatory and, dare I say it, takes away from the cut and thrust of the old blood battle. I say that unashamedly. One cannot beat being in Neptune Stadium or City Hall on the day of a count and we are all there in all our emotions, in...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: I want to raise a point of order.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: This is an important debate and I have not finished what I wanted to say.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: On a point of order, what is the rush?

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: What is the rush? On a point of information——

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: Wait until Fianna Fáil councillors hear about this.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kitt, to the House. All of us are representatives of the people. I am concerned at the drift in politics. The commission may have played its part in this regard. While I acknowledge Senator Ellis's great remarks in the House in regard to Leitrim, he is not the only representative promoting Leitrim. Former Deputy and Senator Gerry Reynolds and other...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2009)

Jerry Buttimer: There are members of the media who parade virtues everywhere. The commission is going by the boundary review as laid out in the census of population. The terms of reference were slightly askew, however. I have concerns in a number of areas, including with regard to the number of people who have left Cork and the west, and Senator Coffey spoke about Waterford being part of Tipperary South....