Results 5,521-5,540 of 7,583 for speaker:Rónán Mullen

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Apr 2012)

Rónán Mullen: I am not sure whether the Minister for Education and Skills is due to come before the House to discuss any particular business in the immediate future. In that context, I request that the Leader arrange for him to appear before us to inform us of his plans with regard to the establishment of institutes of education. It appears the Minister has ordered a review of teacher education and...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Apr 2012)

Rónán Mullen: I welcome the establishment of Irish Water and Senator Bacik is correct to raise the issue of the scarcity of water. We are facing a difficult international future with the possibility of water wars and conflicts over it. We should appreciate what we have in Ireland. It is terrible to think that 40% of water here is lost through waste and I hope we are facing a more organised future. I...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Apr 2012)

Rónán Mullen: -----who wanted to tell their stories about how they regret their abortions. Yes, I am seeking a debate. How can the National Women's Council of Ireland claim to represent all the women of Ireland if it is pursuing this ideological approach?

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Apr 2012)

Rónán Mullen: How can it claim State funding and be entitled to it when it pushes such an ideological line?

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Apr 2012)

Rónán Mullen: It is important not to wait for the recommendations or options to be set by the expert group. Members of Parliament should take their responsibilities seriously and consider these life and death issues and have a respectful debate where we communicate sincere concerns and ideas about this issue. We should have the debate soon.

Seanad: Human Trafficking and Prostitution: Motion (18 Apr 2012)

Rónán Mullen: I wish to share my time with Senator Mooney. I welcome the Minister to the House and welcome his words. None of us can expect to dictate his precise point of view on the issues, but we appreciate his ongoing commitment to debating this issue personally with us in the House and to hearing what the House has to say. The Minister is an ideas person and he is clearly taking a considered...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Mar 2012)

Rónán Mullen: I compliment Senator D'Arcy on his deft linguistic analysis of Sinn Féin's utterances. I want to focus on one word, namely "rehabilitation." I was present to hear the director general of the Irish Prison Service apologise for what happened when Mr. Martin McDermott absconded from Loughan House. While it is right that people are annoyed, angry and hurt by what happened, and it is...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Mar 2012)

Rónán Mullen: The Minister recently, when giving a speech at which I was present, mentioned Mao Tse Tung by way of passing quotation without any sense of how inappropriate that was. Were she to have quoted Hitler, Mussolini or another cruel totalitarian dictator people would have quite legitimately asked questions. People need to be careful about pointing fingers in general. I hope and share the cause...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Mar 2012)

Rónán Mullen: As far as the household charge is concerned, I am on the side of the people who pay and of those who pay on time. I understand that many people are suffering and I believe that many of those who already have paid are people who find it difficult to pay. It would be a tremendous disincentive to law-abiding people for there to be any backsliding about the household charge at this point. I...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Mar 2012)

Rónán Mullen: I listened with great interest to what Senator O'Keeffe and others had to say. It is important we would have a debate on the Mahon tribunal report as soon as possible. I disagree with my friend, Senator Darragh O'Brien, if he was suggesting that we should wait until the Dail has had its say. It is true what Deputy Bacik states, that we are absorbing this the whole time, but the essentials...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Mar 2012)

Rónán Mullen: I am very glad the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, has published the 60 submissions received during the public consultation processes on regulatory system options for lobbying. It strikes me this morning that perhaps the Spanish have better lobbyists at EU level than we do, unless Commissioner Rehn's "No" for now is just a gateway to a greater "Yes" later....

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Mar 2012)

Rónán Mullen: There is another issue on which I would like to engage with the Minister. As politicians we are not allowed take donations from abroad, which is understandable, as that provision is concerned with not skewing the political system. There are cases where charities and other civil society organisations receive what are sometimes large sums of money from foreign sources and benefactors. That...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Mar 2012)

Rónán Mullen: There may be strong arguments for a policy change but would it not be a good idea to bring in the Minister to have a discussion on the lobbying issues? I would like to tease out the particular issue about when and in what circumstances it is appropriate for organisations or individuals in Ireland to accept foreign donations, particularly if they advance a specific political, legislative or...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Mar 2012)

Rónán Mullen: This House had a debate on media standards not too long ago. Although the Leader is to be commended on organising it, the debate was not entirely satisfactory because the speaking time allocated to Senators was quite limited. I recall that Senator Norris made an impassioned and eloquent speech during the debate. Others who had prepared comments, thoughts and suggestions to share with the...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Mar 2012)

Rónán Mullen: It needs to be continued in a way that allows the Minister to hear extended contributions from Senators who have been expressing concerns about media standards for a long time. The Minister gave a very eloquent speech, responded to some contributions and answered some questions. We need more, however. That is particularly obvious in the wake of the latest controversy that is swirling...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Mar 2012)

Rónán Mullen: This is an extremely serious matter. On top of the Fr. Kevin Reynolds' affair-----

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Mar 2012)

Rónán Mullen: -----we now have this.

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Mar 2012)

Rónán Mullen: Yes. Does the Leader think it is satisfactory that each time something like this happens, we get a vague announcement from RTE that it is having reviews of its editorial processes? I do not think we have heard yet what its editorial processes investigation has found after the Fr. Kevin Reynolds affair. It is important that the processes should be looked at by an outsider. Why is it in the...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Mar 2012)

Rónán Mullen: Yes. In the light of this and other concerns, does the Leader consent to ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resource, Deputy Rabbitte, to come to the Seanad in order that we can have a more searching and informed debate to build on the debate on media standards that has already taken place? We can then reflect together on what is needed to deal with this very serious...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Mar 2012)

Rónán Mullen: I want to share the concern that was already expressed that, for the second time, a committee of a foreign Parliament is considering information that emanated from an institution of the European Union that deals with matters that relate to the economy and finances of this State, yet the information has not been presented to the legitimate Parliament of this State. This shows there is an...