Results 3,601-3,620 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Second Stage (5 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan. This is a pretty sad day in many ways. We have decided to attribute all the blame for the things that happened in this country between 2008 and 2010 to the Members of the Oireachtas. The number of people in this country has increased by 341,000, according to the census, but they will be represented by eight fewer Members of the Dáil....

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: In The University Times today there is a story that in the negotiations on the reconfiguration of teacher training in Ireland the Church of Ireland College of Education will not be allowed to retain its name. The inclusion of "Church of Ireland" in the title does not threaten anybody; rather, it enriches the island as an example of the diversity enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement and the...

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Ms Emer Costello, MEP (28 Feb 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome Deputy Costello. The first person speaking in this series, Mr. Gay Mitchell, MEP, indicated that this process is probably the closest form to European-style interaction, and it can be contrasted to the adversarial system in the Dáil. I hope Ms Costello feels at home, as people are discussing ideas here rather than calling for resignations. I will certainly not be doing that. The...

Seanad: Business of Seanad (28 Feb 2013)

Sean Barrett: I referred to the issue of regulatory impact assessments on legislation before it reaches the House. Could the Leader attend to that issue?

Seanad: Business of Seanad (28 Feb 2013)

Sean Barrett: The importance of the Seanad in scrutinising and initiating legislation has been shown vividly in recent times. The personal insolvency legislation was amended 181 times on Committee Stage and 155 times on Report Stage in this House, as the Minister, Deputy Shatter, engaged with Members. Yesterday, we reached 64 amendments on the Taxi Regulation Bill. It was remarkable that on a number of...

Seanad: Magdalen Laundries Report: Statements (27 Feb 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch. I always value her contribution to this House. I hope that the next time they meet in the Lazy Daisy Café in Notting Hill ? it will be famous now ? she can say that 60 Senators and 166 Deputies will be there with her in spirit. I agree with everything other Senators have said. Owen Skeffington, one of my predecessors, tried to...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 60: In page 54, subsection (4)(i), line 30, after ?matters.? to insert the following:"These shall include representatives of the Competition Authority and the National Consumer Agency.".This is an attempt to have the consumer listened to in the debate in order that successful economic policies cannot be overturned by people who do not want competition or by committees...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Sean Barrett: No, although I will have comments on Report Stage, as the consumer is being ignored. The entire Bill is anti-competitive, and the more we go through it, the more obvious that becomes.

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Sean Barrett: I told people in the bus industry about this as they had not been told. It is a surprise that one would seek to change the regulation of the bus industry under a taxi Bill and people in the bus industry had not been notified of this by the Department.

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Sean Barrett: As I stated earlier, if the bus industry is to be affected by a taxi Bill, we should inform representatives of the bus industry. There are issues to be sorted out in that respect.

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Sean Barrett: I note the Minister of State's comments. The thrust of the Bill is anti-competitive. The thrust of the way in which the NTA was set up was anti-competitive. When the then Senator, Deputy Paschal Donohoe tried to raise a number of issues in this House, the debate was guillotined. The then President, Mary McAleese, was required to sign the legislation at short notice. We allocated every...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Sean Barrett: I support Senator Reilly's amendment. One of the first pieces of work I did in this area was on the colour coding of taxis in west Belfast, Derry and north Belfast, which worked extremely well. It is an excellent service, of high frequency and operational for many hours. There are lessons for us in it being possible to do this in Northern Ireland, in the context as eloquently described by...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister of State.

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 39: In page 27, subsection (3)(a)(i), line 17, to delete "and".This is designed to strengthen consumer representation. I ask that, in addition to the bodies that the Minister must consult - the advisory committee and the Legal Metrology Service - the National Consumer Council have a say. My concern about the Bill in general is that it is definitely pro-producer and...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 32: In page 23, subsection (1)(i), line 8, to delete ?conduct,? and substitute ?conduct and?.The purpose of the amendment is to provide for the flexibility required in the taxi industry. It is unduly restrictive to introduce laws about the deportment and dress of drivers. What action will be taken if it is a warm day and a taxi driver is wearing a t-shirt or football...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 34: In page 23, lines 31 to 38, to delete subsection (2).The amendment proposes to delete subsection (2), which provides that the National Transport Authority, in making regulations under the section, may set different requirements and conditions in relation to the operation of different categories of small public service vehicles and their drivers, dispatch operators and...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Sean Barrett: I regret I will not press it because the Bill is going down the wrong road.

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 35: In page 24, lines 36 to 43 and in page 25, lines 1 to 10, to delete subsections (6) to (8).It is proposed to turn what started out as a code of practice into a legal offence in this provision. While codes of practice are useful to try to raise standards, this provision provides for the imposition of penalties for some offences which appear to be trivial, to say the...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 27: In page 21, subsection (1)(a)(ii), line 2, to delete ", markings or colour of the vehicle".I am not as inflexible on this amendment as I was on the last. Part timers in this industry perform a valuable function because the business is so heavily skewed between Thursdays and Saturdays. The contrary view is that a taxi should have all sorts of decorations on it in...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 28: In page 21, subsection (1)(a), to delete lines 37 to 39.This relates to the concern we have expressed in these debates of area licensing being reintroduced. The section states "the areas or locations where the drivers of small public service vehicles may carry on activities of operating small public service vehicles;". Perhaps the Minster of State may come back to...