Results 4,741-4,760 of 7,648 for speaker:Rónán Mullen

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Apr 2014)

Rónán Mullen: It seems to me that the important public business of this country is being held up by a very unseemly and troubling affair. The Minister is a man of undeniable ability but does not seem to have the confidence of many people because of the way in which he has run his Department, from the Mick Wallace affair onwards. There is one solution, namely, that the Taoiseach bring forward the...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Apr 2014)

Rónán Mullen: Maybe it is time he did something that needed to be done anyway-----

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Apr 2014)

Rónán Mullen: -----to separate out the justice and defence briefs because those two briefs should not be held by the one person. I am sure Senator Bacik and others would agree with me.

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Apr 2014)

Rónán Mullen: From the point of view of democratic theory, responsibility and accountability, the Garda and the Defence Forces should not be under the leadership of the same Minister. This has been a problem for a long time. Now is the opportunity for the Taoiseach, if he believes in the Minister's ability, and I have no doubt he does, to give him another brief. I do not know whether that should be the...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Mar 2014)

Rónán Mullen: Leo Varadkar.

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Mar 2014)

Rónán Mullen: I join with the moving tributes of other Senators, in particular Senator Healy Eames, to the late Nicky McFadden. Those of us who were Members of the previous Seanad are very sad at the loss of our former Seanad colleague. We will remember Nicky as having been a gentle and decent person. I recall that on the day I brought people to meet with Nicky and Deputy Áine Collins, Nicky...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (12 Mar 2014)

Rónán Mullen: All of us can agree that the national interest should be foremost in our minds, but while Senator Gilroy made his points in an interesting and reasonable way, they highlight once again the problem of the Whip in politics. Politicians do not seem to be allowed to state their convictions. Perhaps it is a good thing to debate these issues in a way that allows people to take different views...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (12 Mar 2014)

Rónán Mullen: It is a question of long-term versus short-term perspectives. It is the culture of the quick buck on the one hand, and taking a long-term interest in the quality of our landscape, our tourism industry and our natural amenities on the other. All of us want to improve our balance of payments and our exports, but what is the long-term financial cost? I support the thrust of this motion. All...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (12 Mar 2014)

Rónán Mullen: I ask the Senator to listen to my words not the voices in my head. I am not sure the Government was acting responsibly in putting together that commission. The Minister for Health has expressed concern about the health impacts of pylons. The new boss of EirGrid would not like to live near these pylons. In February the European Commission's scientific committee issued a draft report on...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (12 Mar 2014)

Rónán Mullen: We can be sure about reductions in the value of land and the long-term damage that will be done to the tourism industry and natural amenities. I have visited countries in which massive pylons have been erected in rural areas. One no longer feels as though one is living in a rural area. These areas are more like post-industrial landscapes. I am concerned about the doublespeak on the...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (12 Mar 2014)

Rónán Mullen: The Sinn Féin-Fine Gael alliance has not come about quite yet.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) (Amendment) Bill 2014: First Stage (27 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide for, in the interests of the common good, and in respect of certain proposed developments of strategic importance to the State, to make provision for the construction of high voltage electricity transmission cables underground where physically possible; and for the purpose of effecting certain other changes to the...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) (Amendment) Bill 2014: First Stage (27 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: Dé Máirt seo chugainn.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: No discourtesy was intended.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: Let them eat bread.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: I congratulate my colleague, Senator Feargal Quinn, on what was a triumph for the Seanad yesterday evening. Sinn Féin colleagues were eager to remind the correspondent from The Irish Times of my absence from the Chamber. I was addressing a school in Bettystown and I was happy to be obliged by one of my Government colleagues with a pair, which is more than my Sinn Féin colleagues...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: I ask the Leader if we can have this debate because people are wondering whether we are rushing into a massive plan to build wind farms with no certainty in terms of there being a market for the power generated and no clear return on investment. Will we have thousands of ghost wind farms in ten years to match the ghost housing estates?

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: Will farmers be saddled with ugly wind turbines that they were lured into investing in only to find there is a get-out clause in the contract for the wind turbine developers, as well as tax implications for farmer in changing the use of their land?

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: We need to question whether this will end up like the eircom debacle, with people-----

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Feb 2014)

Rónán Mullen: I agree with what my colleague, Senator Bacik, had to say about the possibility of a scoping inquiry being a good idea. I certainly do not believe one should rush into commissions of inquiry until there has been a chance to get greater clarity than has been achieved to date regarding what precisely has been going on. Everyone agrees the reports from whistleblowers and indeed about...