Results 2,821-2,840 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Teaching Council of Ireland: Statements (19 Feb 2014)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister to the House. What he has been telling us about is most important; the 87,000 registered people will have a major role to play in the future of this country. They always have. I do not want to be defensive, but some of the people who have made negative comments about Irish education were the very people who in 2008 were so incompetent in their own fields that...

Seanad: Teaching Council of Ireland: Statements (19 Feb 2014)

Sean Barrett: That is excellent news and I thank the Minister for that. James Hickman from Harvard has stated that investment in early education is the crucial determinate; if a child starts well, he or she will do well thereafter. Perhaps the traditional system, whereby the longer somebody stayed in the system, the more resources were given to the person, contradicted the opinion that investment should...

Seanad: Teaching Council of Ireland: Statements (19 Feb 2014)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister. We should not insist on that degree of compliance. We must always be a society that is bubbling with ideas, as the Minister was in his time in Earlsfort Terrace. I assume that tradition will continue. What we have heard is interesting, exciting, developmental, and extremely valuable. I hope we will always be open to keeping discussions like this going. Universities...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Feb 2014)

Sean Barrett: They do it themselves.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Feb 2014)

Sean Barrett: I echo Senator Whelan's comments about the need for a debate on energy policy. The success of fracking, whether we like it or not, has changed energy prices and we need to review the policy. Will the Deputy Leader comment on the remarks of Mr. Barroso last weekend that an independent Scotland might not be a suitable member of the EU? It is entirely inappropriate that he should have...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Feb 2014)

Sean Barrett: Shame.

Seanad: Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (18 Feb 2014)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister for his reply. I do not propose to press the amendment.

Seanad: Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (18 Feb 2014)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 5: In page 19, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: “23. Section 10 of the Act of 2010 is amended by substituting for subsection (7)(a) the following:(7) (a) The Minister for Justice and Law Reform may by an agreement in writing entered into with any person, upon such terms and conditions as may be specified in the agreement, which shall include a...

Seanad: Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (18 Feb 2014)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister for referring to the air accident investigation unit. As far as Irish airlines are concerned, they are as safe as possible. The recent air accident in Cork was actually down to defects in the Spanish aviation regulatory authority. On the Order of Business recently, I called on the Minister to take this matter up with the Spanish authorities. If one is to have a free...

Seanad: Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (18 Feb 2014)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 4: In page 16, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following: "Safety of Road Infrastructure 14. In accordance with Section 17 of the Roads Act, 1993 and the EU directive on road infrastructure safety management, the National Roads Authority shall issue guidelines on road safety matters. The Authority may issue a direction to a road authority, being a local authority,...

Seanad: Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (18 Feb 2014)

Sean Barrett: I suppose I have a difference of emphasis in that I would not see it as a punitive measure but rather as a preventative one and that people should embrace the technology enthusiastically in that regard. I was trying to think of an analogy. Only when one first falls off a bike does one buy a bike with safety features. If this technology is available and it does not add to the cost of...

Seanad: Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (18 Feb 2014)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 3: In page 16, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following:"14. (1) All mechanically propelled vehicles where the operator is- (a) the holder of a driving licence licensing the holder to drive a vehicle in the category C,C1, D, D1, EB, EC, EC1, and W while driving, attempting to drive or being in charge of such a vehicle, (b) the holder of a licence to drive any type...

Seanad: Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (18 Feb 2014)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister for his reply. The numbers he brought before the House the last day were most valuable to us, and these were the figures we included in this amendment. It is always important that we have the best possible data to inform policy. This is a major issue in which 290 people lost their lives during the year. Having the kind of information the Minister is considering would...

Seanad: Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (18 Feb 2014)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 2: In page 7, between lines 33 and 34, to insert the following: “7. The Minister shall require the Road Safety Authority to publish the breakdown of penalty points by licence type to show separately drivers with full licences, learner permits, no licence, licences from outside the jurisdiction, non-appearance in Court and unmatched penalty points from previous...

Seanad: Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (18 Feb 2014)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 1: In page 7, between lines 19 and 20 to insert the following;"(c) in section 38(5) by the insertion of the following paragraph:"(c) a person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand Euro, or at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment," ".I...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Feb 2014)

Sean Barrett: I note what is believed to be disputes among members of the Cabinet about health insurance. I suggest to the Leader that we have a Green Paper because there are issues about health insurance where a large number of people have medical cards, some have entitlements as taxpayers and others bought health insurance in what used to be a more competitive market than it is now. Perhaps there are...

Seanad: Political Reform: Motion (12 Feb 2014)

Sean Barrett: Did we neglect Northern Ireland? Exactly 100 years ago on Friday, Edward Carson said to John Redmond in the House of Commons that Redmond was never interested in Unionists but was depriving them of their political rights. That was what was attempted during the recent referendum. We must also ask why some sectors have not been addressed at all in terms of reform. We must also ask how the...

Seanad: Political Reform: Motion (12 Feb 2014)

Sean Barrett: The losing side wants the political parties to take over our constituencies. That is not reform.

Seanad: Political Reform: Motion (12 Feb 2014)

Sean Barrett: I second the motion and welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Paul Kehoe. I remember the first time he came to the House. We were talking about the Central Statistics Office and he praised its independence and professionalism, two good yardsticks. We will try to apply some of these criteria in this debate. The Minister of State is sitting beside a reformer. As the counter-motion shows,...

Seanad: Recent Flooding: Statements (12 Feb 2014)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State. We have learned much in this crisis which has been handled very well by everybody. Perhaps the economic problems since 2008 have stiffened our national resolve in these matters. The Minister of State referred to the works done in the past and theoretical work. A man called Colonel Rydell came to Ireland after the River Shannon floods in the 1950s. He...