Results 23,661-23,680 of 24,382 for speaker:Seán Barrett

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report Stage (4 Nov 2009)

Seán Barrett: -----in a monetary sense. The chairman of a committee receives less than his counterpart on a local authority SPC, which is an interesting point.

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report Stage (4 Nov 2009)

Seán Barrett: I suggest, therefore, that we overcome any objections to the possibility that another committee be established. The Oireachtas committee on NAMA would not be established just for the sake of it. The committee will have statutory powers to do that which Deputy Bruton has outlined in amendment No. 2. Ministers come and Ministers go. I have no doubt that the Minister for Finance has the...

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report Stage (4 Nov 2009)

Seán Barrett: He may be in other places, but I very much doubt that he will still be Minister for Finance. He might be in Opposition or he might be Taoiseach.

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report Stage (4 Nov 2009)

Seán Barrett: However, I can almost guarantee he will not be in his current position throughout the lifetime of NAMA.

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report Stage (4 Nov 2009)

Seán Barrett: We are seeking to ensure that the Houses of the Oireachtas will have in place a committee of qualified people who take their job seriously. I have no doubt there will always be within this House sufficient Members willing to be serious members of the committee and behave in a responsible manner. One of the proposed functions of the committee is that it will approve the membership of the...

Order of Business (3 Nov 2009)

Seán Barrett: The Adoption Bill is on the Order Paper after coming from the Seanad. Before it is taken in the House, could the Taoiseach ask the relevant Minister to make a statement on foreign adoptions? A number of people have contacted Deputies to convey their concern that if this is ratified under the Hague Convention, people who have spent two or three years negotiating the adoption of a foreign...

Written Answers — Citizenship Applications: Citizenship Applications (20 Oct 2009)

Seán Barrett: Question 347: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position regarding an application for citizenship through naturalisation of a person (details supplied) in County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37032/09]

Written Answers — Vocational Education Committees: Vocational Education Committees (20 Oct 2009)

Seán Barrett: Question 608: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if he will establish a Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown vocational education committee to coincide with the administrative area of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37031/09]

Order of Business (15 Oct 2009)

Seán Barrett: On the same matter, before the Tánaiste replies, my understanding is that when legislation was passed setting up independent radio there was an obligation for independent news to be part and parcel of the licence. Can the Tánaiste explain how this fits into the proposal by INN to close business? What steps are being taken to substitute for it?

Written Answers — Rural Environment Protection Scheme: Rural Environment Protection Scheme (15 Oct 2009)

Seán Barrett: Question 13: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will extend the REP scheme deadline for spreading slurry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36237/09]

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Oct 2009)

Seán Barrett: He obviously did not read the proposal. I do not think he is capable of reading it.

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Oct 2009)

Seán Barrett: He should stay quiet for goodness sake.

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Oct 2009)

Seán Barrett: Did the Minister of State speak on the Bill himself? He should let the House hear his bright ideas.

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Oct 2009)

Seán Barrett: I love to hear lectures from people on the Fianna Fáil benches about the irresponsible attitude of the Opposition when we do not agree with their proposals, especially when they created the mess in the first place. Criticism should be based on facts. People should go to the trouble of reading or understanding the alternatives presented by our party and by the Labour Party. They should...

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Oct 2009)

Seán Barrett: When I was a child I was warned that gambling was all right provided one gambled with one's own money and that one was given good odds. There are no odds in favour of the taxpayer in this proposal. We are in this mess because the banks and the bankers were gambling with borrowed money, contrary to any gambler's instinct. One never gambles with borrowed money. Now when things have gone...

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Oct 2009)

Seán Barrett: An estimate of billions of euro. Billions of euro have become simply pieces of paper now. The attitude is that €1 billion here or there makes no difference according to Fianna Fáil and the Green Party.

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Oct 2009)

Seán Barrett: We have seen the members of the Green Party crawling to the Fianna Fáil Party over the weekend to get a few bob back to keep our schools running. When the Government introduces a budget next December that will take €4 billion out of the economy, the pain and suffering it will impose on the taxpayer will become apparent.

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Oct 2009)

Seán Barrett: At that stage the Members on the Government side of the House will understand the value of €1 billion. The business of it being only €1 billion here or there and only an estimate is unacceptable. It is an estimate which involves making commitments to bondholders in terms of pounds, shillings and pence. This is not monopoly money and these are the facts. Someone told me we had no other...

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Oct 2009)

Seán Barrett: The Minister suggested this was cheap money and that it would be a simple job.

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Oct 2009)

Seán Barrett: The attitude seems to be, "Why are we all not at it?"