Results 32,501-32,520 of 33,049 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Seanad: Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Second Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and the Bill he has introduced. The impression can sometimes be given in this House during discussions on competitiveness and the action that needs to be taken to increase job security and number of jobs in our economy that what is needed is a grand sweeping strategy focused on one particular element. However, the opposite is often the case....

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I support Senator Walsh's call for a debate on the economy and our competitiveness. I, again, make the point that it is an absolute disgrace for a member of a Government party to stand up in the House or elsewhere to say there is a possibility the IMF might come in and take over. This means the Government is telling its people that it considers it a reasonable course of action because...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: Bearing in mind that this is a mess for which the Government is responsible, it is appalling for a Government party member to say to the people that if they do not do what it is needed, the Government will bring in the IMF. I asked the Leader to do this previously and I am asking him again. He should stand up and say this is not acceptable. Fianna Fáil is in government and it is its job...

Seanad: Institutes of Technology (18 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Minister of State for attending to respond to this matter. It concerns the status of the Grangegorman development project, the DIT site on the northside of Dublin. It is a project that has been in planning for many years. Its aim is to have all DIT facilities across Dublin located on a single piece of land. At present, that piece of land is occupied by St. Brendan's Hospital....

Seanad: Institutes of Technology (18 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Minister of State for his response and I have just one question. Will he tell me when he believes the Government will make a decision on the strategic plan and when it will be able to announce its support for it?

Seanad: Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Second Stage (18 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I welcome the Minister to the House for this important debate. At the beginning of the year, in the aftermath of the defeat of the first referendum on the Lisbon treaty and in the run-up to the second referendum, one of the options being considered in public by commentators who have an interest in these matters was that Ireland might seek to opt out of certain defence arrangements as...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I join many colleagues in congratulating our new Commissioner on her nomination to her new role. I wish her the best of luck. The comments made here this morning and the commentary in the media about our new Commissioner tell a story about our relationship with Europe. When any European job is to be filled, there is considerable media and political interest in it. Today's newspapers are...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I concur with colleagues on the Leader's side who suggested that our new Commissioner should come to this House to give an update on the work she is doing. In doing that we should bear in mind that her job is not to represent Ireland at the Commission table but to represent her portfolio and Europe. In so doing no doubt she will do very well for our country. I support Senator Fitzgerald's...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: We are being set up by leaks from a bank. My colleagues are correct in calling for a debate on the matter this evening to expose what is happening.

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I agree with my colleagues who called for a debate on the banking matters that have been discussed so far this afternoon. I disagree with Senator Callely's description of the Minister for Finance as being hamstrung at the moment.

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: No previous Minister for Finance was more enabled or strengthened, in the context of the banking situation, than the current Minister, who led the way for the recapitalisation of the banks, introduced the banking guarantee scheme and was praised for his virtuoso performance during last week's debate on the National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009. If any Minister in recent Irish history...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I want to pick up on a theme that Senator Fitzgerald mentioned in her contribution, when she called for a debate on competitiveness and particularly on the interaction between our welfare system and how people work. There is an excellent analysis in The Irish Times today that merits discussion here. It compares the income for a married couple working in the PAYE sector with two children...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I fear that, owing to what is happening with income tax and decisions that have been made concerning the social welfare system, there is growing evidence that the same situation could currently exist. I want to make two practical suggestions to the Leader in this regard, the first of which adds a valuable dimension to the discussion taking place about the reduction of the minimum wage. If...

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: It is an agreement all right.

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: The Senator should not worry. I understand it perfectly.

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: The Senator will listen very closely.

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I support both amendments. I am particularly looking forward to having the opportunity to vote on the amendment tabled by Senators Mullen and O'Toole. They are interesting amendments. If the Government is to be serious about tackling this problem amendment No. 9 achieves that because it does not use the phrase "preferential purchasing rights". Most of the specified service providers for...

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: That would be one hell of an asset.

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: Hear, hear.

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: Well said.