Results 5,141-5,160 of 6,295 for speaker:Michael D'Arcy

Seanad: Budget 2015: Statements (14 Oct 2014)

Michael D'Arcy: I offer hearty congratulations to Senator Craughwell. I wish him well in his period in Seanad Éireann. Every budget is about choices, and sometimes the choices are difficult. We were hopeful that the most difficult choices would have been made and that we will never have to revert to those choices and the boom and bust politics of the past because that is the reason so many people...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Oct 2014)

Michael D'Arcy: I wish to raise the matter of motor taxation prior to next week’s budget announcement. An unfair anomaly has appeared during the years and now there is an opportunity to remove it. To my surprise, I have been informed that 60% of people tax their car every three months. For those who choose to tax their car for three months rather than half yearly or for the year, there is an...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (2 Oct 2014)

Michael D'Arcy: No Fianna Fáil Members opened their mouths during the interregnum between Governments when Fianna Fáil stuffed State boards. It was deemed to be acceptable because it was an action by Fianna Fáil. I do not agree with Fine Gael stuffing State boards and I only believe that suitably qualified people should be on State boards as this is the Fine Gael way. The approach taken by...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (2 Oct 2014)

Michael D'Arcy: I welcome the good news about the unemployment rate which is down to a little over 11% from a high of 15%. However, the members of the public would not forgive us if we decided to take our foot off the accelerator. We must ensure that we refocus and re-energise our efforts to make sure that we get that figure down to single digits and that the country gets closer to full employment. I...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Oct 2014)

Michael D'Arcy: The lads are very quiet. Have they no response?

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Oct 2014)

Michael D'Arcy: I raise an issue I raised a number of weeks ago, namely, the pressure being applied in an unfair and unreasonable manner on Ireland’s corporation tax structures. The final OECD base erosion and profit shifting, BEPS, report is due in September 2015, 11 months from now, and there is a concerted effort internationally between the G20, the OECD and, in the past week, the British Prime...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Sep 2014)

Michael D'Arcy: On Tuesday, I raised the issue of diesel laundering. The office of the Leader kindly sent me a copy of the debate that took place in the Dáil, including a statement by the Minister, on petrol stretching. In the statement, the Minister said he was satisfied with the progress by the Revenue Commissioners in tackling fuel fraud and with the excellent co-operation between the Revenue...

Seanad: Betting (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (24 Sep 2014)

Michael D'Arcy: As other speakers have said, this Bill is certainly welcome. It has been a long time coming. I will not go over ground already covered by other contributors, but the sooner the gambling control Bill comes before us the better. I have to be blunt in saying that online betting, poker and casinos are doing terrible damage to young males in particular. There is a considerable amount of...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Sep 2014)

Michael D'Arcy: I want to raise the issue of the OECD report, that is, the base erosion and profit shifting, BEPS, report, that was published this morning. It is important we understand that it is part of a process that will not conclude until this time next year, and why should we move at an early stage until we know exactly where we are moving? The important point to remember about the taxation issues...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Vaccination Programme (17 Jul 2014)

Michael D'Arcy:  Approximately 1 million vaccinations were administered and an enormous supply of vaccines was made available to the State from the companies in question.  The Government gave a blanket guarantee on the basis that the vaccine was administered off-licence, even though it was administered off-licence at a time when concerns were growing in the Scandinavian countries in regard to the...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Vaccination Programme (17 Jul 2014)

Michael D'Arcy: I also wish the Minister the best of luck in his new portfolio, as he has a substantial job to do in that Department. I wish the raise the issue of those people, particularly children, who have been affected by narcolepsy following the State ‘flu vaccination. A link has been associated with the Pandemrix swine ‘flu vaccination and the condition. I am disappointed with the...

Seanad: National Treasury Management Agency Bill 2014: Second Stage (15 Jul 2014)

Michael D'Arcy: Tomorrow.

Seanad: National Treasury Management Agency Bill 2014: Second Stage (15 Jul 2014)

Michael D'Arcy: The Minister of State's staff were ready to go.

Seanad: National Treasury Management Agency Bill 2014: Second Stage (15 Jul 2014)

Michael D'Arcy: It does not seem long ago since the Minister of State, Deputy Harris, and I started the European election campaign in the mart in Carnew. I congratulate him on his appointment and wish him the best of luck in his term of office. It is perhaps the most important junior Ministry in the State. The Bill is hugely important. As Senator Hayden said, we must acknowledge the success of the NTMA....

Seanad: Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland Bill 2014: Second Stage (15 Jul 2014)

Michael D'Arcy: I welcome the Minister and the Bill he is presenting to the House today. We have all been calling for initiatives to ensure more funding is put into the market more quickly, which is what this legislation seeks to do. The only criticism I have is that it would have been better to have enacted these provisions sooner. The SBCI will essentially function as a wholesale bank, sourced from the...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2014)

Michael D'Arcy: I do not know if I have ever heard so many clichés in a sentence. I wish to raise the case of State citizens who were given a flu vaccination and who now suffer from narcolepsy. To my great disappointment, the current Minister for Health has done nothing for them. I am hopeful that if there is a change in the Department of Health, the incoming Minister - whoever he or she may be -...

Seanad: Order Of Business (12 Jun 2014)

Michael D'Arcy: I want to raise an issue which has nothing to do with banking inquiry but which is far more serious. At some stage, we must get back to the business of representing the people. Going back to the previous budget, in my view the health budget was cut to a point where it cannot function correctly. I ask the Leader of the House to bring in the Minister for Health, the Minister for Public...

Seanad: Johnstown Castle Agricultural College (Amendment) Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Michael D'Arcy: It is a pleasure to support this Bill. Some of the statistics the Minister gave us are interesting such as 35,000 visitors attending Johnstown castle each year. However, this is nothing to what it should be; it should be ten times that number. The Johnstown Estate comprises 1,000 acres, almost 2 sq. m. I support the provision of a burial area and graveyard for the community of Murrintown....

Seanad: Johnstown Castle Agricultural College (Amendment) Bill 2014: Order for Second Stage (11 Jun 2014)

Michael D'Arcy: I move: "That Second Stage be taken now."

Seanad: Companies Bill 2012: Second Stage (10 Jun 2014)

Michael D'Arcy: One of the broad criticisms made when the crisis hit a number of years ago was that we did not have sufficient legislation on the books. That was true of financial and economic legislation, but our companies legislation was not codified correctly either, which to some extent is what this Bill is doing. The demerging of the common law and statutory legislation can only be welcomed. It is...