Results 3,241-3,260 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: A White Paper on parliamentary reform should be published beforehand to allow people see the package in terms of the legislation, as Senator Healy Eames said. How will the Referendum Commission communicate with the Northern Ireland and overseas voters who have a strong interest in this? Does the Minister of State have any mechanism to provide for that or is he remaining silent on the topic...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: The Minister of State could tell it and the Taoiseach that there are people in Northern Ireland who are interested in this.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: Does the Minister of State not have any thoughts on Northern Ireland?

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: He has not answered the question.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: The Minister of State did not do it earlier.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: As part of the reforms, the people in the North might get to vote for the Presidency sometime in the future but their votes in Seanad elections are being withdrawn. That is a shame. I shall pass on the Minister of State's good news, so in fact he is more partitionist than anything that has applied under the 1937 Constitution-----

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: -----despite having signed up in 1998 to the Good Friday Agreement. It is shameful. Again it shows that the man cycling around the Ring of Kerry does not think things out. He does not attend this Seanad. He does not care about Northern Ireland. I would be trying to build bridges and extend the franchise. We are not a rotten borough. We have 55,000 in the constituency and 40,000 in the...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: Yes. Let us go for the Thirty-two Counties.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: The first part of the problem with section 5 might be addressed by circulating the explanatory memorandum, which shows 12 pages of bits chopped out of the Constitution.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: Every household in this country must know the extent of the butchery that is going on. It is not something that can be blithely dismissed in a couple of lines that may be cited. This is 75 chunks out of the Constitution. The information is all contained in the explanatory memorandum. We should circulate it to as many households as possible and let people see what is going on.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: That raises the prospect, which we can discuss on another day, of the death-row Seanad.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: It is pretty hard sometimes to get a Minister to take any notice of what we say - although not this Minister of State - but when we are being abolished it will become a complete charade. I do not see the point in lingering around on death-row. Abolition day is midnight before the next Dáil convenes, but I believe there should be a delay on that. If the opinion polls are correct, there...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: I know that is not the main point. The Minister of State thinks the quality of Irish democracy would be improved, but I think it will be undermined. There will be a lot more people like Deputy Peter Mathews trying to contribute in this House, yet they will be excluded by the way the committee system is run. I have served on the National Economic and Social Council and other State boards. I...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: -----because the Minister of State has to raise the finance for all the dreadful things that happened. The introduction of the Family Planning Bill was sought by Mary Robinson, supported by John Horgan and Dr. Trevor West. That happened here decades before it was introduced in the other House. We do not guillotine Bills. I praise, as everyone has done, the Cathaoirleach, the...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: This House is about ideas. We get them every day and the Minister of State is welcome to share in them all. This brings me to the great J.M. Keynes who said: I am sure that the power of vested interests is vastly exaggerated compared with the gradual encroachment of ideas. Not ... But, soon or late, it is ideas, not vested interests, which are dangerous for good or evil.This country surely...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State back to the House. We sent him more material about our other project and sent some material to Brussels. We are reforming the banking system so we have a lot in common even if we differ fundamentally on this issue. I cannot understand why the Taoiseach wants to abolish this House. As I said previously, I think it is quite a splendid House and I am inspired...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: Will they speak up?

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: What about free speech?

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: It is an absolute shame.