Results 3,501-3,520 of 3,797 for speaker:Ciarán Cannon

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Jan 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I would just like to outline the context behind this amendment. These PRSAs were introduced in 2003 by the Pensions Board in an attempt to increase pension coverage across the whole working population. The idea was the lower paid and the self-employed would start making some provision for their pensions. The intention also was for PRSAs to supplement the State pension and to avert what...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Jan 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: As the Minister might expect, I am not happy with that response. TASC produced a report on the success or otherwise of PRSAs only a couple of weeks ago. It concluded that the scheme has not been successful and there has been a high dropout rate. It was somewhat disconcerting to hear the Minister state earlier that - I apologise if I do not quote him accurately - sometimes a Minister for...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Jan 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: It would be helpful were the Minister simply to answer yes or no.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Jan 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I thought he would not.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Jan 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: That may be a pity.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Jan 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I move recommendation No. 4: In page 7, before section 2, but in Chapter 2, to insert the following new section: 2.—The Principal Act is amended in section 531A(1) by substituting the following for the definition of "aggregate income": "'aggregate income for the year of assessment', in relation to an individual and a year of assessment, means the aggregate of the individual's relevant...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Jan 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: Has the Minister conceded that the imposition of the USC on the employer's contribution is inequitable? Did I hear him correctly?

Seanad: Climate Change Response Bill 2010: Second Stage (Resumed) (19 Jan 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I welcome the Minister of State. The subject of climate change ten or 15 years ago was easily framed as a kind of radicalist and environmentalist issue, which is no longer the case. I give credit where it is due to the Green Party for bringing climate change right to the heart of political debate in this country. While the importance of the subject may have dawned on us at some point, the...

Seanad: Climate Change Response Bill 2010: Second Stage (Resumed) (19 Jan 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: The proposals in the Bill run counter to the ambitions set out in Food Harvest 2020. The legislation must recognise Ireland's role in meeting increasing global food demand in an environmentally sustainable manner and guard against the negative global consequences of carbon leakage in other regions. The economist, Dr. Colm McCarthy, recently wrote an interesting article about the legislation...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Jan 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: Like me, Senator Ó Brolcháin will be aware of the closure in recent weeks of two iconic businesses, Zhivago music and the Cellar Bar, which have traded in the heart of Galway city for more than 40 years. These companies benefited from some of the greatest footfall available to businesses in this country. They were not fledgling businesses with inexperienced owners at the helm. On the...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Jan 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I am about to ask several questions which I hope the Leader will take seriously. Does he see what is happening in the business world? Does he agree that a change of Government is required if any type of business recovery is to commence? I am heartened by the commitment given by Senator Boyle that the election will take place in March. It is a commitment to which I will hold him. Several...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Jan 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: My wife and I own a rural pub in east Galway. Having spent more than two years as an Oireachtas Member, I am beginning to realise what an invaluable opportunity I have every week to talk to our customers, friends and others who own similar small businesses in east Galway. John B. Keane once remarked that there was no better way of assessing the mood of the people than by standing behind the...

Seanad: Water Services: Motion (12 Jan 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: We must be very clear about what we are addressing. We face two distinct issues: the micro-management of our water services and the macro-management of our water service infrastructure nationally. These are two different things. Senator Ellis is quite correct to point out that in respect of salt supplies and the gritting of roads during the most recent cold spell, the National Roads...

Seanad: Water Services: Motion (12 Jan 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: This is the Government's own policy. It has spent the past hour criticising us for the same policy. I do not intend to dwell on it further but it is important that those speaking on a matter as important as providing the country with a sustainable and properly functioning water service should be aware of their own policy on the matter. A rather farcical situation arose in County Galway last...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: I am sure many of us will recall the "Prime Time Investigates" documentary during the week on crime which focused predominantly on Limerick. My son and I watched the programme together and we were horrified at the sense of despair and utter hopelessness of so many young people in that part of the country. They had deserted society simply because it seemed to have deserted them. In the...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: It is now.

Seanad: Water and Sewerage Schemes (1 Dec 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: Many who have visited County Galway in recent years have been fortunate enough to visit the picturesque village of Kinvara on the west coast of Galway, which I argue is one of the most picturesque villages on the whole western seaboard. There is a vibrant and diverse community living in Kinvara who have done incredible work in recent years to ensure it remains a very attractive and vibrant...

Seanad: Water and Sewerage Schemes (1 Dec 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: I find it strange that the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is requiring Galway County Council to carry out an assessment of the impact of discharges from the treatment plant on a special area of conservation. The sewage is completely untreated and 70,000 gallons are being discharged into the same bay every day. Somehow the Minister and his Department consider it...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Nov 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: Will the Leader ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation to explain to the House the role played by Enterprise Ireland and the IDA in encouraging job creation in rural towns? From my experience in County Galway, they are playing little or no role. In the Lower House a question was posed to the Minister to learn how many investors had been brought to a number of vacant...

Seanad: National Recovery Plan 2011-2014: Statements (24 Nov 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: This debate on the publication of a four year budgetary plan is a waste of time, as those delivering it have no credibility whatsoever. We cannot believe a word they say because every intervention and projection they have made in the past two years has proved to be disastrous. Several of the statements made show how incompetent the Government has been. In January 2009 the Minister for...