Results 3,381-3,400 of 4,465 for speaker:Jim Walsh

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2007)

Jim Walsh: It does.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2007)

Jim Walsh: I hope Senator Regan will always do that——

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2007)

Jim Walsh: ——on the Order of Business when Opposition Senators flout the rules very conveniently.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2007)

Jim Walsh: He has.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2007)

Jim Walsh: I wish to reconfirm what I said. It is flouted with impunity on the Order of Business every morning and this is wrong. I concur with what Senator Harris said.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2007)

Jim Walsh: Senator Cummins makes a most interesting point with regard to retrospection and the fact that this Bill might apply to a former colleague who was seriously defamed. However, this raises the question as to the reason the Bill was supported by Fine Gael on the last occasion.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2007)

Jim Walsh: Senator Cummins may have misunderstood the point I was trying to make. His opinion is that if the Act were retrospective there would be implications in the case he has in mind for the person trying to rectify the defamation made and trying to re-establish their good name. If a similar situation were to arise when the Act was fully implemented, people would face the same problem. It is...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Nov 2007)

Jim Walsh: I support the call for a debate on public service reform made by Senator Alex White on the Order of Business yesterday. He referred to a recent and excellent speech made by the Minister for Finance at the Indecon conference. Another very good speech was made by the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy McGuinness. I recommend that Members read the...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Nov 2007)

Jim Walsh: I heard Senator O'Toole's remarks on ethos. Most parents whose children are going to or have completed school will recognise the excellence of many teachers but also the fact that many were not cut out for the profession. We need a means by which efficiencies can be injected into the system.

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Nov 2007)

Jim Walsh: All senior positions should be opened up to the private sector as well as the public sector. There should be no discrimination in respect of access to good, well-paid jobs in the public sector. Thus, we would have the public services to which we all aspire and which taxpayers deserve in view on the large quantum of money they are investing.

Seanad: Report on Seanad Reform: Motion (28 Nov 2007)

Jim Walsh: Having said that, the franchise should be extended to include all third level institutions. I do not concur with those who argue for the abolition of the electoral mandate for graduates of third level institutions. There is a notion that we should adopt a list system because this model is used elsewhere and is more democratic. Nobody stops to ask who would draw up the list, how it would...

Seanad: Report on Seanad Reform: Motion (28 Nov 2007)

Jim Walsh: On a point of order, the parties vote to select their Members.

Seanad: Report on Seanad Reform: Motion (28 Nov 2007)

Jim Walsh: The most recent report on Seanad reform, which forms part of the motion before the House, was not agreed on an all-party basis and there were many dissenting voices in the Fianna Fáil Party on a range of its proposals. I propose first to respond to some of the comments made on the proposals regarding the university Members. Before entering the Seanad I considered it somewhat discriminatory...

Seanad: Realising Equality and the Traveller Community: Statements (28 Nov 2007)

Jim Walsh: I thank Senator Boyle for sharing time. Undoubtedly, the Traveller community is afflicted by serious issues. Senators all have their own experience of the issue of Travellers, particularly at local government level. I recall that as a young councillor in the mid-1970s I and others championed the cause of a few Traveller families in our area. As a result, three Traveller families were...

Seanad: Realising Equality and the Traveller Community: Statements (28 Nov 2007)

Jim Walsh: A number of Senators noted the responsibility of society to the Traveller community. The corollary of this is that the Traveller community has a responsibility to society. This responsibility is not always exercised by members of the Traveller community and some of those who represent it.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

Jim Walsh: That is not correct. It is a cover up and the Senator knows it. The Senator's brother would have told him that.

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Nov 2007)

Jim Walsh: I support Senator Quinn's call for a debate on active citizenship. I concur with his compliments to the Irish Coastguard. I understand the trawler that sank this morning was out of Wexford. The points made by Senator O'Donovan are also apt. A debate on this issue would be constructive and useful. I fully support the call by Senator Mullen for a debate on stem cell research. In the lead...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Nov 2007)

Jim Walsh: I support the comments made by Senator Healy-Eames with regard to the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney. As someone who has observed her tenure in the Department of Health and Children, I believe she was always impressive in terms of the grasp of her brief, her insightful knowledge and her drive and vision for reform of the health services. I am glad that was recognised...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Nov 2007)

Jim Walsh: The Senator is getting it all off his chest today.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Nov 2007)

Jim Walsh: That was put to bed last night.