Results 321-340 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I echo what Senator Bacik has said about the Northern Ireland agreement, A Fresh Start, which includes compensation for the removal of the peace walls. I hope the latter will be possible. There will also be a fund to secure, once and for all, the end of paramilitary groups, which have done much damage. There is also some funding for project relating to the A5, which connects Aughnacloy,...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Leader.

Seanad: Tributes to Former Senator Jack Fitzsimons (18 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Fitzsimons family, whose names are on the record. These are very important occasions in which the Seanad pays tribute to former Members. We stand on the shoulders of giants here and traditions, including interest in the environment, were built by the likes of Jack Fitzsimons and enhanced every day. Senator Norris is the leader of the university group of Senators and has asked...

Seanad: Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 1:In page 6, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following:"5. Where the burdens of bank recovery and resolution impose excessive burdens on a member state of the eurozone an agreed re-introduction of a national currency and a flexible exchange rate regime shall be a permitted alternative to the bank recovery and resolution measures of Part 2 of this Act.". As always,...

Seanad: Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister of State for his contribution, as always.

Seanad: Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 2:In page 8, line 24, to delete "stand" and substitute "stands". This is a small amendment on grammatical matters, and I will leave it to the Minister of State to handle it on Report Stage.

Seanad: Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 3:In page 11, line 11, to delete "2 weeks" and substitute "1 week". This is taken from the note supplied by the Oireachtas Library and Research Service that the ECB might like a faster period of reimbursement, hence the proposal of one week rather than two. The Department of Finance told the Oireachtas Library and Research Service this was being discussed and it might...

Seanad: Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I accept the point made by the Minister of State.

Seanad: Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 4:In page 17, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following:"22.The Minister shall submit to both Houses of the Oireachtas an annual report on the regulation of the Insurance sector including solvency, premium increases, competitiveness and all matters included in Part 4 of the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015.". I have a number of concerns in this regard,...

Seanad: Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: The recommendation from the National Competitiveness Council is that the Central Bank and the Department of Finance should continually review and monitor the accuracy and proportionality of financial services regulation, which, as the Minister of State has said, now includes the insurance sector. The money involved for Setanta was €92 million, while Quinn Insurance lost €905...

Seanad: Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 5:In page 17, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following:“22. The Minister shall not issue a direction to the National Treasury Management Agency when advised by the Agency that such a direction will reduce the value of its portfolio.”. This amendment seeks to remove doubt as to whether it was correct to overrule the NTMA and compel it to buy shares...

Seanad: Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister of State for his response and will not be pressing the amendment. However, I would prefer an intention not to put another €30 billion into a dud bank. I am highly unlikely to ever have to make such a decision, whereas the Minister is, so I will bow to that superior knowledge. A system of checks and balances to make sure that it does not happen again would be...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I welcome Senator Máiría Cahill. I hope she will enjoy being here. I look forward to hearing the perspective she will bring from Belfast to the deliberations of this House. I echo what other Senators have said about the bombings in Paris. I commend the Taoiseach on his statement. I also commend Uachtarán na hÉireann, who went to the French Embassy in Merrion Square...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. With regard to amendment No. 102, which the Minister of State, Senator Aideen Hayden and Senator Kathryn Reilly referred to, I believe that we must ask why this sector is way out of line with consumer price inflation. As legislators, we have to put the pressure back on the appropriate party. At the banking inquiry, we asked Michael O'Flynn, a...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: We were unable to find out the name of the woman who was seriously injured in the crash on the M50 yesterday, but I am sure we will find it out later. We wish her a speedy recovery. I do not underestimate the impact on her and I extend my sympathy, but in the wider context the road was closed for seven hours. Perhaps the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Paschal Donohoe,...

Seanad: Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Second Stage (12 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. I echo Senator D'Arcy's welcome to the Minister of State, Deputy Harris. I thank his officials for the speech which they supplied to us. The first segment, as the Minister of State has said, contains the measures to deal with the single revolution - I am sorry - the Single Resolution Mechanism. It nearly became a single revolution mechanism when we...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I note the announcement by the speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Mitchel McLaughlin, that he intends to step down at the next election. He is very highly regarded by all parties in the Assembly, as indeed was his predecessor, William Hay. It is a practical example of power sharing, which is to be very much commended. Along with the Ceann Comhairle, Mitchel McLaughlin is also the...

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: This section should be removed from the Bill because it completely contradicts what the arts are about, namely, being subversive. The arts have to critique the established view of the world and, if necessary, undermine same. Within the past ten days I attended the Wexford Festival Opera. This year's production of Hansel and Gretel featured the children sitting in cardboard boxes. The...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: After the controversies surrounding the telephone licence, the IBRC, Siteserv and the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, is it not time to establish at, as a general principle, we should sell assets openly? By taking the secret route behind closed doors, the insider dealings become tied up in knots and involve huge numbers of accountants and lawyers. Open auctions are superior. They...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Members on all sides of the House who spoke in favour of the National Mortgage and Housing Corporation Bill 2015 last night. I think the records will be most interesting. We were asked to combat the problems of homelessness and high housing costs in Ireland. I do not believe the financial institutions or the building sector, as they are currently constituted, will solve those...