Results 281-300 of 305 for long speaker:Ciarán Cannon

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Second Stage (9 Nov 2009)

Ciarán Cannon: I suggest it would not be very long. That is the question that should be asked of every proponent of NAMA. Would he or she bet his or her house on it? Would he or she bet his or her family's livelihood on it? Would he or she bet his or her children's future on it? If he or she would not, he or she has no moral authority to take this gamble on behalf of the people of this nation.

Seanad: Public Transport: Motion (7 Oct 2009)

Ciarán Cannon: ...privately employed. Of course, the totally unquantifiable benefit accruing from the scheme is the saving in healthcare costs associated with the service. Many elderly people might end up in long-term care if they were subjected to total isolation. What other psychological problems might they have? We really do not know, but it is safe to assume there would be significant costs...

Seanad: Public Transport Regulation Bill 2009: Committee Stage (6 Oct 2009)

Ciarán Cannon: .... The authority would not have the expertise or business acumen to do this. The subsection also seeks to protect current public bus passenger services. However, subsection (1)(b)(iii) goes a long way towards doing so and, with a slight beefing up, could dispense with the need for subsection (1)(a). In certain cases, the protection of those services might be laudable, but the first...

Seanad: Public Transport Regulation Bill 2009: Committee Stage (6 Oct 2009)

Ciarán Cannon: ...the taxpayer who ultimately funds it and for the consumer who avails of it. I do not particularly care whether the service from Dublin to Galway is provided by Bus Éireann or another entity as long as it is a proper service at the best possible price. Section 52 of the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 goes against everything the Bill sets out to achieve. It allows the Minister to...

Seanad: Public Transport Regulation Bill 2009: Committee Stage (6 Oct 2009)

Ciarán Cannon: ...system. The transport system he described as public has only one function, which is to serve the public need. Whether that service is provided by the public or private sector is irrelevant as long as it is provided to the proper standard and complies with whatever regulations are in place on safety. The country's experience in the past 20 years has been that when the private sector is...

Seanad: Unemployment: Motion (1 Jul 2009)

Ciarán Cannon: ...6,000 and would be paid over two years. The wage subsidy would work in the same way as a PRSI exemption but would give employers more flexibility by allowing them to front-load the benefit. It has long been recognised that the Government is the main culprit in driving up business costs. Central Government, local authorities, Government agencies and regulators have increased the...

Seanad: Financial Services (Deposit Guarantee Scheme) Bill 2009: Second Stage (18 Jun 2009)

Ciarán Cannon: I welcome the Minister of State to the House again. Long before this country was engulfed in its unique tsunami, concern was raised on both sides of the Houses of the Oireachtas about the need to update our national deposit protection scheme. As the Minister of State pointed out, the figure of €20,000 provided for in that scheme was hopelessly out of date as both the number and the value...

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (9 Jun 2009)

Ciarán Cannon: ...concerns that sensitive personal information held in company records might inadvertently find its way into the public domain. Again, the amendment proposed by the Government in this regard goes a long way towards addressing this and I again thank the Minister of State.

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Ciarán Cannon: ...be re-examined for the Bill to be more efficient, while allowing that the director needs adequate powers of seizure. However, it needs to be less cumbersome, with fewer opportunities for the long deliberations that are commonplace in these types of investigations. I look forward to the Minister's response.

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Second Stage (6 May 2009)

Ciarán Cannon: ...of both institutions but also the Irish people. The only regulatory response to such balance sheet management seems to have been the by now infamous phrase, "Fair play to you, Willie". Running alongside these dubious activities was another altogether more disturbing exchange of funds where directors of certain banks took out massive personal loans. In Anglo Irish Bank alone, the figure...

Seanad: Schools Building Projects (8 Apr 2009)

Ciarán Cannon: ...co-educational facility on lands in Kinvara to serve Kinvara and the people of south Galway. That is a most welcome development in that it provides an interim solution for what is effectively a long-term problem. I hope that in the interim, while that leasing arrangement is in place, the Department will continue to actively seek and acquire a site for a new school in Kinvara. The issue...

Seanad: Economic and Recovery Authority: Motion (1 Apr 2009)

Ciarán Cannon: ...week, can be implemented and, if it is, could create the sustainable jobs our country so badly needs. As I mentioned during our statements on the budget last week, we need exactly this sort of long-term planning in our time of crisis. That would allow our people to have real faith in our ability as politicians to work our way out of our difficulties. Increasing revenue through tax...

Commemoration of the Ninetieth Anniversary of the First Dáil (20 Jan 2009)

Ciarán Cannon: ...of being a cosmopolitan magnet for people from countries all around the world. Where once we felt the cold Atlantic to our back and Britain blocking our view of Europe to the front, we now belong to a family of nations in a European Union that is striving to improve the way we all live. We had little in 1919, and little remained our lot for a long time. When President Kennedy visited...

Seanad: Commemoration of the Ninetieth Anniversary of the First Dáil (20 Jan 2009)

Ciarán Cannon: ...of being a cosmopolitan magnet for people from countries all around the world. Where once we felt the cold Atlantic to our back and Britain blocking our view of Europe to the front, we now belong to a family of nations in a European Union that is striving to improve the way we all live. We had little in 1919, and little remained our lot for a long time. When President Kennedy visited...

Seanad: Death of Member: Expressions of Sympathy (18 Nov 2008)

Ciarán Cannon: ...his appearances in the public domain. I have to say that he had a unique approach. Over the years, I built up a perception of Séamus as a warm, considerate and thoughtful human being who worked long and hard for his community, which repeatedly chose him as its leader, and for his country which he obviously loved so much. He brought his intelligence, courage, innovation and commitment...

Seanad: Volunteering in Irish Society: Statements (14 Oct 2008)

Ciarán Cannon: ...people who generously give of their time in the service of others. We are now at a time when this most valuable aspect of Irish life needs new life and impetus breathed into it. There has been a long tradition of volunteerism in this country and this was most apparent to me growing up in rural east Galway in the 1970s where the tradition of the meitheal was still alive and well. A sense...

Seanad: Harbours (Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (8 Oct 2008)

Ciarán Cannon: I welcome the opportunity to speak on the legislation, which has been drafted to enhance the long-term viability of the ports around our island nation. Our long-standing maritime tradition is one aspect of the economy that is often overlooked and the legislation shines a badly needed spotlight on the sector. It seeks to allow harbour authorities the flexibility and autonomy to operate in a...

Seanad: Schools Building Projects (2 Oct 2008)

Ciarán Cannon: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Haughey, and thank him for taking this matter. There is a long-standing and proud tradition of second level education in Kinvara in south Galway. It is almost two years since the Sisters of Mercy, who operated a facility for 150 years, announced to the community in south Galway that they were no longer in a position to continue to operate it....

Seanad: Mental Health (Involuntary Procedures) (Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (25 Jun 2008)

Ciarán Cannon: ...pass through one's brain is daunting enough to frighten even the most well-informed and well educated people. It is broadly accepted that the apparent effectiveness of ECT results from the long-term brain damage it causes. In 1941, Dr Walter Freeman, the psychiatrist who introduced ECT to America, wrote: The greater the damage, the more likely the remission of psychotic symptoms ... Maybe...

Seanad: National Drugs Strategy: Motion (18 Jun 2008)

Ciarán Cannon: ...that there were no deaths attributable to the use of cannabis. That is a matter we should re-examine. If indignation and impatience could stop the problems of drug abuse, they would have done so long ago. Righteous though they may be, however, they cannot replace the need for effective strategies that deal with the entire web of problems behind drug abuse. It is my firm belief that we...