Results 4,621-4,640 of 4,717 for speaker:Martin Mansergh

Seanad: Immigration Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: As a general principle, many of these journeys can be long and tiring. If the people who are being carried will not be admitted at the other end because their papers are not in order or there will be some lengthy procedures, it is far better that they do not embark on the journey in the first place. There is an obvious need here and anybody who has been travelling for the past 40 years will...

Seanad: Immigration Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: I question the merits of saying, by deletion or amendment as proposed, that asylum seekers should not have any form of identification. There would appear to be a certain contradiction in people seeking asylum without being able or willing to say who they are or from where they have come. In my view, there is no valid objection to a requirement by the State for the production of some such...

Seanad: Immigration Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: I wish to make two points. First, how genuine is an asylum seeker who presents false documentation? Is there not a contradiction in terms there? (Interruptions.)

Seanad: Immigration Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: On each occasion one travels to an airport in continental Europe, one is required to produce a valid passport because one will otherwise be refused entry. As a matter of routine, therefore, airlines are doing some preliminary pre-emigration checks for all of us. I cannot see what is the problem with this principle, because it is an everyday occurrence everywhere.

Seanad: Immigration Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: I said "false documentation".

Seanad: Immigration Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: No.

Seanad: Immigration Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: The Senator is filibustering.

Seanad: Immigration Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: The Senator is filibustering.

Seanad: Immigration Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: Despotic states ensure that their citizens or residents are documented. An argument is sometimes made against identity cards on the grounds of being too authoritarian. Like the previous speaker, I wonder if it is often the case that people do not have documents not because they have been deprived of them by the state they are leaving or because they cannot get hold of any identity documents,...

Seanad: Immigration Bill, 2002: Committee Stage. (18 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: We are talking about identity, not travel.

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (17 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: I warmly support the Bill and I welcome the Minister. The Bill is a well thought out initiative. The Minister provided the Government or official pedigree of the Bill, I would like to fill out the picture by giving its political pedigree. The Bill was a major centrepiece of the Fianna Fáil manifesto in May of this year. The manifest proposed to establish, under the auspices of the NTMA, a...

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (17 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: The Bill is the fulfilment of a key election pledge which became a major strategic section of the programme for Government. The Bill and the initiative reflect the importance that Fianna Fáil has attached for over 40 years to the development and improvement of our infrastructure. It reflects an interventionist and Government led approach, which refers back to the programme for economic...

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (17 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: Yes, and that has been worth billions of pounds to the country. It is not based on any starry-eyed approach to PPPs. I read the debate on the Bill in the Lower House and it appears Deputy Burton does not understands the Department of Finance if she believes that it operates under the mantra "private sector good, public sector bad". There is a difficulty with PPPs, but, unless there is real...

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (17 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: It will soon be completed.

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (17 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: Is this a time to put more cars on the road?

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (17 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: A lot of progress has been made.

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (17 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: My reservation about the amendment is that financing is a separate issue from that of project management. Project management relates to the execution of a project according to technical and perhaps financial parameters. The Bill has to do with something rather separate such as financial mechanisms. Therefore, I am not sure whether it is a sound amendment.

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (17 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: The wording of this amendment does not seem to be in accordance with the point made by Senator Paddy Burke. The amendment seems to be superfluous, as section 3 of the Bill clearly covers all possibilities in its reference to, "the optimal means of financing the cost of public investment projects." As the Minister of State, Deputy Treacy, has stated, the EU has strict tendering procedures. I...

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (17 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: I completely reject Senator Paddy Burke's contention that it is another layer of bureaucracy. It is substituting for consultants who often cost much more than bureaucracy. We are talking about a procedure which is already there, not adding another procedure. The experience with bodies like the NTMA showed that there is a possibility of saving significant amounts of money and of broadening the...

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (17 Dec 2002)

Martin Mansergh: While I understand the sentiment behind this amendment and its superficial attraction, I think it would be a bad move. We heard the Minister say that there was no obstacle to the money from the national pensions fund being used for infrastructural projects, but this subordinates the judgment of those who manage the fund to the NDFA and this should not happen. Those who manage the fund should...