Results 4,781-4,800 of 5,294 for speaker:Michael McCarthy

Seanad: Housing Provisions: Motion. (26 May 2004)

Michael McCarthy: I agree there is nothing wrong with it but it should not allow local authorities off the hook from looking at the particular type of candidate directed towards the house in the affordable housing scheme. There are significant differences regarding allocations, in some cases they are huge. I appeal to the good conscience of the Minister of State to, for God's sake, stop allowing this situation...

Seanad: Housing Provisions: Motion. (26 May 2004)

Michael McCarthy: Was he wearing his hard hat?

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (12 May 2004)

Michael McCarthy: Yesterday I spoke in support of this amendment. The Bill contains a strong provision to punish people who are guilty of offences such as damaging machines and so forth. However, this is a good amendment. Senator Quinn is specific about the type of damage that could be inflicted on the system. Over recent years, it has become evident that there is a sophisticated degree of knowledge and...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages (Resumed). (12 May 2004)

Michael McCarthy: I, too, support the amendment. It is important we proceed with caution and attention to detail. While I accept the mechanical or logistical difficulties of accepting amendments at this stage, this amendment makes good sense and the Minister of State should look on it favourably. We are dealing with a whole new area, one which has received a significant blow in terms of public perception....

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages (Resumed). (12 May 2004)

Michael McCarthy: I support the amendment. It is important to restore a sense of trust and inject public confidence in the electoral process. It is important that a voter have a guarantee that his or her vote has been lodged and recorded. We must move beyond a simple record that the voter has pressed the "cast vote" button. A voter-verified paper must also be provided. Last night a comparison was made with ATM...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (11 May 2004)

Michael McCarthy: At present, when an election is called we present ourselves at our polling station. We may or may not have our polling card, we are marked off the register and we witness this. We receive our ballot paper, go behind a screen and cast our vote in a box — a box that is now probably in an auctioneer's hall down in Drimoleague in west Cork. Nonetheless, we trust in the system to the point where...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (11 May 2004)

Michael McCarthy: On the issue of receipts, I have said before that when one goes to an ATM and inserts one's card to withdraw money, one has the option of getting a receipt. I have always opted for a receipt because I do not trust the machine to do what I command it to do through using my card. Moreover, nobody wants a repeat of the inhumane events in the constituencies of Wicklow, Cork South-Central or...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (11 May 2004)

Michael McCarthy: With regard to the constituencies in which the ballot boxes have been disposed of, what have the returning officers done to date to replace them? From where will they come? Will they be replicas of the old boxes or will they be plastic? Who is making them?

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (11 May 2004)

Michael McCarthy: I move amendment No. 23: In page 10, lines 1 and 2, to delete subsection (5). The provision as it stands is too bureaucratic. If, for whatever reason, a voter is unable to or has not cast a vote within what the Bill terms "a reasonable time", he or she may not be entitled to apply for a second vote. Since e-voting was shelved because of the report of the commission many people have told me...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (11 May 2004)

Michael McCarthy: The Minister referred to the current system, with which voters are familiar. However, I tabled the amendment because the new system is different. The phrase "reasonable time" can be construed in different ways in regard to e-voting. If a voter is using a machine she or he has never before seen or used, it is reasonable to assume she or he would spend longer than with the traditional paper...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (11 May 2004)

Michael McCarthy: I support this amendment as it is being discussed with one in my name. The purpose of the amendment is not in any way to criticise those member of the commission with scientific expertise or, for that matter, other members of the commission but rather to highlight what is a glaring omission in respect of the Ombudsman and the Comptroller and Auditor General. It is very important that these be...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (11 May 2004)

Michael McCarthy: The Minister of State incorrectly stated that this is not about exclusion. Members of the Opposition were excluded when the membership of the commission was decided. If we are to learn anything about this episode, it is in regard to involvement, participation and consultation. I appeal to the better nature of the Minister of State to give the amendment favourable consideration.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (11 May 2004)

Michael McCarthy: I support Senator Quinn's amendments. It is important that these amendments are specific. We do not want a repetition of the case in India where heinous and wrong as the crime was, no prescribed law was broken. The amendment goes a long was towards ensuring that is not the system here. We have seen blatant abuse of many systems in recent years. We watched on television a few nights ago a...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (11 May 2004)

Michael McCarthy: The Minister of State's response to the amendment is disappointing. Given the level of confusion surrounding this debate and the general debasement visited upon the electoral system by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, it would be wise to consider the merits of the amendments, in particular amendment No. 4, a fine amendment tabled by Senator Quinn. It is vital...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (11 May 2004)

Michael McCarthy: In view of my expressed wish to obtain favourable replies from the Minister on later amendments, I will withdraw this amendment.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (11 May 2004)

Michael McCarthy: I move amendment No. 2: In page 5, before section 1, to insert the following new section: 1.-—The functions of the Minister under this Act shall not be exercisable in relation to an election by a holder of the office of Minister who is also a director of elections in respect of that election.". The amendment is important in terms of conflict of interest. When the Minister responsible for...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (11 May 2004)

Michael McCarthy: Senator Brady first mentioned previous Ministers who were directors of elections. Fianna Fáil has been in Government for fourteen and a half of the last 17 years. He also said the party has led the way in many areas——

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (11 May 2004)

Michael McCarthy: ——not least in some I mentioned in my previous contribution. Perhaps it is time it led the way in this area. This House debated at length the merits and demerits of the abolition of the dual mandate. We were lectured by the Minister, Deputy Cullen, on a division of responsibility between Members of the Oireachtas and members of local authorities. The majority of people bit that bullet,...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (11 May 2004)

Michael McCarthy: The Minister neglected to mention one Labour Party Minister. That was TJ Murphy, who served in the inter-party Government from 1948 to 1951. He was never director of elections and I won his council seat five years ago.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (11 May 2004)

Michael McCarthy: I support the amendment. In a previous contribution I stated that the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution, chaired by Deputy O'Donovan, deliberated on the issue of land prices for ten or 12 months and after consultation with many interested parties and Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas, came to a common sense conclusion. That model, based on all-party agreement should be...