Results 5,201-5,220 of 7,604 for speaker:James Bannon

Seanad: Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (3 May 2006)

James Bannon: I move amendment No. 1: In page 6, between lines 1 and 2, to insert the following new definition: "'the Agency' means the Environmental Protection Agency as established by the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992;". This amendment would bring greater clarity to the Bill. There are many bodies involved in the planning process and citizens want clarity when they go through the legislation....

Seanad: Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (3 May 2006)

James Bannon: Amendment No. 2 would bring about a drafting improvement. The Government has always spoken about being customer friendly. It would improve the interpretation of the Bill for the layman. Including reference to the Environmental Protection Agency is important. The Minister understands that I want to bring greater clarity to the Bill. Amendment No. 11 seeks to delete lines 43 to 45 in page 6,...

Seanad: Order of Business. (6 Apr 2006)

James Bannon: I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to the House to debate the blatant misuse of employment law by some companies in the State, particularly in the construction industry. There have been numerous recent complaints that Irish workers in the construction industry were let go from their jobs and non-Irish workers taken on at much lower rates of pay. This...

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 Apr 2006)

James Bannon: Coming from the same constituency as Senator Leyden, I was not aware that the Leader was a director of the railway station in Athlone.

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 Apr 2006)

James Bannon: On the Order of Business, I support the call for a debate on the transport system and reiterate my request for one, which I made last week. The system is in chaos, of which we have evidence this week. Not alone has Senator Ulick Burke received letters but most Senators and other Oireachtas Members have received similar letters from CIE on the transport issue. On another issue, I call for a...

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Mar 2006)

James Bannon: All 14,000?

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Mar 2006)

James Bannon: When?

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Mar 2006)

James Bannon: I agree with the acting leader of the Opposition, Senator Finucane, that the health service in this country is in total chaos. Senator Minihan had a drowning man's grip on the PDs and the Tánaiste when he spoke on this issue. The system is still top-heavy with administrators. We have too few doctors, nurses and beds in our hospitals. That is the bottom line and where the problem lies. The...

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Mar 2006)

James Bannon: On another issue, crime is out of control throughout the country. The Leader knows it is a serious problem in the midlands in particular. What people must put up with in terms of crime in rural Ireland is highlighted daily in national and local newspapers, local radio stations and, yesterday, on national radio stations. Break-ins are an everyday occurrence.

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Mar 2006)

James Bannon: People are fed up. We were promised 2,000 extra gardaí in the run up to the last election. This has not happened and is why law and order is out of control in rural Ireland.

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Mar 2006)

James Bannon: The way this Government handles the crime issue is a shame and an indictment on the Government.

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Mar 2006)

James Bannon: The Government is wrong and creates untruth about this issue day in and day out. The Government has no answers and it should be ashamed of itself.

Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Mar 2006)

James Bannon: Will the Leader invite the Minister for Education and Science to the House to debate the school transport system? Following the horrific accident last year in County Meath, we were promised the current fleet of buses would be phased out and replaced but, in many areas, the system is in complete chaos. The Leader may be aware that in our constituency children leave home at 7 a.m. to catch a...

Seanad: Agrifood Sector: Motion. (29 Mar 2006)

James Bannon: I welcome the Minister to the House. She always comes in here smiling even though she has all agricultural enterprises in a very depressed state. In her short term in office, she has dismantled several sectors of the agricultural industry.

Seanad: Agrifood Sector: Motion. (29 Mar 2006)

James Bannon: Every recent Fianna Fáil Private Members' motion has loudly sounded the bells of the next general election. Each toll has heightened despite——

Seanad: Agrifood Sector: Motion. (29 Mar 2006)

James Bannon: —— the attempts of this lame-duck Government to convince by self-praise, by spin, waffle and lies, all calculated to cover what will be the order of the day, weeks and months ahead. The Government has been completely inept in running the agricultural sector, which has suffered from ten years of wilful Government mismanagement. Since this Government took office, an average of seven farmers...

Seanad: Agrifood Sector: Motion. (29 Mar 2006)

James Bannon: What has the Government done to merit this self-praise? It relaunched a report which had been gathering dust on the shelf for the last 15 months. The Taoiseach recently announced, with some fanfare, a blueprint for agriculture beyond 2015, an effort on which the Government is now lavishing inordinate praise. Something needed to be pulled from the hat to cover the large, white elephant the...

Seanad: Agrifood Sector: Motion. (29 Mar 2006)

James Bannon: The Government sat on the report all that time, in spite of major threats to the Irish farming industry. The average Irish farmer lost €3,899 in 2005. The average annual income to each farmer in Ireland——

Seanad: Agrifood Sector: Motion. (29 Mar 2006)

James Bannon: —— is €15,557, which included the single farm payment. When import costs of €15,478, Government stealth taxes and other charges totalling €3,978 are taken into account, farmers are losing over €3,000 per annum. The average farming family is operating at a loss of €75 per week and this has revealed that the crisis in farming is worse now than ever. Farming incomes are lower now...

Seanad: Agrifood Sector: Motion. (29 Mar 2006)

James Bannon: I strongly condemn what the Minister has had the cheek to put before the House this evening, when all agricultural enterprises are on their knees. Shame on Fianna Fáil for the manner in which it has dismantled agriculture in this country.