Results 4,461-4,480 of 5,173 for speaker:Joe O'Reilly

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Jan 2011)

Joe O'Reilly: The arguments have been well rehearsed. I strongly support the recommendation tabled by Senator Alex White and his party. I congratulate him because it is worthwhile. Spending will have to be rigorously assessed in the future and the two criteria that will have to be used are whether the funding will contribute to job creation, on the one hand, and, on the other, alleviate the needs of the...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011: Second Stage (28 Jan 2011)

Joe O'Reilly: Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire. This Finance Bill is, effectively, the sad epitaph of a failed Government. Its tombstone is the bailout and the sale of our sovereignty and the writing on the tombstone is the Finance Bill. This debate is happening at a time when 1,000 people are emigrating each week. This statistic, when it rolls off othe tongue, can hide a shocking human...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011: Second Stage (28 Jan 2011)

Joe O'Reilly: I should have said the future Minister, Deputy Noonan. It is welcome that both he and Deputy Kenny are meeting President Barroso today with a view to opening channels of communication that will lead to a renegotiation of the terms of the International Monetary Fund, IMF, deal. I wish them well in these negotiations which are important for the country. It is a given that we will have to...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011: Second Stage (28 Jan 2011)

Joe O'Reilly: -----in the Finance Bill relating to €400 million of administrative efficiencies. That is a euphemism for real cuts. I would challenge the Minister to delineate those cuts in specific terms before we agree to the passage of the Bill.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011: Second Stage (28 Jan 2011)

Joe O'Reilly: The relevance will be established later.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011: Second Stage (28 Jan 2011)

Joe O'Reilly: That is delusional.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2011)

Joe O'Reilly: I echo my colleagues' remarks of gratitude to the staff for their courtesy to us. While the term is not over, it is appropriate to say this. I also join in the good wishes to colleagues on all sides of the House who will be participating in the forthcoming Dáil and Seanad elections and to those who are retiring. Before getting to the substance of the remarks I wish to make to the Leader, I...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2011)

Joe O'Reilly: Like all colleagues in the House, in the last few days I have been visiting people's homes while canvassing for the election. The single clear reaction I have discerned in every estate and among every socioeconomic group is that there is a demand for fairness. The demand is that until we remove bonuses, prune top salaries, including those in the Oireachtas, get rid of cronyism and cartels,...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2011)

Joe O'Reilly: May I also say to the Leader-----

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2011)

Joe O'Reilly: The jobs issue requires radical and immediate action. We need a jobs policy.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Jan 2011)

Joe O'Reilly: The "Lanigan's Ball" approach to government would be great fun-----

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Jan 2011)

Joe O'Reilly: It would be theatre in normal times, but is it appropriate during a period of mass unemployment, emigration and hardship? While it might be a great stroke on a superficial level, have the people moved beyond this? Is it not stretching credulity and tolerance too far?

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Jan 2011)

Joe O'Reilly: I formally second the amendment proposed by Senator Buttimer. I support the proposition made by Senator Wilson that the Minister for Finance attends the House because this matter concerns his brief and taxpayers' money. The Minister has direct responsibility and has the power to alter matters. He should address the fears, some of which may be groundless. Groundless or not, there are real...

Seanad: Climate Change Response Bill 2010: Second Stage (13 Jan 2011)

Joe O'Reilly: By way of conclusion, I draw the attention of the House and the Minister of State to a particular matter. We all hope and aspire that agreement is reached and that the legal targets are established at Durban. If this legislation is passed in its present form, we could tie our hands as burden-sharing is arrived at after Durban. We pray that we will return with the targets for Europe arising...

Seanad: Climate Change Response Bill 2010: Second Stage (13 Jan 2011)

Joe O'Reilly: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. It is with pleasure than I formally second the amendment so eloquently, logically and comprehensively proposed by Senator Coffey. I and my party are not contesting the science or reality of global warming and the need to address it. There is all-party agreement in that sense. I acknowledge the bona fides of the Minister of State in that sphere; there is...

Seanad: Climate Change Response Bill 2010: Second Stage (13 Jan 2011)

Joe O'Reilly: Of course, it is a shame. We advocate that there should be, and I advocated that at the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe committee was pushing for agreement but there has been none. The process has moved to Durban where there might yet be legal agreement. I am not sure we should be too far ahead of the posse on this issue. While we should lead, we should not do so by tying our...

Seanad: Climate Change Response Bill 2010: Second Stage (13 Jan 2011)

Joe O'Reilly: Yes, I believe that is required. We accept the finite nature of fossil fuels. We also accept that the cost of oil is increasing by the hour and the day. We are very conscious of that. Hence, Fine Gael produced the NewERA strategy which proposes developing a reliance on green wind and wave energy. We also believe there must be a national insulation strategy and a conservation strategy....

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Jan 2011)

Joe O'Reilly: It is the country's ambition to use the agriculture sector as one of the main engines to revive the economy. The ambitions of Food Harvest 2020 form part of this. We depend on agriculture, the vehicle that will bring about economic restoration. The pig industry forms a major part of the agriculture sector in County Cavan. There are 750 jobs dependent on the pig industry in County Cavan....

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Jan 2011)

Joe O'Reilly: I am coming to the point now. At the same time, prices for pigs remain low. The pig farmers are on the verge of going out of business, and one large piggery in Cork did just that recently. We are talking about 750 jobs and real people in the real economy. In the midst of our debates here, we could lose the sense of the fact that what happens here impacts on real lives. Will the Leader...

Seanad: Insurance Industry (12 Jan 2011)

Joe O'Reilly: I thank my constituency colleague, Senator Wilson, for sharing his time on this crucial issue for our county. I walked in to the Kilmore Hotel in Cavan yesterday and met a crowd of young people who were under enormous stress. They were very strained and concerned about their mortgages, jobs, families and, in many instances, their children. They comprised a large segment of the 497 people...