Results 3,261-3,280 of 3,550 for speaker:Dominic Hannigan

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I listened to Mr. Brian Goggin of the Bank of Ireland on the radio this morning announcing half-year profits for the bank of €650 million. He stated the profit will be retained as opposed to being distributed as dividends. It is clear the bank needs to do this to ensure it can recapitalise. However, recapitalisation should not be done at the expense of small businesses. At present,...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: Given that Irish grocery prices are 25% higher than those in the United Kingdom, I was glad to see the announcement this morning that one major retailer intends to invest €350 million in the establishment of 35 new stores in this country. I hope a discount retailer will help to drive down prices for Irish shoppers. I was glad to see the price of oil has dropped to its lowest level in two...

Seanad: Criminal Assets Bureau Annual Report 2007: Statements (12 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I wish to share six of my ten minutes with Senator David Norris.

Seanad: Criminal Assets Bureau Annual Report 2007: Statements (12 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I welcome the Minister to the House and the annual report of the CAB, which was published earlier this week. It shows another successful year for the CAB in 2007 and it is vital this success continues. Many Senators referred to the recent deplorable and tragic events in Limerick. Senator Bacik mentioned that perhaps it was time to look again at the potential of putting on a statutory...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I join my colleague, Senator Alex White, in calling on the Government to look again at the whole issue of post office closures. There was an excellent debate in the House yesterday with the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív, on the rural development programme. I made a point in that debate that in the past eight years we have seen the closure of 500...

Seanad: Rural Development: Statements (11 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I welcome the Minister to the House. I am glad to speak on the rural development programme and its role in shaping the Ireland of the future. It is vital that we think about the future because for too long rural development in Ireland has been left behind and has been the poor relation of Government policy. As the economic boom turns to bust, rural Ireland is staring at a decade of...

Seanad: Rural Development: Statements (11 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: It exists. If the Minister wants to know the impact it is having, he should read some of the submissions from individuals and groups put forward when this programme was being put together.

Seanad: Rural Development: Statements (11 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: Let me give the Minister one example. The Summerhill active retirement group submitted a document that depicts what life is like, in terms of poverty, in rural Ireland. The group's submission highlighted the case of an 87 year old woman who came to the group for assistance. She is a widow with poor eyesight who suffers from chronic ill health. Her home was in such poor repair that she had...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I join other Senators in deploring the recent murder in Limerick. It demonstrates that when we can only achieve a conviction in one out of every six murder cases, the current approach does not work. While I would not go as far as some other Senators have suggested, I wonder whether it is time to introduce a witness protection Bill and to put a witness protection scheme on a statutory...

Seanad: Support Services Grants. (6 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: Is that agreed? Agreed.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I welcome the announcement that the European Central Bank is to reduce the interest rate by 50 basis points. That will mean an extra €250 million in home-owners' pockets. I am also glad to see that the Bank of England is to reduce its interest rates by 1% later today. The UK is one of our biggest markets and that will increase consumer confidence there, which should lead to benefits...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: When the rate was cut in October one institution, ICS Building Society, passed on only 60% of the cut, keeping 40% for itself. This cannot go on. I urge these institutions to pass on cuts to homeowners. President-elect Obama has started to put his team together and already the Russians have confronted him about the possibility that the US will place missile defence shields in Poland and the...

Seanad: Museum Projects (5 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank Senator Keaveney for being so generous with her time. I echo the call she makes for an interpretative centre at Ballykinlar camp. My grandfather, Patrick Boylan, was a member of the old IRA in County Monaghan. He spent nine months in Ballykinlar in the early 1920s. I remember well the stories he told me as a boy. For him and for many...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: That is an excellent idea from Senator Hanafin, with whom I totally agree. Perhaps that debate could be inclusive of the whole issue of pricing which was raised earlier by Senator Alex White. This is not just about fuel prices. I had reason to recently examine prices of other goods. Prices in the same supermarkets in the UK and Ireland, when one takes into account the currency...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I wish to correct the voting record for last week. The online version of the voting records for last week show that I voted on Tuesday's debate. In fact, myself and Senator Ormonde were away — we have pictures to prove it.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: Could the Leader arrange for the voting record to be corrected?

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Oct 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: The National Property Services Regulatory Authority is now in existence for the guts of a year. I have been to its offices in Navan. We all welcomed the introduction of that agency but we still await legislation on property management companies. Although we have been promised on numerous occasions that legislation is just around the corner, it is not the case and there are thousands of...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Oct 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: Fianna Fáil will not make the same mistake again.

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Oct 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: A clear example of how out of touch some members of the Government parties are is Senator Feeney's comments earlier about the Opposition busing supporters to Dublin.

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Oct 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: We could not have stopped them if we tried. There was a level of anger out there that has——