Results 441-460 of 468 for speaker:Liam Fitzgerald

Seanad: Primary Education: Motion. (11 Dec 2002)

Liam Fitzgerald: Capital funding has increased fourfold from €124 million in 1997 to €508 million in 2003.

Seanad: Primary Education: Motion. (11 Dec 2002)

Liam Fitzgerald: Capital funding for primary and post-primary schools has risen from €93 million to €338 million over the same period, an increase of more than 350%.

Seanad: Primary Education: Motion. (11 Dec 2002)

Liam Fitzgerald: At the same time, capitation funding has risen from €57 to €101 per pupil in primary schools. This has been one of the ongoing bones of contention for teachers. I know because I had 12 years of it when I taught in an inner city school. The funding has been almost doubled. No one can dispute that this is a spectacular expansion in the education capital programme and the primary capital...

Seanad: Primary Education: Motion. (11 Dec 2002)

Liam Fitzgerald: —as well as to eliminate substandard accommodation. That determination is unflinching and I can give that commitment to the House. Notwithstanding that, it is acknowledged that there will be a slowdown in the rate of expansion of the building and refurbishment programmes over the coming year. We do not deny it. At the same time, the need for the refurbishment of existing accommodation is...

Seanad: Primary Education: Motion. (11 Dec 2002)

Liam Fitzgerald: I do not defend any party for encouraging this culture, but it existed and was pervasive until recently. It will change.

Seanad: Primary Education: Motion. (11 Dec 2002)

Liam Fitzgerald: It has begun and we are delivering already. The slowdown in the expansion of the schools building and refurbishment programme is due to economic factors. Reality must prevail and we must cut our cloth to suit our measure. Given our overall economic position, the Minister and the Department have done very well to bring forward a programme that is expansionist but at a slower rate. A number of...

Seanad: Primary Education: Motion. (11 Dec 2002)

Liam Fitzgerald: This list is nothing new and it has been in place for many years. We accept that there is an increase in the number of schools on the list, but there is an historical reason for this which must be taken into account. It is easy to suggest that the capital programme for primary buildings should be raised to €250 million per annum for the next five years.

Seanad: Primary Education: Motion. (11 Dec 2002)

Liam Fitzgerald: However, such an aspiration belongs to the world of Cinderella. I thank God that, as a result of action on the part of this Government, the primary education sector moved away from Cinderella's world many years ago.

Seanad: Primary Education: Motion. (11 Dec 2002)

Liam Fitzgerald: —that have been brought forward in the past five years. Education is safe in the hands of the Minister.

Seanad: Primary Education: Motion. (11 Dec 2002)

Liam Fitzgerald: It happens to some.

Seanad: Primary Education: Motion. (11 Dec 2002)

Liam Fitzgerald: Grant aid is available for that.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (10 Dec 2002)

Liam Fitzgerald: I welcome the Bill and commend the Minister and the Minister of State for deciding they would not deal with a new measure, albeit only two years old, in an ostrich-like fashion. It is unfortunate that the ostrich syndrome still appears to be alive and well in Irish politics, as I have seen and experienced only too often in Dublin City Council. The only claim to fame of some members of the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 Dec 2002)

Liam Fitzgerald: Correct.

Seanad: Order of Business. (4 Dec 2002)

Liam Fitzgerald: Never fear, the man's greatness will shine through.

Seanad: National Tourism Development Authority Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (27 Nov 2002)

Liam Fitzgerald: As a Dublin based politician, I do not aspire to follow Senator Norris, but warmly support many of the sentiments and views expressed by him. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire agus go n-éirí an t-adh leis san phortfolio nua atá aige. I commend the Minister for initiating this important Bill after a brief period in office at a crucial time in the history of tourism. On 4 July last he signalled...

Seanad: Book of Estimates, 2003: Statements. (21 Nov 2002)

Liam Fitzgerald: It is interesting that Senator McDowell should conclude on that note and I am sure it has resonances of the experience the Labour Party had in 1997. Following its decision in 1992, the public waited in the long grass and gave them a clear, unambiguous message in 1997. That message is potent for the Labour Party today. It is nice to be able to divert attention from the dilemma the party found...

Seanad: Book of Estimates, 2003: Statements. (21 Nov 2002)

Liam Fitzgerald: Bluster such as that is no substitute for reasoned argument. Let the Senator bluster away, I have no problem with that. Since the publication of the Estimates, the public has been overwhelmed with analyses of the rights and wrongs of the Minister's approach to the management of the economy and commentators are parading panaceas for our short-term fiscal difficulties. Media commentators with...

Seanad: Book of Estimates, 2003: Statements. (21 Nov 2002)

Liam Fitzgerald: —among us, we should sketch the track record of the Minister for Finance over the last five years. There is irrefutable evidence of his sound economic judgment and management. Although Ireland is suffering the effects of a global economic slow down, as are all other economies, it is performing on a par with the very best in Europe. The approach to the economy that was appropriate during...

Seanad: Book of Estimates, 2003: Statements. (21 Nov 2002)

Liam Fitzgerald: —and bore little relation to reality. If the people had the misfortune to vote them into office, they would now be taking them down hurriedly to where they left them in 1987 staring blindly at the appalling abyss of bankruptcy.

Seanad: Book of Estimates, 2003: Statements. (21 Nov 2002)

Liam Fitzgerald: That is where we were in 1987 and from where Ireland had to be rescued by the then Fianna Fáil Government, albeit a minority Government, with support from a wise, young, dynamic politician in the Tallaght strategy who, within a short time, was subsequently cast to the wolves and to political oblivion by his own party. The facts are there, unpalatable as they may be. I have heard spokesmen in...