Results 2,461-2,480 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: I second the Senator's amendment. It is a serious matter, as Senator Norris has said, to destroy a public record because one is trying to undermine the Minister in the context of the Freedom of Information Act. It is a form of suppression and merits a penalty that will act as a deterrent for that offence.

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: I want to raise the issue of the decline in the international rankings of Irish universities as published today. Trinity College Dublin dropped out of the top 100 while University College Dublin out of the top 200. There has been a dramatic decline during this recession in the State funding of universities with an increase in fees and the use of some private incomes. The staff to student...

Seanad: Fluoridation of Water: Motion (1 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Nash. I agree with most of what Senator Gilroy said. One of the functions of the university constituencies is to bring the research of those universities to the House. The Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch’s statement corresponds with the research. In the Patrick’s Well example, where fluoride was naturally present, the decayed,...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (1 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 9:In page 4, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: “4. Section 15 of the Principal Act is amended to read as follows:(3) (a) As a matter of principle any relevant property, being a building or part of a building, land or a waterway or a harbour directly occupied by the State (including any land or building occupied by any Department or office of State,...

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (1 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: The Minister of State mentioned the 1904 Act. The vast majority of clubs throughout the country were not there in 1904. At that time, a club probably referred to an exclusive gentleman's establishment, which would be quite different from the community-based institutions encountered in the Minister of State's area in Wicklow or Senator Byrne's area in Meath. Perhaps this could be borne in...

Seanad: Forestry Bill 2013: Second Stage (1 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Hayes, to the House and thank him for his opening contribution. I agree with Thomas Pakenham that we live with trees and that they are our neighbours. I would propose greater protection of them than is provided for in particular parts of this Bill. For example, section 19 provides for the felling of trees and section 20 provides for the powers of the...

Seanad: Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy (1 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: The late former Senator Edward Haughey was born in Kilcurry, County Louth, close to the Armagh border. I attempted last Saturday to imbibe his spirits there. From Faughart I took a right turn and as I went down that road, the man from Newry was delivering Royal Mail, probably as close to Dundalk as his route would take him. I took another turn and the speed limit signs were in the metric...

Seanad: Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy (1 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: Let us not allow it tomorrow afternoon when the Minister comes here. We cannot have the closed approach and secrecy in banking supported by Europe and carried out by the people who have already had one turn at wrecking the country.

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: On a positive note, I welcome the attendance of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, at the installation of H.E. Mr. Kevin O'Malley as the US ambassador to Ireland, and the resumption of an interest by former US Senator Gary Hart in the peace process. I remind Members that Northern politicians will be here on 7 November when the North-South Inter-Parliamentary...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Oct 2014)

Sean Barrett: I draw attention to the headline from an article in the Irish Examinerby Caroline O'Doherty about yesterday's report by Davy Stockbrokers on the housing market which stated, "Property buyers borrow too much yet again". The article stated:Home-buyers are once again overstretching themselves with outsized mortgages in the fresh frenzy to get on the property ladder. In echoes of the...

Seanad: Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (30 Sep 2014)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 21:21. In page 10, line 2, after “Education” to insert “and Royal College of Surgeons”.I will not be. The criteria for the university to be so designated outside Ireland but not so designated in Ireland - but located in Ireland - require that it have an international reputation and have 40% of the students from outside the European Union. We...

Seanad: Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (30 Sep 2014)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister and will not press the amendment. We wish both SUSI and SOLAS every success because they are important schemes for students.

Seanad: Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (30 Sep 2014)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister for the good dialogue we had on the last occasion we debated the Bill. She proposes that a section of the Student Support Act 2011 shall be amended by the deletion of the phrase "pursuant to a scheme administered by the Minister". According to the briefing documents, this change is intended to reflect the transfer of PLC courses to SOLAS. The amendment I propose to the...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Sep 2014)

Sean Barrett: When the handover of Hong Kong to China took place in the 1997, the then Governor of Hong Kong, Lord Patten, had agreements with the Chinese authorities. We all remember the valuable work Lord Patten did in the reform of the RUC on this island. Those agreements provided for democracy and a free press. I ask the Leader to take up with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Sep 2014)

Sean Barrett: I also raise today the corporate tax issue in relation to Apple. The Commission wrote to the former Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Gilmore, on 12 June last and, apparently, we have not participated. What was put to the media today from the Commission is a complaint that a request was made to us on 12 June, with, as it states, normally a month to reply, and...

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 33: In page 78, to delete lines 40 to 42, to delete page 79, and in page 80, to delete lines 1 to 9.I compliment the Minister that Part IV, sections 28 to 42 of the Bill, lists very comprehensively the principles of exemption, including parliamentary and court proceedings, law enforcement, public safety, security, defence, intergovernmental matters, commercial...

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)

Sean Barrett: Amendment No. 20 is in my name. The Department of Finance had and should have had a role in this issue. After the crisis hit, some people argued that they had seen the bust coming, knew when the boom would end and were worn out telling people the bubble would burst. How come the records showed that these people were all what one could describe as "soft landing merchants". The records were...

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2014)

Sean Barrett: Amendment No. 25 in my name was listed in the midst of Senator Thomas Byrne's amendments and I thank the Minister for his reply. The purpose of my amendment is to delete the line: "any of the Supervisory Directives, within the meaning of the Central Bank Act 1942". I refer to the supervision that failed and which has been a disaster for everybody in the House and the country. A journalist...