Results 4,101-4,120 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Second Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State. I commend the Minister, Deputy Burton, on her level of financial expertise, which has not been seen in the Department of Social Protection previously. She is combining the work she did as her party's very effective finance spokesman with her new area of responsibility. I will not intrude into the timeframe to which we wish to adhere. We need to consider the...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Second Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Sean Barrett: If there are women in the community who would like to mind other people's children in their homes and have the ability to do so, why does child care cost so much in Ireland? I agree with the many Senators who have spoken about child care as an obstacle. We need a balance in job creation. We hear a great deal about new high-end jobs. That kind of job creation will not make any difference to...

Seanad: Competition (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (25 Apr 2012)

Sean Barrett: What the Minister of State has described is the theory involved. However, if one considers the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009, the Department said nothing. This is recorded in the screening regulatory impact analysis of the legislation which indicates that the Department either said nothing or broadly approved. That legislation was highly anti-competitive in nature, particularly as...

Seanad: Competition (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (25 Apr 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 4: In page 8, before section 6, to insert the following new section: "6.—(a) 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...

Seanad: Competition (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (25 Apr 2012)

Sean Barrett: I support what Senator Kelly has said. I welcome the Minister of State. Níl an Ghaeilge chomh líofa agam agus atá ag an Aire Stáit féin agus ag an Seanadóir Ó Clochartaigh, but it is nice to listen to it. We had a very good debate on this the previous day. The Minister, Deputy Bruton, was quoting Adam Smith and so on. I thought he would come back with much more radical things....

Seanad: Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution (Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (24 Apr 2012)

Sean Barrett: Yes, to my more eloquent colleague.

Seanad: Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution (Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (24 Apr 2012)

Sean Barrett: I echo much of what has been said. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Joe Costello, and thank the Ministers of State, Deputies Róisín Shortall and Fergus O'Dowd, who stood in for him yesterday. Some 90% of the content of the treaty has been agreed to already, as Senator Ivana Bacik pointed out. Is that not the problem? Take the situation in which Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy,...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Apr 2012)

Sean Barrett: In our discussions on water, there are aspects of the PricewaterhouseCoopers report which deserve our consideration. First, the engineers have sought to portray the 41% of water that is unaccounted for as people wasting water in their houses. One's house will flood. In the garden, one's garden will flood. It must be in the pipes outside houses and that is where the responsibility should lie.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Apr 2012)

Sean Barrett: Page 41 of the PricewaterhouseCoopers report states that only 52% of the commercial water rates are collected. I am sure the Leader will advise the Minister to get those local authorities to go and collect the money. At this stage, we are short of money. People are uneasy that the wastage problem is being visited upon them when it properly rests somewhere else and that money due to the...

Seanad: Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution (Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union) Bill 2012: Second Stage (23 Apr 2012)

Sean Barrett: I also welcome the Minister of State and thank him for his address. We must consider the small print in the legislation. I look forward to the debate, but it is important to start by stating those who may vote "No" are just as patriotic as those who think we should vote "Yes". One should not impugn the motives of those who may be in the "No" camp. There are many problems with this...

Seanad: Sale of State Assets: Statements, Questions and Answers (19 Apr 2012)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister and support his statements this afternoon. This is a very necessary part of setting the economy to right on foot of the problems that date from 2008 and before. The McCarthy report, on these issues, was launched on 24 April last year and is, therefore, approximately a year in circulation. It contains much useful information on the companies that the Minister has been...

Seanad: Road Safety Authority (Commercial Vehicle Roadworthiness) Bill 2012: Second Stage (18 Apr 2012)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister and agree with much of what has been said by Senators O'Sullivan and O'Neill. Road deaths have been reduced from a more than 600 annually and Senator O'Neill brought us up to date. However, 13 fatalities a month is still too many and we need to support the Minister as he attempts to reduce that number. This is a good time to consider where we should go next. In 2009...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Apr 2012)

Sean Barrett: Yesterday in the Irish Examiner, a chartered engineer, Mr. Kevin Murray, estimated that the average consumption per house is 150 cu. m. At estimated current prices, this is worth €345. Mr. Murray questioned the point of having a €400 meter when the annual bill is only €345, particularly for small users. Lone small consumers should not only be exempt from the water charge but also...

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 110: In page 43, subsection (2), line 44, to delete "3 years" and substitute "2 years". I wish to make a brief point. I think there have been genuine problems in this area and, in my amendment, I propose more frequent inspection. I will be guided by the Minister of State, but I would like to hear his observations on some of the language schools. I think some of these...

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: No. I thank the Minister of State for reducing the review period from seven to three years. That was obviously too long. I commend him on that.

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 117: In page 47, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following subsection: "(2) The Appeals Panel will be established by the Authority in conjunction with the Academic Councils of the previously established universities as defined under section 9 of the Act of 1997.". The phrase, "The Minister shall, as soon as practicable after the establishment day, establish an...

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: Perhaps the Minister of State might consider the phrase "the requisite expertise" rather than "expertise in, or knowledge of, the functions of the Authority" before Report Stage.

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 118: In page 47, subsection (4), line 35, after "Minister" to insert ", with the advice and consent of Seanad Éireann,". This is an attempt to give the Seanad a role. The Minister of State opposed such a provision previously, but Parliament has a role in addressing the State's many problems. There are 42 new Senators and 77 new Deputies. Involving Parliament would...

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 119: In page 50, subsection (1), line 15, after "section 79," to insert "the Irish Universities Quality Board,". The board has been exercising this function. We could transfer its functions back to the universities. The amendment is an attempt to keep that option open. In time, the new body might decide to cede functions that it does not believe it needs to exercise....

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister of State. The universities have not asked us whether they want to wind up the IUQB. There has been a lack of consultation on the issue. If the Minister of State wants to dissolve the board, he should accept my amendment. This process indicates some of the ways such decisions are made, in that we will pass a law and lean on the universities to abolish the IUQB, or they...