Results 3,841-3,860 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Transport (Córas Iompair Éireann and Subsidiary Companies Borrowings) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 2: In page 3, line 26, after ?determine)? to insert ?and the National Transport Authority?.We have covered that amendment. It concerned a role for the National Transport Authority. It is being moved separately but we discussed it.

Seanad: Transport (Córas Iompair Éireann and Subsidiary Companies Borrowings) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 5: In page 4, line 20, after ?capital? to insert the following: ?and where an independent investment appraisal of the capital expenditure has been published?.

Seanad: Transport (Córas Iompair Éireann and Subsidiary Companies Borrowings) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I was welcoming the Minister of State to the House. We held an interesting debate on some related matters last week. The Minister of State raised a valuable point about a matter on which he was working, namely, the empty leg of a school bus trip when the driver goes home after delivering the children to school. The Minister of State wondered whether there would be any way to use that leg...

Seanad: Transport (Córas Iompair Éireann and Subsidiary Companies Borrowings) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Acting Chairman for his guidance. Amendment No. 4 reads: "and not for the purpose of distorting market competition". I have addressed this point and I thank the House for its indulgence. Amendment No. 3 relates to the top of page 4. As I interpret this section, the CIE board establishes the priority of such charges. I hope that my interpretation is correct. I am citing the...

Seanad: Transport (Córas Iompair Éireann and Subsidiary Companies Borrowings) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, line 23, after "expenditure" to insert "and the distortion of market competition".I welcome the Minister to the House.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: The Minister for Health has just announced the intention to extend free GP care to the entire population. I am sure this will have many desirable effects but the warning from the extension of medical cards to the over 70s should be borne in mind because that cost far more than was expected. The cost per patient varies between 4.4 times and 4.8 times the average when treating an affluent...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: No. 1 on the Order Paper relates to the changing of the majority required for Private Bills to be passed by the Oireachtas to 50% instead of the previous 75%. I have written to the members of the committee, whom I hold in the highest respect, on this matter. It is important that people's property rights are not infringed and that there should be full discussion. There is literature on...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment)(No. 2) Bill 2012: Second Stage (21 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Bill and the spirit in which the House has approached it. This is when the Seanad is at its best. One wonders what the view will be when the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, is next discussing with Niall O'Dowd what it would have been like in Ireland if Ian Paisley had retired at 65. We only saw the best of him afterwards when there was peace on the island. The later...

Seanad: Transport (Córas Iompair Éireann and Subsidiary Companies Borrowings) Bill 2012: Second Stage (21 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. What we are faced with is that CIE is simply not a competitive company, and Senator O'Neill spoke well on it. We have been bailing it out, one way or the other, since 1932. We have spent 80 years trying to control its competition. Once there were 70 bus companies in Dublin and many up and down the country. Most of them were eliminated to...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: Last week we had one of our best Seanad debates with the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Shane McEntee, on ash dieback disease. I thank the Leader for arranging that debate and commend the Minister of State on his enthusiasm. I was joined by a number of botanists at the David Webb centenary celebration on Friday. There are several dangers in...

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: As the Official Report will show what was said and the Minister of State said that he expects all members to attend, it is not necessary to press the amendment. I would be most disappointed if anybody used it to prevent the members from attending.

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: Thank you.

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 21: In page 15, paragraph 11, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:?(3) The chairperson and members of the Fiscal Council shall, whenever requested to do so, advise a Committee of either House of the Oireachtas of the attainment and retention of fiscal stability.?.I will press this amendment because we must discuss the macroeconomic issues. We have the...

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister. The fiscal council that has been assembled is a very good body. Many institutions, people and bodies got us into this trouble and none should be exempt from scrutiny by the fiscal council. We are spending much time and effort, not least on the Government benches, trying to rectify these problems. We must ensure it never happens again. The real moral hazard is that...

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I accept what the Minister of State has said, but the Chairman of the committee does not have to ask them and they do not have to come. If the existing wording stands then only the chairperson will appear. I do not know whether anyone will look back and say the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, said all the council members ought to appear even though the Bill states it is just the...

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: The current practice is that all of the members come and they are all valued. It is an excellent council. The Minister of State, Deputy Alex White, was the previous Chairman of the committee and Deputy Ciarán Lynch is the current Chairman. They are valued, but I do not like routing knowledge through one person. It is a model which in education leads to all sorts of trouble. One gets the...

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: We are making progress. It took from 1922 to 2010 to recruit 39 economists. That is a rate of less than one every two years. In the 23 months since publication of the relevant report in 2010, we have recruited a further 60. I compliment the Minister for Finance on bringing the number up from 39 to 99. That is progress. The people concerned should, of course, possess the relevant...

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 19: In page 10, paragraph 1(4), line 18, to delete "6 months" and substitute "1 month".The Minister of State has impressed on us the importance of this body. In such circumstances, why leave positions vacant for six months? Let us bring it up to strength immediately when there is a vacancy. This is one of the many amendments I have proposed, but it is also one of the...

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: No. Prior to Report Stage the Minister for Finance might consider reducing the period to three months. I accept that he should be in a position to survey the field of those suitable to fill vacancies. We must stress the importance of the council.

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Nov 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 20: In page 15, paragraph 11(2), line 8, after "chairperson" to insert "and members".All of the members of the council are obliged to appear before the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform. That is both stimulating and useful and all of the members of the joint committee appreciate it. Why not proceed in the same way? The council is a collegiate...