Results 6,321-6,340 of 9,894 for speaker:Thomas Byrne
- Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)
Thomas Byrne: We could ask the same question about every constitutional amendment.
- Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)
Thomas Byrne: We are only interested in protecting public assets.
- Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)
Thomas Byrne: Private wells have nothing to do with it.
- Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)
Thomas Byrne: There are wayleaves and rights of way that we want to protect.
- Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)
Thomas Byrne: Tá brón orm. Níl aon rud sna Buan-Orduithe a deir go gcaithfidh mise stopadh, nó go bhfuil teorann ama ansin dom ach an oiread. Senator Landy has disagreed with my interpretation of "plebiscite". My interpretation of "plebiscite" may not be right, but Senator Landy's may not be right either. The point is that there is no definition of "plebiscite" whatsoever in the...
- Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)
Thomas Byrne: That is what Deputy Eamon Gilmore called Brian Cowen.
- Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)
Thomas Byrne: Senator O'Donnell raised an important point in asking us to consider if we would go against the people. She only has to go back to the Oireachtas inquiries referendum where every party in this Oireachtas was in favour of that amendment, but that was against the wishes of the people. The parties got it completely wrong with the wishes of the people regarding giving the Oireachtas more powers...
- Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)
Thomas Byrne: The people voted to retain the Seanad when the majority of parties were-----
- Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)
Thomas Byrne: There are some who would wish for that.
- Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)
Thomas Byrne: Senator O'Donnell asked if we are out of tune with the public. Yes, elected politicians can be out of tune with the public. That is why we have a Constitution - to protect the people and protect the institutions of the State from the whims of politicians. They cannot just go in there and change things at whim, which they can do with this section. They changed the national lottery that...
- Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)
Thomas Byrne: We had a lottery Act that did not allow for the issuing of a licence to a private body and then we simply had a section in the other Act repealing the previous Act. That is what will happen here. In fairness to Senator O'Donnell, I think that point is unanswerable. The Minister has repeatedly said that no party has proposed this. Actually Senator Walsh reminded me of the Sinn Féin...
- Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)
Thomas Byrne: I will produce it later in the debate.
- Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)
Thomas Byrne: We could not believe it when we saw it.
- Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)
Thomas Byrne: I am not sure they even understood what equity investment was. The amendment would attempt to prohibit it because equity investment would mean the alienation of shares in Irish Water. It is a fact, as Senator Walsh has helpfully reminded us, that parties have proposed this and may propose it in the future. That is why we need something much stronger than what is contained in the Bill....
- Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)
Thomas Byrne: There is a circular definition. The Minister can correct me, but I do not see a definition of a plebiscite. I do not know what a plebiscite is.
- Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)
Thomas Byrne: Section 2(8) states: "In this section “Plebiscite” means the Plebiscite to which subsection (1)(b) refers." So it is a circular thing.
- Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)
Thomas Byrne: The reality is that we have plebiscites in other legislation. There is a plebiscite in planning legislation whereby there can be a plebiscite to have a housing estate taken into charge. What is the practice with those plebiscites? The practice is that the residents just fill out a form and submit it to the council. It is not a vote. It is not a referendum of the residents of the housing...
- Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)
Thomas Byrne: I wish to make a few points in response to what the Minister said. He read from Article 10.1 of the Constitution and implied that water was already protected in the Constitution when he stated: "All natural resources, including the air and all forms of potential energy ... belong to the State," but he stopped reading at that point. What he did not say was the phrase, also in the same...
- Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)
Thomas Byrne: The ESB is in State control, but there but there are also private generators of energy and private extractors of natural resources throughout the country, and that is as it should be. It was a bit disingenuous of the Minister to read partially from Article 10 of the Constitution. He said that we all know what is in Article 10 without reading the entirety of it. What is needed is an...
- Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)
Thomas Byrne: He does.