Results 5,121-5,140 of 7,640 for speaker:Rónán Mullen

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: I do not regard the tactic of filibustering as being appropriate-----

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: -----but I believe in searching and sustained scrutiny of serious issues. It is not acceptable to have a nod and wink arrangement whereby on one hand there is tacit approval from the Government side and from the Leader when people do whatever is necessary to speak up for the retention of the Seanad and to speak for as long as possible while, at the same time, curtailing the Seanad in its...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: I join Senator Aideen Hayden in expressing welcome for the news that St Patrick's Institution for Young Offenders is due to close.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: It is shocking in this day and age that human dignity is so disrespected, as it has been in this institution.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: I did not say that.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: My point is that many of them appear to have an elastic conscience.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: The expression of their conscience appears to be tied up with parties of interest.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: By no means am I tarring all those who voted the other way with that brush, but certainly some of them deserve to be so tarred. To reiterate, that is an important feature of life in Finland. It is one we should contrast with the upcoming vote on the Seanad where quite a few will vote for the Seanad referendum legislation even though they do not believe the Seanad should be abolished. I...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: -----that the Government is talking about legislating to give effect to the Constitution by asking the people to abolish the Seanad, without first giving effect to the will of the people as expressed in the 1979 referendum, when they voted to broaden the franchise in elections to the Seanad and on the university panel. Legislation was never brought forward to give effect to the will of the...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: -----either in the means by which Senators come to be elected or also in how it functions. Nobody would argue the current Seanad system is perfect. As one elected by more than 6,400 voters, I am glad to say-----

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: -----I am democratically elected. However, I believe every citizen of this country should be entitled to vote in Seanad elections. We live in a democracy where the Constitution vests-----

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: With respect, we will not be able to make these points on Committee Stage because when we try we will be informed we should not be making Second Stage speeches.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: I agree. I am nearly there, and am not repeating myself, as the Cathaoirleach will have noticed. I reiterate that we live in a democracy where the Constitution vests the sole and exclusive law-making authority of the State in the President and the two Houses of the Oireachtas. Yet in this democracy, the vast majority of citizens alive today have never been entitled to vote in elections for...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: If it is for grounds of cost we could talk about abolishing both Houses, or abolishing our democracy altogether. We could cut salaries or change the expenses regime. I would totally support whatever measures are necessary in order to make our entire system leaner.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: I am almost there. The Government should remember, however, that the salaries of Senators cost in the region of €4 million, roughly the same, very little more, than the cost of the unelected ministerial advisors whose names will be unfamiliar to most members of the public and about whose role the public knows nothing.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: The choice people will be presented with in October is a false choice. By asking them to either abolish the Seanad or retain the status quo the vast majority of people are being robbed.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: Yes, a Chathaoirligh, but we are talking about our democratic institutions.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: Rather than ask the vast majority of Irish people a question that denies them the possibility of ever considering reform, we should amend this proposal. I recall the words of George Washington, who is said to have told Thomas Jefferson that the framers of the American Senate designed it to cool legislation, just as a saucer cools hot tea. Madison talked about the Senate as a necessary fence...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: They will not deprive the people of their referendum.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: We should insist on an amended referendum proposal that allows people to vote for a reformed Seanad which would include franchise for everybody in electing the Seanad, as well as a more clearly defined function for this House.