Results 3,981-4,000 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (26 Sep 2012)

Sean Barrett: I support the Minister and will be opposing Senator Keane's amendment to change the Title of the Bill. It is an honour title.

Seanad: Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (26 Sep 2012)

Sean Barrett: We are trying to get out from under the IMF, both in the verbal and financial sense. Regulators are not working in fields like aviation and transport. Representatives of the National Transport Authority wrote to a man operating buses between Limerick and Dublin recently indicating that he could not have extra buses operating if they were being left standing in the rain. The energy...

Seanad: Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (26 Sep 2012)

Sean Barrett: May I share time with Senator Quinn?

Seanad: Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (26 Sep 2012)

Sean Barrett: Yes.

Seanad: Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (26 Sep 2012)

Sean Barrett: I thank the House. I strongly welcome the Bill. It is a part of a reform agenda that must be implemented as quickly as possible. Other issues have diverted us, but this is an important matter. Mildly put, Sir Humphrey is not a natural democratic. We must devise institutions to make him explain what he is doing and why. I join other Senators in paying tribute to the previous holders of the...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Sep 2012)

Sean Barrett: I echo the comments by Senators Coghlan and Ó Murchú. We do not come here for a Punch and Judy show and to have produced articles with lines like "Ashen-faced Minister will have to answer to the junior Minister because he was defeated in the Senate". We come here to serve the country and we should look at motions in that spirit because the previous type of politics led us to where we are...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Sep 2012)

Sean Barrett: On the front of today's edition of The Irish Times, it is reported that a top level report has urged a merger of Trinity College and UCD. It states the report was prepared without consultation with the colleges themselves and the panel worked solely on the basis of a portfolio of information and statistics about Irish higher education. The chairman of the group states modestly on his...

Seanad: Flooding and Flood Prevention Measures: Statements (20 Sep 2012)

Sean Barrett: Thank you. The Minister of State will be aware that the Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts has been critical of the cost overruns in respect of drainage in Kilkenny. Have lessons been learned in this regard? I think Deputy McGuinness's ambition to be Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts came about as a result of this project, which he believed was too expensive. There is a...

Seanad: Flooding and Flood Prevention Measures: Statements (20 Sep 2012)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State. We always have good debates when he is present. I was asking for a-----

Seanad: Flooding and Flood Prevention Measures: Statements (20 Sep 2012)

Sean Barrett: I will move to another seat.

Seanad: Flooding and Flood Prevention Measures: Statements (20 Sep 2012)

Sean Barrett: I thank everyone for their patience.

Seanad: Flooding and Flood Prevention Measures: Statements (20 Sep 2012)

Sean Barrett: I was absent for part of Senator Kathryn Reilly's contribution because I wanted to check on a point made by Senator Thomas Byrne. While I was a member of the National Economic and Social Council, NESC, a number of years ago, the idea of climate change was discussed. The Central Statistics Office used to have the numbers, but they are not in the statistical yearbook. The Minister of State...

Seanad: Irish Water and Related Reforms: Statements (20 Sep 2012)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State. I always look forward to his visits here, particularly in the context of the wide range of topics he is prepared to discuss with us. It is going to be necessary for further information to be produced in order that some of the gaps to which Senator Daly refers might be filled in and I am of the view that a regulatory impact analysis is now required. We have...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Sep 2012)

Sean Barrett: We had a positive debate on the pricing and supply of medical goods with the Minister of State, Deputy Róisín Shortall, yesterday and the House wanted her to be more radical. She was speaking about reductions of 30%, but we were wondering whether reductions of 80% could be provided for. It emerged during the debate that the regulatory impact analysis had not been circulated to Senators....

Seanad: Charities Act 2009: Motion (19 Sep 2012)

Sean Barrett: We both welcome the Minister of State.

Seanad: Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Sep 2012)

Sean Barrett: I echo those sentiments. An article in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy states, "To be effective, drug-cost management efforts should be planned and executed as a continual process, not just as a brief annual exercise when the budget is prepared and provided to hospital administration". We are embarking here on something that is very important and I commend the Minister of...

Seanad: Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Sep 2012)

Sean Barrett: I would like to suggest to the Minister of State that the word "may" in section 24(4), which states that "the Executive may use a competitive process", should become "shall" when the Bill is considered on Report Stage. It is a proposal for the next Stage rather than an amendment for this Stage.

Seanad: Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Sep 2012)

Sean Barrett: I wish to pick up on Senator Cullinane's point. The price decay graph is a trade term used in the case of generic drugs. Typically, the graph flattens out at approximately 20% of the original brand price, representing an 80% reduction, which would be welcomed by the Minister of State and everyone in the House. This appears to be much larger than any figure mentioned. I regret that there...

Seanad: Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Sep 2012)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State. It might help the House to know that in the United States a generic drug must contain the same active ingredients as the original formulation. According to the US Food and Drug Administration generic drugs are identical or within an acceptable equivalent range to the brand name counterpart with respect to the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties....

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Sep 2012)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Cathaoirleach and the Leader back to the House. This is an extremely sad day in Hillsborough and Ballynahinch as three members of the Spence family are laid to rest. I hope the Leader might communicate our condolences to the bereaved. Perhaps the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Simon Coveney, and his opposite number in Northern Ireland might develop and...