Results 32,901-32,920 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Joan Burton: I will quote from the transcript of the taped conversation for the benefit of those who may not have heard it. I wish, á la Richard Nixon, that Deputy O'Dea would agree to have the tape played because it must be extant.

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Joan Burton: Irish democracy deserves to hear the tenor and tone of the conversation, which was as follows: "Willie O'Dea: ...while occasionally we send out letters to planning applicants we have never been involved with anyone who shot anybody, or robbed banks, or kidnapped people. I suppose I'm going a bit too far when I say this but I'd like to ask Mr Quinlivan is the brothel still closed?" Mike Dwane...

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Joan Burton: The transcript continues: "Willie O'Dea: Do you know the brothel they found in his name and in his brother's name down in Clancy Strand? Mike Dwane: I never heard about that. Willie O'Dea: Did you not hear that? You better check your sources. There was a house owned by him that was rented out and they found two ladies of the night operating in there in the last couple of weeks". Limerick's...

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Joan Burton: The transcript continues: "Mike Dwane: Right. The other one I wanted to ask you about Willie was were you disappointed to see Noreen Ryan in the witness box? Willie O'Dea: I don't want to talk about that..." We should hear that tape because it would sound fantastic

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Joan Burton: I refer to Deputy O'Dea's affidavit sworn on oath. He states, "I most categorically and emphatically deny that I said to Mr Dwane that the plaintiff was a part-owner of said apartment. I did not at any time say to any other person that the plaintiff had any ownership of the apartment. Neither did I say at any time to any person that the plaintiff had any involvement in the operation of the...

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Joan Burton: In the view of most people who understand ordinary language, not senior counsel such as the Minister or the Minister for Finance, that was a lie, an untruth or a misstatement on oath and not a mistake. People have been taught from a young age about making a statement under oath. One barrister and two solicitors are sitting on the Government benches and, given all their extensive legal...

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Joan Burton: It is even more serious when it is done by a Government Minister who is also an officer of the court.

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Joan Burton: Since Fianna Fáil returned to power in 2007, the economy has been destroyed and 60,000 people, most of them young, have emigrated. What are those young people who are left in the country, perhaps still in school, supposed to think about the standards of a Dáil in which a Minister can act as this Minister has done? Everybody can make a mistake in life.

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Joan Burton: Everyone can make a statement that is misunderstood or wrongly taken up. That is why I wanted to read out what the Minister said to the journalist and what he then said in his affidavit. The commentary he made last night was along the lines of "I made an error, but I 'fessed up and apologised". Most people understand and appreciate that. However, given the kind of politician he has been...

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Joan Burton: We understand that among Ministers in the Cabinet, the Minister for Defence is probably one of the more competent performers. I ask him not to try to tell us that his affidavit-----

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Joan Burton: -----was some kind of misstatement. It was not. It was in fact a conscious action on his part-----

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Joan Burton: -----to have the request for the injunction thrown out. We must bear in mind what was suggested by the Minister, Deputy Ryan, in his statement, although it is hard to hear a statement when the person making it has a big peg on his nose. From what I heard of the statement he read out at a gabble, he was suggesting that the fact that the settlement subsequently came before a judge was an...

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Joan Burton: This is what happened years ago in places such as New Hampshire.

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Joan Burton: This is what the Americans used to call a particular type of politics which I will not name here.

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Joan Burton: In the United Kingdom, two senior politicians - Lord Archer and Jonathan Aitken - actually went to jail for perjury before a court. It was a different issue, but the point is none the less valid. In most jurisdictions an action of this kind by a serving senior Minister - in this case, one who has a responsibility, together with the President, for our Defence Forces - would be treated...

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Joan Burton: His behaviour does, unfortunately, merit a vote of no confidence. It is shameful for the Green Party to support this action by the Minister, thereby saying to the children of Ireland that this type of behaviour is all right.

Order of Business (17 Feb 2010)

Joan Burton: The Green Party may have a view on that.

Order of Business (17 Feb 2010)

Joan Burton: What is the position in regard to section 110 of the Finance Act 2007, which was introduced by the Taoiseach as Minister for Finance? That section provided for the closure of a loophole whereby property developers were avoiding the payment of stamp duty. This provision was included in the legislation after a long campaign by the Labour Party but was never implemented. The Minister for...

Order of Business (17 Feb 2010)

Joan Burton: I am totally in order. I am referring to legislation that was passed by the Dáil but never implemented. The Minister for Finance made a statement to the examiner from Brussels-----

Order of Business (17 Feb 2010)

Joan Burton: -----that he is considering bringing in legislation to close off this loophole finally in order to put the rickety NAMA train back on the tracks somehow or other. The Taoiseach, as the leader of the Government, did not know what the Minister for Defence, Deputy Willie O'Dea was doing. Does he know what the Minister for Finance is doing when he is in Brussels?