Results 37,881-37,900 of 74,100 for speaker:Bernard Durkan

Health Service Executive (Financial Matters) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (19 Feb 2014)

Bernard Durkan: I see Deputy Mattie McGrath has entered the House and I welcome him because he, also, was part of that during the halcyon days. It might grate on his teeth and his nerves might get slightly raw at the prospect of this but he was concerned about only one thing: he wanted to spend more money on everything. His exit even from Fianna Fáil was on the basis of his failure to accept that...

Health Service Executive (Financial Matters) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (19 Feb 2014)

Bernard Durkan: Responsibility was not at the races.

Health Service Executive (Financial Matters) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (19 Feb 2014)

Bernard Durkan: The unfortunate horse, Responsibility, was left standing in the stalls while the whips were out and everybody said, "Go for the line." Unfortunately, poor old Deputy Mattie McGrath was not able to measure up to it at the time and they threw him overboard.

Health Service Executive (Financial Matters) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (19 Feb 2014)

Bernard Durkan: Since then he has found his voice again, licking and sucking up to his former leaders, looking lovingly with doe-like eyes at them, hoping for that day when he might be brought within the fold once again, buried in the bosom of his former party.

Health Service Executive (Financial Matters) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (19 Feb 2014)

Bernard Durkan: I would hate to be around when that happens because then this country will surely be going back to where it came out of in the last few years, back down the tubes once again. The sooner the people of this country recognise that the better.

Health Service Executive (Financial Matters) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (19 Feb 2014)

Bernard Durkan: People like that are still around shooting the breeze in the same old way as they did before, behaving as if there was nothing wrong, looking around and saying what they would do. It is called sticking-plaster politics. You add a little bit here, a little water here, a bit of steam, a little bit of hot air over here now and again and all of a sudden everything is rosy in the garden again....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Housing in Developing Countries: Habitat for Humanity (19 Feb 2014)

Bernard Durkan: I am very interested in Mr. Abebe's comments because I have studied this particular issue for many years. In respect of the durability of the housing units, I realise different countries have different traditions, but if one is spending money in today's economic climate, value for money and cost benefit analyses have to come into it. In the case of shanty town or slum reconstructions, to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Housing in Developing Countries: Habitat for Humanity (19 Feb 2014)

Bernard Durkan: I am always willing to assist.

Health Service Executive (Financial Matters) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (19 Feb 2014)

Bernard Durkan: I am delighted to have this opportunity to speak, particularly after the speech by the renowned Member opposite. I am glad he mentioned the much discussed piece of paper to which he signed up years ago-----

Health Service Executive (Financial Matters) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (19 Feb 2014)

Bernard Durkan: -----which was selective in the sense that those whom it accommodated were a particular group which excluded the rest of us. I am so sorry to have to advert to it now but I remember being here during the course of it. Those were the halcyon times, which I am sure the Deputy will recall. The House lacks the ability to address in legislation the issues which arise from time to time which...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Housing in Developing Countries: Habitat for Humanity (19 Feb 2014)

Bernard Durkan: I thank our guests for coming before the joint committee. They have touched on a very important subject, to which there are two aspects: developing and developed countries which are very different. I have been deeply involved for quite a long time in improving housing conditions. In this country many thousands of people are virtually homeless because of the situation that has been evolving...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Housing in Developing Countries: Habitat for Humanity (19 Feb 2014)

Bernard Durkan: It does actually. In countries that are highly developed there are no huge families; for economic reasons there are small families. It is a fact of life and beyond doubt that family size reduces automatically. I want to finish with the Romans, again for Senator David Norris’s benefit.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Housing in Developing Countries: Habitat for Humanity (19 Feb 2014)

Bernard Durkan: We failed to inherit what the Romans had learned 2,000 years ago to the extent that we should have had. As planners, we failed to learn what we should have from what they had learned. They were good engineers. They introduced sanitation, running water, air conditioning-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Housing in Developing Countries: Habitat for Humanity (19 Feb 2014)

Bernard Durkan: -----and concrete - you name it - they did it very effectively. They were able to provide services for a growing population in a way no one else had ever done. Whatever housing is provided in the future should have a long lifespan. The recent nonsense about temporary or short-term housing which was an immediate response to a crisis did not work. Providing long-term sustainable housing is...

Health Service Executive (Financial Matters) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (19 Feb 2014)

Bernard Durkan: The Deputy was a signatory.

Order of Business (19 Feb 2014)

Bernard Durkan: There will be a lot more progress to be reported than for the five previous years.

Order of Business (19 Feb 2014)

Bernard Durkan: What is the progress with the National Treasury Management Agency (amendment) (No. 1) and (No. 2) Bills? When are they expected to be passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas? Similarly, with regard to an evergreen issue for me, the bail Bill, it might be no harm to give it a little nudge again and ask when it might finally be brought before the House.

Other Questions: Human Rights Issues (19 Feb 2014)

Bernard Durkan: 71. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the extent to which the situation in Egypt continues to be monitored by the EU and UN in the context of whatever intervention can be made to mitigate human rights violations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8587/14]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (19 Feb 2014)

Bernard Durkan: 61. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the degree to which the European Union and the international community in general continue to use its influence to protect the civilian population in Syria; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8577/14]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (19 Feb 2014)

Bernard Durkan: 64. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the total indicated death toll arising from the ongoing conflict in Syria; if sufficient efforts continue to be made to bring about a cessation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8580/14]