Results 401-420 of 865 for speaker:Anne Ferris

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Financial Resolution No. 8: General (Resumed) (16 Oct 2013)

Anne Ferris: We have heard much in the past two days about the effect of the budget on the country as a whole. I wish to focus on what the budget will do for a single constituency, namely, the one I represent, Wicklow. The main headline in this morning's The Irish Times tells us that the budget has given the country a €500 million jobs stimulus package. That is a simple sum, which adds up the...

Forestry Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (10 Oct 2013)

Anne Ferris: I represent the county with the highest percentage forestry cover in Ireland. Just over 18% of the land area of County Wicklow is planted in trees, which is twice the national average. The Bill therefore will have a significantly higher effect in County Wicklow than in most other parts of the country. Wicklow's trees support hundreds of jobs in the forestry industry. The people who...

Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (9 Oct 2013)

Anne Ferris: I welcome the Bill. Legislation on the collection and management of DNA evidence is long overdue. This is an example of our laws playing catch-up with modern medical science. It has taken a while to get this right, but it seems that the Bill is a responsible balance between the use of modern science for the public good and maintaining the legal rights of the accused in criminal...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Heads of the Gambling Control Bill 2013: Discussion (9 Oct 2013)

Anne Ferris: There is clearly a major loophole in the legislation. I am very concerned about the activities of operators who, despite being banned by the local authority from running gaming machines, have opened up facilities in our town centre and on the outskirts and seem to be getting away with it. That type of thing is supposed to be illegal, never mind the fact that these operators are unlicensed...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Heads of the Gambling Control Bill 2013: Discussion (9 Oct 2013)

Anne Ferris: The bottom line is that operators are hiding behind the 1992 Act.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Heads of the Gambling Control Bill 2013: Discussion (9 Oct 2013)

Anne Ferris: I am very confused at this point and need to get my head around the issue. Mr. Roche referred to the 1956 Act and the 1992 Act. I need clarification on the issue of machines for which one must pay and machines which do not require the making of a payment. Would it be possible for me to contact Revenue tomorrow and under the 1992 Act ask for a gaming machine licence because I have a tax...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Heads of the Gambling Control Bill 2013: Discussion (9 Oct 2013)

Anne Ferris: I agree with the point made by Ms Kerins. Perhaps there might be a role for the independent regulator. Certainly the way things were-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Heads of the Gambling Control Bill 2013: Discussion (9 Oct 2013)

Anne Ferris: -----the Department of Justice and Equality and the Garda Síochána had a better regulatory system than the Revenue Commissioners. God bless them, but people from the Office of the Revenue Commissioners could go in and be told that a certain machine was not a gaming machine and they might not have known the difference. I probably would not know the difference. That is wrong. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Heads of the Gambling Control Bill 2013: Discussion (9 Oct 2013)

Anne Ferris: He did not get a good crack of the whip.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Heads of the Gambling Control Bill 2013: Discussion (9 Oct 2013)

Anne Ferris: My question is about the banning of machines from places families frequent such as hotels, pubs, hairdressing salons and so on and how they should be located in properly licensed places.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Heads of the Gambling Control Bill 2013: Discussion (9 Oct 2013)

Anne Ferris: I agree with Mr. Roche that it is a mess. I am not too sure how this came to be provided for in the 1992 Finance Act. Are members which the association represents applying for licences through the courts?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Heads of the Gambling Control Bill 2013: Discussion (9 Oct 2013)

Anne Ferris: The application is made in writing to Revenue.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Heads of the Gambling Control Bill 2013: Discussion (9 Oct 2013)

Anne Ferris: There is contradictory evidence in both. I presume if I were operating a small shop such as a hairdressing salon and wanted to install one of these machines on the premises, I would require a licence. From what we are hearing - I have read many of the submissions - some operators do not have licences. Reference was made to the local authorities. I live in Bray. Bray Town Council banned...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Heads of the Gambling Control Bill 2013: Discussion (9 Oct 2013)

Anne Ferris: I have one question about addiction, but I will wait until later to ask it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Heads of the Gambling Control Bill 2013: Discussion (9 Oct 2013)

Anne Ferris: I thank everybody who came in today and made a presentation. Most of the members have gone through the submissions in detail and it was good to hear the main points the witnesses had to make today. On the Chairman's direction, I will do my best not to make a speech. I suppose it is a little confusing for the lay person who is not involved in the business to differentiate between amusement...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Heads of the Gambling Control Bill 2013: Discussion (9 Oct 2013)

Anne Ferris: To the licensed operators, to Mr. Galvin. I note that he represents the Licenced Gaming Association of Ireland, LGAI, and I am not too sure what is the difference between his association and Mr. Roche's association. I am not asking this question; it is a rhetorical question. Do I take it that the members of Mr. Roche's association do not have gaming licences? I will ask this question...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Fourth Programme of Law Reform: Discussion with Law Reform Commission (25 Sep 2013)

Anne Ferris: This is not dull at all. This is an area in which any Member would be interested. There was an issue in my own constituency, which I raised at the Committee of Public Accounts when I was a member, regarding the acquisition of land through CPO by the local authority. Contracts were signed in the first few weeks but because of debt, disputes about who owned the land and this, that and the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Fourth Programme of Law Reform: Discussion with Law Reform Commission (25 Sep 2013)

Anne Ferris: That is an important issue because the taxpayer paid for this land. The value was inflated but the local authority had no choice but to pay it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Fourth Programme of Law Reform: Discussion with Law Reform Commission (25 Sep 2013)

Anne Ferris: It should be simplified.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Fourth Programme of Law Reform: Discussion with Law Reform Commission (25 Sep 2013)

Anne Ferris: What exactly does Mr. Justice Quirke mean by the cyber area? Is he talking about Facebook and other forms of social media?