Results 4,061-4,080 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jun 2012)

Sean Barrett: While I thank the Cathaoirleach for his advice on this matter, further points arise in this regard. A regulatory impact assessment was not carried out, as is the case when human rights issues arise. The decision of the court in the Doherty case should also be assessed. As Senator Paul Coghlan stated, the Bill deserves more consideration at the Cabinet than appeared to have been the case...

Seanad: Business of Seanad (21 Jun 2012)

Sean Barrett: Who are they? Who are the invited Senators?

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Jun 2012)

Sean Barrett: A conference is being held in this Chamber next Monday on the matter of abolishing or reforming Seanad Éireann, which will be attended by "invited Senators". Perhaps the Leader will tell us the Senators who have been invited to defend this House. I express the hope that this does not set a precedent. Also, perhaps a group seeking to abolish Dáil Éireann might be facilitated in the Dáil...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Jun 2012)

Sean Barrett: I refer to the meeting in the Chamber on Monday, about the abolition or reform of the Seanad.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Jun 2012)

Sean Barrett: I hoped the Leader would represent us, as a reformer and a sturdy defender of the House, against a media person who, as the Leader pointed out at the time, never attended or reported here. Who will represent us? I hope it will be Senator Cummins.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Jun 2012)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Competition (Amendment) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (14 Jun 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 1: In page 8, between lines 36 and 37, to insert the following: "6.—(1) Subsection (1) of section 30 of the principal Act is amended by inserting the following paragraphs after paragraph (g) - "(h) to study and analyse any practice or method of competition or decision with implications for competition in markets for goods and services that has its origins in a decision...

Seanad: Competition (Amendment) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (14 Jun 2012)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister, as always, for his wisdom. There is exasperation about how slowly we are moving in this field. We will support the Minister's efforts to move things on. This is a sentiment expressed in an announcement by the International Monetary Fund this morning. On page 24 of the IMF agreement of December 2010, Ireland agreed to require the Competition Authority to lift...

Seanad: Competition (Amendment) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (14 Jun 2012)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister for his sentiments. Dr. Fingleton estimated that restrictive practices were costing every household €2,500 per annum. The international ranking of Ireland for competition policy is 25th, which is way below OECD countries. I hope the Minister's reforms will reduce that €2,500 cost and move Ireland up the rankings. I wish him well in that regard. We have sought to...

Seanad: Competition (Amendment) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (14 Jun 2012)

Sean Barrett: One of the Spanish players went to school in County Meath.

Seanad: Euroscience Open Forum 2012: Statements (14 Jun 2012)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State and thank Senator Susan O'Keeffe for reintroducing W. B. Yeats to this Chamber which he graced for so many years. This is a wonderful project for which the Minister of State will have the support of everyone in the House, as Senators Susan O'Keeffe and Averil Power stated. There is excitement about it. I can inform the House that the Science Gallery which...

Seanad: Referendum on the Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements (14 Jun 2012)

Sean Barrett: When I proposed the Fiscal Responsibility (Statement) Bill 2011 in December of last year, it received wide support in this House. The problem with the recent referendum is that it was an attempt to make a fiscal response to a monetary problem. As Senator Healy Eames and others have said, the design faults in the euro destroyed the banking system which we then bailed out. The report of the...

Seanad: Business Undertakings (Disclosure of Overpayments) Bill 2012: Second Stage (13 Jun 2012)

Sean Barrett: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. It is always a pleasure to listen to this Minister. I second Senator Mullen's Bill. It is trying to extend the dormant accounts legislation to include other forms of dormant property and to increase the property rights of persons over such property. Senator Mullen mentioned the US Federal Unclaimed Property Act 1995. We Googled it today and found that there...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Jun 2012)

Sean Barrett: I was pleased when Senator Jim D'Arcy raised the issue of the Minister for Education and Skill's annoyance with the university heads for their failure to respond. The problem has to do with the Trade Descriptions Act and perhaps the cartel legislation. The problem is that Irish Universities Association does not represent anybody who lectures in Irish universities. It is the Conference of...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Jun 2012)

Sean Barrett: Today's edition of The Irish Times has a headline, "Higher level paper [in mathematics] called disastrous, traumatic". That was the experience of 10,000 students taking that paper yesterday. The article contains a quote that, "Students' nervousness in advance of this exam paper was well-founded". We have discussed this on several occasions in the House. It is a major problem. Is project...

Seanad: Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (7 Jun 2012)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State. I support the amendment. It may be that small is beautiful. The managerial speak of the Department with responsibility for local government from many of its manuals, which are about 20 years out of date, assume that people at the top know better than others what they should think and do. The problem with that is that it comes without numbers. We have...

Seanad: Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (7 Jun 2012)

Sean Barrett: There is an important point in Senator Cullinane's amendment. Yesterday's debate did not refer to the savings to be made from the abolition of these two agencies. I am trying to get a more cost-conscious approach to the issues arising from the McLoughlin report. The Government needs to live within budgets, but no statement has been made on how much will be saved in this context. At the...

Seanad: NAMA and Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Transparency Bill 2011: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister to the House. None of us wants to be here for this debate. This is a situation we inherited and it has been a disaster for the Irish economy. The conduct of bankers and their friends in the property business has brought this country to its knees, destroyed its international credit and raised unemployment from 4.5% to 14.5%. I am sure the Minister would much prefer...

Seanad: Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2012: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. What we have embarked upon today is very important. We know we need to be able to live within our means, which will occupy us all in coming years. I assure the Minister of State that she will have support from these benches because it is vital that we be able to return to the markets and run our finances in an economical way. The problem with...

Seanad: National Lottery: Motion (23 May 2012)

Sean Barrett: Like other Members I thank colleagues for tabling the motion. One of the things we are finding at present, with a view to events next week, is that we have lost a bit of our radicalism and we will have to address the reform agenda. I do not know what way things will work out next week. We inherited a situation when we were elected as Members – 42 of us were new – that the country had...