Results 2,521-2,540 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Situation in Gaza and Ukraine: Statements (31 Jul 2014)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Situation in Gaza and Ukraine: Statements (31 Jul 2014)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister and wish him well in his post, including his role in Northern Ireland matters. I thank the various organisations and individuals who submitted information to Members in advance of this debate. I begin by pointing out that Israel's GDP per head is US$42,000 while the Palestinian figure is US$2,431. That is a differential of 17:1 and, in my view, it holds the key to...

Seanad: Situation in Gaza and Ukraine: Statements (31 Jul 2014)

Sean Barrett: What Mr. Netanyahu outlined would impose an utter inferiority of status on the second part of the proposed two-state entity.

Seanad: Situation in Gaza and Ukraine: Statements (31 Jul 2014)

Sean Barrett: Some historians point out that Mr. Netanyahu has form, having previously opposed the Oslo Accords. The former United States peace envoy, Dennis Ross, has observed: "Neither President Clinton nor Secretary Albright believed that Bibi [Netanyahu] had any real interest in pursuing peace." The opposition leader, Tzipi Livni, said the same. He does not really believe in a two-state solution....

Seanad: Situation in Gaza and Ukraine: Statements (31 Jul 2014)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Concert Licensing: Dublin City Council (18 Jul 2014)

Sean Barrett: An uncontested judicial review seems to be an absurdity. It is like an uncontested Leinster final. If a matter is to be decided and one party does not turn up, he or she will appeal if he or she loses. We might cross that one off the list. The One Direction concerts went well by all accounts but I note that the events were not discussed until nine days afterwards. While I accept that a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Concert Licensing: Dublin City Council (18 Jul 2014)

Sean Barrett: Did Mr. Keogan mention a period of nine weeks for the post-event evaluation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Concert Licensing: Dublin City Council (18 Jul 2014)

Sean Barrett: Six weeks are far too long. People will have forgotten about it. Perhaps some of the angst that was discovered would not be captured if people were asked their opinions of the concerts six weeks afterwards. They would have gotten with their lives rather than spend six weeks grumbling about a noisy concert.

Seanad: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2014)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State back to the House and thank him for all his replies this afternoon. There are concerns about section 55, which provides that the appropriate Minister may issue guarantees or indemnities regarding public-private partnerships, PPPs. One misgiving is the issue of letters of comfort, which we discussed with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, earlier....

Seanad: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2014)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister of State for his reply. Maybe some time in the future entrepreneurship will occur and the private sector take some risk.

Seanad: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2014)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister of State and will not press the amendments. What I had in mind is a large single hospital. The unease is not about its medical functions which are widely supported by Senator John Crown and others but the last time we built a huge hospital what did the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Minister of State's predecessors on the Committee of Public Accounts say and to...

Seanad: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2014)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 15: In page 43, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following:"(5) The Minister shall notify directions to make investments under this section to the Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform.".This amendment concerns the provision whereby the Minister, following consultation with the Central Bank, can direct the agency to make certain...

Seanad: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2014)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister of State. I will not push the amendment.

Seanad: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2014)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister for his response. I will not be pressing these amendments.

Seanad: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2014)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 9: In page 29, line 18, after “to” to insert “or from”.This refers to the functions of the agency to enter into a public private partnership arrangement with a view to transferring the rights and obligations under such an arrangement to any State authority. I wondered if the Minister would on occasion need to go in the opposite direction. At...

Seanad: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2014)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 12: In page 29, line 27, after “Reform” to insert “and the Comptroller and Auditor General”.In performing its functions under this Part, the agency shall comply with all guidelines and instructions that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform may from time to time, with the consent of the Minister, issue to the agency. That is the body...

Seanad: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2014)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister of State for his response. I would point to two words beginning with A, "analysis" rather than "advocacy". A great number of the project appraisals I have looked at have been prepared by the promoters. I am glad the Minister of State has put in that extra layer. They may be good, but let us not give them a free run at the Exchequer. Just because somebody in a...

Seanad: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2014)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 7: In page 27, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following:"(c) any expenditure under the Public Capital Programme.".This is an enabling section. It provides that "[t]he Agency may [provide, at] the request of any Minister of the Government ... advisory services or project management services". Would it be of use to the Minister if we were to add in the words "any...

Seanad: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2014)

Sean Barrett: We must do things differently. Mr. Bob Wright referred to problems such as people operating in silos and projects not being properly examined, leaving us with a project that did not generate a return, with the debt incurred mounting up all the time. There must be a radical change. I was pleased to hear what the Minister of State had to say because we cannot have a repeat of what happened...

Seanad: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2014)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 1: In page 11, line 22, after “has” to insert “appropriate qualifications and”.I welcome the Minister of State, who hit the ground running the other day, as the phrase has it. What he is trying to do in this Bill is most important in that we are trying to set up a new institutional framework to repair what happened to us in the past. It has...