Results 3,581-3,600 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: Or remuneration of bankers.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister. I regret any reduction in the number of Deputies because when we were trying to resolve the problems of the country between 2008 and 2010, reducing the number of backbenchers would not have made any difference. We have much bigger problems of lobbying, the control of banks and so on. I would not have added to the democratic deficit but I accept what the Minister is...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: In pages 1, 8 and 26 of the Irish Independent today, there is a long series of articles on education. One is entitled "CAO shake-up to take heat out of points race". The CAO is simply a device by which a scarce number of university places are allocated among people about to sit the leaving certificate examination, and that is all it is. The article states, "The initial step will be a...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Second Stage (7 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister. It is always a pleasure when he comes to the House to discuss education matters and today is no exception. I was delighted when he referred to discussions in the other House and it is good that my colleagues here have expressed their support for the Bill. There will be 21 members on an education and training board -12 local authority representatives, two staff...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Second Stage (7 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister. As Easter approaches and the Minister must run the gauntlet at various teacher conferences, are two teachers out of 21 members enough? I put that forward as a proposition because there is a level of alienation. By the way, I have admired Ministers from all parties who have run that gauntlet each Easter. I do not know if I would volunteer to do it. Teachers might not...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Second Stage (7 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: It was a strange sort of legacy and I am delighted to see the Minister is correcting it. It seems to be an industrial relations practice from Noah's Ark. The National Development Finance Agency is coming in on the Minister's ambitious schools building programme and the former VECs will become involved in primary education where the Minister sees a gap. As he pointed out, we face such an...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Second Stage (7 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: It may be a donation from people from whom one would prefer not to get one. However, this could be good news, so let us act quickly, having checked it out appropriately. I join with other Senators in commending the Minister on his reforms. What he is trying to do in education is so vital that he will have the support of this House which he also had in the other one.

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: This afternoon in Helen's Bay, County Down, the funeral will take place of Sir George Quigley. He was one of the finest public servants of the island of Ireland that one could find in either jurisdiction. He was Permanent Secretary at the Department of Finance and Personnel in Northern Ireland. He chaired the review of the Parades Commission between 2001-02 which was a notable contribution...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: In the one year and nine months I have been here I have met no one whom I would wish to exclude from the Oireachtas. Therefore, I cannot understand the mentality of the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste who wish to get rid of all 60 people in the room.

Seanad: Seanad Electoral Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: They really do not know what is going on. Let us consider the Order Paper. Some two thirds of the items were put down by Members and only one third by the Government. We need more scrutiny and checks and balances, especially given what happened to the country between 2008 and 2010. It was not the fault of Senators or Dáil backbenchers - yesterday, we discussed getting rid of or...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: It portrays an arrogance by both gentlemen to wish to abolish the assembly which is there to ensure that they perform efficiently. I am unsure what has happened in the period that has been described. Senator Bradford informed us that until quite recently the Taoiseach had a different view of this House. He appointed 11 brilliant people who are among the leaders in the House. Why has he...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Seanad Electoral Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: For shame.

Seanad: Seanad Electoral Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: No.

Seanad: Early Intervention and Economic Benefits: Statements (6 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: Have we made child care too expensive by excessive regulation? Are the requirements so high? In a society with 14.8% unemployment, it is a contradiction that a service like child care should be so expensive. What is the logjam that enters into the Minister's mind when she confronts the situation? I thank the Minister for raising all these issues and bringing them to the Seanad in a series...

Seanad: Early Intervention and Economic Benefits: Statements (6 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister, as always. When she comes to this House everybody is stimulated by what she has to say to us. We are looking at starting out with a new public service looking after the preschool group in a much more systematic way than we did previously. We are trying to do it from the perspective of a country that is broke. I think it was in articles in the Sunday Business Post...

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: Following on from Senator Cummins, in many ways we wish we were not here but at this stage of our consideration of the Bill we have added, under the agreement, ¤10 billion to taxation, and public expenditure is still rising. We discussed that on the last occasion the Minister of State was in the House. We have become a high tax society. This is different from saying we will substitute the...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: I join in our colleague's welcome for Professor Huxley, an Englishman who, in a great tradition, believes in fairness in the way the United Kingdom treats this country. I raise the article by Thomas Molloy in the Irish Independent yesterday in which he stated that electricity prices here are the second highest in the European Union after Cyprus. He estimated they were 40.25% above the EU...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.