Results 35,601-35,620 of 35,973 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Seanad: Investment of the National Pensions Reserve Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2009: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2009)

Pearse Doherty: Tell that to the special needs children. A marginal adjustment.

Seanad: Investment of the National Pensions Reserve Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2009: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2009)

Pearse Doherty: That is an outrage. These are special needs children.

Seanad: Investment of the National Pensions Reserve Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2009: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2009)

Pearse Doherty: The amendments make a straightforward proposal and, like Senator Twomey, I can find no reason the Government should not accept them. They do not propose to prevent the Government from investing in excess of €7 billion in the banks but simply to require it to seek the approval of both Houses of the Oireachtas before proceeding with any such measures. They seek to avoid giving the...

Seanad: Investment of the National Pensions Reserve Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2009: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2009)

Pearse Doherty: I tabled amendments Nos. 3a and 3b. There is much we could say about this Bill. It has been described as a technical Bill in one sense but it provides for what is potentially one of the most momentous decisions that will ever be taken by the Oireachtas in our time. The Government is about to commit the people's money, in the form of the National Pensions Reserve Fund, to recapitalise AIB...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Mar 2009)

Pearse Doherty: I concur with Senator Alex White that we need to have a more informed, constructive debate on the economy. A rolling debate would be helpful in this regard because it would free us of time constraints. However, Senators must be given the relevant information. I agree with my colleagues that——

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Mar 2009)

Pearse Doherty: While I support calls for a debate, it must an informed debate. Senators must recognise that many members of the public perceive this House to be irrelevant. Seanad reform, for which all of us have argued, has not taken place. The issue is usually the set piece debate on the first day of each new Seanad. The Government needs to take the bull by the horns by reforming the Seanad and...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Mar 2009)

Pearse Doherty: I have been trying to find out for well over a year how many schools are using prefabricated classrooms.

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Mar 2009)

Pearse Doherty: I am saying this to the Leader because we need an informed debate. The only information the Department of Education and Science can give us is this 100-page file of 900 schools which, between them, have 2,700 prefabricated classrooms. That is only a fraction of the number of schools out there. The Department does not know where the €100 million it has invested in prefabricated classrooms...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Mar 2009)

Pearse Doherty: How are we supposed to know if these experts——

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Mar 2009)

Pearse Doherty: ——who supposedly have the figures at their fingertips cannot provide accurate information to Deputies or Senators a year later?

Seanad: Local Economic Initiatives: Motion (4 Mar 2009)

Pearse Doherty: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Teach. I dtús báire, ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Chomhaontas Ghlas as ucht an rún seo a chur roimh an Seanad anocht. I welcome the motion which was tabled by the Green Party and which has drawn focus on the need to support microfinance. Equally, I welcome the amendment to the motion, put forward by Senator O'Toole, other...

Seanad: Cancer Services (4 Mar 2009)

Pearse Doherty: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. An t-ábhar atá os comhair an tSeanaid anocht ná cúram ailse do dhaoine san iar-thuaisceart a bhfuil ailse brollaigh agus ailsí eile orthu agus an gá go mbeadh seirbhís radaiteiripe ann sa cheantar. Tá gealltanas tugtha ag an Rialtas seo i gcomhar leis an Fheidhmeannas go mbunófar an tseirbhís sin. Ba mhaith liom fosta an conradh idir ospideál...

Seanad: Cancer Services (4 Mar 2009)

Pearse Doherty: I thank the Minister of State for his positive response. I wish to raise two points with him that I outlined in my original contribution. First, the date of 2015 is to be welcomed, but we need to ensure we meet it. I am not convinced or satisfied that we will have to buy this service again. It should be integral and jointly funded for the north west, rather than something the people of...

Seanad: Banking Sector: Motion (25 Feb 2009)

Pearse Doherty: Chomh maith leis an Seanadóir Norris, ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an ceannaire sa suíochán anocht fá choinne síneadh ama a thabhairt dúinn ar an díospóireacht seo. Is ceann de na hábhair is tábhachtaí é a tháinig os ár gcomhair sa tír seo. Is ábhar é atá i mbéal an phobail ar fad, an dóigh atá na bancanna ag láimhseáil iad féin le blianta anuas. I...

Seanad: Garda Deployment (24 Feb 2009)

Pearse Doherty: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. This matter follows on from a spate of crime which has hit County Donegal for a number of weeks, and I will give some details in regard to what has happened. I call for additional gardaí to be deployed, in particular to man some of the rural Garda stations which, most of the time, are only open for three hours during the day and for a limited number of hours...

Seanad: Garda Deployment (24 Feb 2009)

Pearse Doherty: I appreciate the Minister of State's response and welcome the fact the Minister is committed to providing the resources necessary to tackle crime in Donegal and elsewhere. I know Deputy Haughey may not have the information at his fingertips, but will he ask the Minister to let me know when the next review in terms of resources available to the Donegal division will take place? Given that in...

Seanad: Development of the West: Statements (24 Feb 2009)

Pearse Doherty: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire go dtí an Seanad. Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil sé i ndáiríre mar a dúirt mé faoi go leor uaireanta anseo sa Seanad maidir le cúrsaí an iarthair. The Minister is very passionate about the west. I need to take him to task on a few matters. First, he is factually incorrect in stating that I only visited one island off the west coast during compilation of...

Seanad: Development of the West: Statements (24 Feb 2009)

Pearse Doherty: I have very little time. The other thing is——

Seanad: Development of the West: Statements (24 Feb 2009)

Pearse Doherty: If the Minister names the golden circle, I will name the islands. I visited Cléire, if I can refer to the west coast of Cork. The Minister argued that the report does not point out that the population of every county along the west increased between 2002 and 2006. I will read from the report: The total population of the Western region reached 762,335 in 2006. This was an increase of...

Seanad: Development of the West: Statements (24 Feb 2009)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister's point about my not acknowledging the increase in 2002 to 2006 is mentioned in the first paragraph of the report.