Results 2,981-3,000 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: I echo the statements of sympathy for the Breen and Buchanan families and the praise for Judge Smithwick. I also welcome the measured response by the Minister of Justice in Northern Ireland, David Ford. I am sure that the very good working relationship between him and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, Deputy Shatter, will serve us all. Will the Leader clarify whether yet again...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (3 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: No, and I thank the Minister for giving us very good reasons not to press it.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (3 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 5: In page 15, line 3, after “approve” to insert “or amend”.What is the role envisaged for the Minister for Finance?

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (3 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister for what she said about the statutory guidelines. As in many of these matters, we are trying to prevent recurrences and we are trying to run things better from this day forward. I believe that is the function of the Seanad and the Oireachtas, and that is what we have come into the Houses of the Oireachtas to do. I thank the Minister for her open-mindedness towards what...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (3 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: We had a good debate with the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, when she was in the House and it probably went against her grain to bring in such legislation. The Europeans designed a currency which has caused us untold misery. Tugging the forelock to what is in a European directive is not necessary. If we could do it more sensibly, would the Minister not take a look at the...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (3 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: Absolutely.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (3 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 3: In page 14, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following: “(c) a statement of the reasons for the application to include administration costs, the award of added years to retirees, the extent of underestimated longevity, poor investment returns, failure to increase the retirement age and other reasons for the inability of the resources of the scheme to...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (3 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: That is a level of incompetence. According to the one I downloaded from the Department of Health website last night, life expectancy in 1960 was 69.69. Happily, today is 80.50. That information is available as a public document. The actuaries do not even have to do anything. They can just Google the Central Statistics Office and get the information. I do not understand how people could...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (3 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: Why are the actuaries pleading as a factor to the Minister that they did not think people would live that long when it is hardly fresh news in society that that has been happening? It was well known that the people who retired in 1960, 53 yeas ago, would live longer. We have a tradition of poor investment returns by insurance companies, banks, accountants and so on. Why is that always the...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: I ask the Leader to pass on the sympathies of the House to the Lord Provost of Glasgow, Sadie Docherty, and to the First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, on the tragic death of eight people in the recent Glasgow helicopter disaster. The very name of the Lord Provost, Sadie Docherty, indicates the strong connections between Ireland, including the Cathaoirleach's own county of Mayo, as well...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (28 Nov 2013)

Sean Barrett: When a sector is experiencing the problems detailed by the Minister before the vote, is there a question of a need to update the guidelines for trustees? The sector is in trouble and the version in the 2010 Pensions Board document has provision for pension scheme trustees. Does this need to be made more radical? For example, should we firmly shut the door on what I regarded at the time as...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (28 Nov 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister. The way in which the trustees make the request to the Minister is the kernel of the issue. The new section inserted by amendment No. 17 states: "the Minister shall request the Minister for Finance to pay out of the Central Fund to the trustees of the relevant scheme, an amount equal to the certified amount for the purpose of the discharge, by the trustees of that...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (28 Nov 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister to the House. The principal Act means the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005. I agree that it is mostly about pensions, but have I got an earlier version? The definitions are different and I do not know if we are working off the same paper. I agree with what she said, but I wonder if it is in fact reflected in the amendment under definitions, which has the...

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (28 Nov 2013)

Sean Barrett: I second the amendment and welcome the Minister back to the House. In the Bill, the Minister will require a Senator to be amazingly abstemious and to take no part in saving the Seanad if a future Taoiseach proposes a referendum to abolish the Seanad. The Bill does not allow the funds to be used under the referendum Acts.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (28 Nov 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister for the clarification and formally second the amendment.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (28 Nov 2013)

Sean Barrett: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Nov 2013)

Sean Barrett: I join with Senator Hayden in commending the PSNI in Enniskillen on finding the missing children from County Roscommon. I think the expert advice in the early hours is important. It was terrific they found the children so soon. They deserve the thanks of the House for that. I also thank the Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Sean Sherlock....

Seanad: Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (27 Nov 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister of State for his graciousness in regard to amendments Nos. 4 and 5. I am sure we will have further discussion on the issue. We were all agreed before we took the division that this area needs to be confronted. Earlier we had tributes to former Senator McGlinchey who spoke for 12 successive hours. I congratulate the Minister of State on dealing with 1,400 sections in...

Seanad: Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (27 Nov 2013)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 5: In page 13, line 17, after “regulations” to insert “notified to the Oireachtas”.I again welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock. We referred to the matter before the last 28 seconds of the match on Sunday. The Bill states that: ""third-country auditor” has the same meaning as in Regulation 3 of the Regulations of 2010." I...

Seanad: Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (27 Nov 2013)

Sean Barrett: I believe this amendment is necessary. The Minster of State referred to the Committee of Public Accounts which, as he pointed out, audits the authority's accounts, resources, systems and procedures. The faults lie not in how it accounts for the relatively small amount of money it spends but in the general economy as a whole. I referred to what Helen Hall, the chief executive, said in her...