Results 24,981-25,000 of 27,055 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Seanad: Access to Cancer Treatment Bill 2012: Second Stage (11 Jul 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: That is not what I said.

Seanad: Access to Cancer Treatment Bill 2012: Second Stage (11 Jul 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: I ask the Senator to check the record of the House. That is not what I said. I said she was reading a script and she was.

Seanad: Access to Cancer Treatment Bill 2012: Second Stage (11 Jul 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: She was, she is and she did not agree with most of it.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: The Labour Party voted in this House to renew it.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: The Senator cannot wash her hands of it. She voted in favour of it. If she believed it was so wrong, she should have voted against it.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: Tá brón orm.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: As a former Vice Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts in the 30th Dáil, I am extremely concerned that it seems to be the position of the Government to undermine the independence of the committee. The Committee of Public Accounts is a select committee and the main audit committee, the objective of which is proper oversight of Government expenditure in all Departments. It has divided...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: I am a taxpayer and a citizen-----

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: I am bringing to the attention of the House that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, stopped the inquiry into the Dublin Docklands Development Authority by the Committee of Public Accounts. This is the first time ever that the Standing Order has been used in the Dáil and in the committee system. I want to talk about Oireachtas reform.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: I do. I have many questions for the Leader.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: Oireachtas reform was a major cornerstone of the new Government and I agree with it. The Government tried to reform the committee system but it rowed back on it. That is okay because one will not get everything right the first time. I welcome the announcement of two new committees to allow them to work better and more effectively. Let us think about what is happening with the Committee of...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: I want to raise two issues and then I shall finish. First, the committee system and the main ranking committee of the Oireachtas has been undermined. Any future Government, and not just this one, can decide that if it does not like the structure of the committee or who is chairing it then the committee will not be allowed to investigate and a new committee may be set up. That has never...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: No.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: I will tell the Cathaoirleach why that is not so.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: I have a question for the Leader. I would like the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform - and I mean "reform" - Deputy Brendan Howlin, to explain to me as a taxpayer, a citizen and a Member of the Oireachtas how he can decide that the Committee of Public Accounts, the main audit committee, should not oversee the banking inquiry. Furthermore, I would like the Minister for the...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: No.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: I remind the House that the Minister has halted planning inquiries here.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: Now the Minister has halted the main audit committee's inquiry into the Dublin Docklands Development Authority.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: The matter is too important.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: I am sorry. I ask the Leader, in the time remaining, to arrange a debate on the serious issue of a reforming Government undermining the work of the Committee of Public Accounts in which it was supported by comments made by Deputies John Deasy and Simon Harris. The Ministers, Deputies Howlin and Hogan, need to come here to explain.