Results 4,541-4,560 of 4,717 for speaker:Martin Mansergh

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (4 Mar 2003)

Martin Mansergh: It is not very different.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (4 Mar 2003)

Martin Mansergh: He was Attorney General.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (4 Mar 2003)

Martin Mansergh: The Senator should give us their addresses.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (4 Mar 2003)

Martin Mansergh: There is nothing left to reveal.

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 Feb 2003)

Martin Mansergh: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business. (26 Feb 2003)

Martin Mansergh: It happens for the European Parliament elections.

Seanad: Order of Business. (26 Feb 2003)

Martin Mansergh: This House should try to avoid preliminary debates on legislation which we will have ample time to debate.

Seanad: Order of Business. (26 Feb 2003)

Martin Mansergh: I question the argument made by the Leader of the Opposition that Members must oppose something until the advice of the Attorney General is made available to the House. When Deputy John Bruton was Taoiseach, he vigorously defended, on many occasions, the point that the Attorney General is the legal adviser to the Government and that his or her legal advice is not published. As the advice of...

Seanad: Order of Business. (26 Feb 2003)

Martin Mansergh: —given that the abolition of the dual mandate in the case of the European Parliament has not been found unconstitutional. I cannot see what the issue is.

Seanad: Order of Business. (26 Feb 2003)

Martin Mansergh: Not quite.

Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Second Stage. (26 Feb 2003)

Martin Mansergh: I support the legislation. It is a major reform which will have far-reaching beneficial consequences for the work of the Oireachtas. Elected Members will put their energies into their Oireachtas work and will act as the interface between their constituency and central Government. I find the constitutional arguments against the Bill unconvincing. They could equally be applied in arguing that...

Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2003)

Martin Mansergh: I expressed surprise earlier that the self-professed parties of reform such as Fine Gael and the Labour Party were opposed to the ending of the dual mandate. I am afraid that on this occasion they are what the Labour Party is pleased to call "the conservative parties". I do not wish to conduct a seminar on the political philosophy of Garret Fitzgerald, but his excellent book Reflections on...

Seanad: Order of Business. (19 Feb 2003)

Martin Mansergh: I support Senator Ó Murchú's call for a review of the new guidelines for the Revenue Commissioners and their implications for the bean an tí. As a former member of the tax strategy group, I am surprised at the move. I also support the calls from the other side of the House for clarification on the issue of neutrality. There is nothing incompatible between neutrality and support for...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters. - Crime Levels. (19 Feb 2003)

Martin Mansergh: Attacks on churches of all denominations are a growing problem. Over the past week to ten days the media have reported attacks at Glasnevin cemetery, at Leamlara, Dungourney and Inch churches in east Cork, at Mellifont, County Kildare, and at Fethard, Moyglass, Lisronagh and Mullinahone in Tipperary. This is a frightening list. Churches are still places of great importance to which the vast...

Seanad: Rural Development Policy: Statements. (18 Feb 2003)

Martin Mansergh: We do not need to mention his name.

Seanad: Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (18 Feb 2003)

Martin Mansergh: The prime utility of a Bill of this kind is for tax practitioners to advise their clients. I was disappointed to hear today at an informal briefing on the Finance Bill by Department officials that this Bill will be amended again almost as soon as it is passed. This is for technical procedural reasons. They are across the board amendments that apply to all taxes to do with admissibility of...

Seanad: Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Bill 2002: Motion for Earlier Signature. (18 Feb 2003)

Martin Mansergh: I move: That pursuant to subsection 2o of section 2 of Article 25 of the Constitution, Seanad Éireann concurs with the Government in a request to the President to sign the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Bill 2002 on a date which is earlier than the fifth day after the date on which the Bill shall have been presented to her. Question put and agreed to.

Seanad: Finance and Related Matters: Statements. (18 Feb 2003)

Martin Mansergh: The immediate trigger for this debate was the concern about the Exchequer returns for January and, in particular, some alarmist comments made by commentators on RTE and the fact that income tax receipts had appeared to be down. If one studies the Exchequer returns, given the circumstances and conditions, they are extraordinarily good. Very often – even in good times – the January returns...

Seanad: Finance and Related Matters: Statements. (18 Feb 2003)

Martin Mansergh: I thank the Cathaoirleach. I am a vulnerable person in need of much protection. Senator Higgins talked about going for broke as if we were broke, when, in fact, the public finances have not been in as healthy a condition for at least 30 years.

Seanad: Finance and Related Matters: Statements. (18 Feb 2003)

Martin Mansergh: On the other hand, we have the new Labour Party line which is that there is a €5.2 billion surplus. My old friend and colleague, Fergus Finlay, laid out the argument in full and I have noticed many Labour Party spokespersons repeat this line. The clear implication is that there is a lot of money in the Exchequer, so why is the Government not spending more of it? If capital spending is...