Results 2,621-2,640 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2014: Second Stage (26 Jun 2014)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister and thank her for her address. The rate of post office closures slowed down recently. The development of a banking service through the post office, in particular, the payment of higher interest on savings should have been considered. The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, told the House that there had been pressure from the...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jun 2014)

Sean Barrett: I propose to raise two items on the cost of living. The Commission for Energy Regulation has reported that 20% of households cannot afford to pay their electricity bills. It is strange that this statement was made by the commission given that it continues to promote high-cost forms of electricity such as wind, biomass and turf and opposed the Ballylongford project which could have brought...

Seanad: Health Insurance (Reform) Bill 2014: Second Stage (25 Jun 2014)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister back to the House. I hope the evening we had yesterday, taking his Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014, will prove to be successful. On this occasion it is an honour, as always, to second Senator Quinn's Bill. I believe it has huge merit. I believe it is the right thing to do. There are so many problems arising in this area, not least, for...

Seanad: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (24 Jun 2014)

Sean Barrett: I join Senator Crown and others in congratulating the Minister on bringing this legislation through. In theSunday Independentlast Sunday a gentleman representing the industry claimed there are 1,900 people employed in the tobacco industry on the island of Ireland. As the Minister said, it kills 5,200 people every year and I would hate to be in an industry which had that kind of record. We...

Seanad: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (24 Jun 2014)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister for his response. I will not oppose section 12.

Seanad: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (24 Jun 2014)

Sean Barrett: Section 12(1) provides that the "tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide content of a tobacco product shall not be printed on a unit packet or any other form of retail packaging of a tobacco product." When we discussed this provision previously the Minister indicated it may be used by a company to promote the view that its death-dealing commodity is less fatal than another company's product. Will...

Seanad: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (24 Jun 2014)

Sean Barrett: The Minister mentioned a website that would contain a list of appalling ingredients in the product we seek to control. Listening to the dialogue between two members of the medical profession, could we include something in an amendment on Report Stage that if concerned about smoking, people could look up stopsmoking.com- a website which would give them all the information that would not fit...

Seanad: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (24 Jun 2014)

Sean Barrett: I wish to second Senator Crown's amendment. He is a leading expert in the field and we are all aware of his knowledge, commitment and support for the Minister in strengthening the legislation. In that spirit, it is a pleasure for me to second Senator Crown's amendment.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Jun 2014)

Sean Barrett: In the past hour in Belfast City Hall, Queen Elizabeth II praised those who turn the impossible into the possible. She pointed out that societies are based on trust, respect, justice and interdependence. In turning the impossible into the possible, it is remarkable that one of her visits this morning was to the Crumlin Road Jail. The Queen was accompanied by the First Minister, who spent...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Fiscal Assessment Report 2014: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (19 Jun 2014)

Sean Barrett: On some of the Piketty stuff, about which Professor McHale was telling members and which was raised by Deputy Boyd Barrett, one problem with it is tax avoidance, tax lawyers and tax accountants, whereby so much of fiscal policy is exempt if one happens to have enough tax lawyers and tax accountants in one's stable. The council is proposing macro measures, from which very rich individuals and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Fiscal Assessment Report 2014: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (19 Jun 2014)

Sean Barrett: Forecasting is not an important part of economics unlike resource allocation. That is what is wrong with the economy. I will hand over after that soliloquy.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Fiscal Assessment Report 2014: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (19 Jun 2014)

Sean Barrett: I welcome our visitors. We had a call to the office from the chairman of the fiscal council of Cyprus, who wants to get in touch with Professor McHale.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Sean Barrett: I have not seen the Minister since his operation and I wish him well. It is nice to see him back.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Sean Barrett: The Minister mentioned the taxation of parent companies. What will the Commission and the Minister say to each other about that? I put the same question regarding the tailored guidance on health and legal services. I will leave it at that because I do not want him to be late for his next appointment.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Sean Barrett: Is that connected to the amendment under this year's Finance Act which provides that companies must declare a nationality?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Sean Barrett: The other question was about the tailored guidance on health and legal services

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Sean Barrett: We spend a higher percentage of GDP on health than other member states and we have a younger population. The Commission is always trying to reconcile those indicators. Was anything said about that?

Seanad: 750th Anniversary of First Irish Parliament: Statements (18 Jun 2014)

Sean Barrett: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. It was a great day on 18 June 750 years ago when Parliament was instituted. The alternative, as my schoolteacher used to say, was robber bands - except that he pronounced it "rubber bands", leaving us to wonder what on earth were these rubber bands to which the alternative was Parliament. I am glad that we are here. It is a terrific occasion. The last...

Seanad: 750th Anniversary of First Irish Parliament: Statements (18 Jun 2014)

Sean Barrett: That volume of the Seanad's proceedings must be one of the most poetic that one will find in a Parliament anywhere. The words of Henry Grattan come to mind when he achieved legislative independence in 1782: I found Ireland upon her knees, I watched over her with a paternal solicitude; I have traced her progress from injuries to arms and from arms to liberty. Spirit of Swift! Spirit of...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Jun 2014)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Senator.