Results 6,841-6,860 of 20,831 for speaker:David Norris
- Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)
David Norris: I do not think he has asked me to do so. Senator Feargal Quinn's name is at the end of the amendment.
- Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)
David Norris: I wish to refer to the director of Teagasc, the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority. Teagasc is going to be committed against this. The amount of gases emitted from the backsides of cows, for example, is an enormous problem. It may seem rather ludicrous but it is an enormous problem and agriculture generates a huge amount of carbon emissions. Teagasc is not going to be on the...
- Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)
David Norris: I agree it would be extraordinary if the learned bodies that are listed in the amendment were excluded from the debate. The bodies listed are very significant. The Royal Irish Academy is the premier meeting group of Irish intellectuals, the Royal Dublin Society has been involved in environmental and agricultural issues since its inception in the early 18th century. What is the role of the...
- Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)
David Norris: It did not originate in the Government.
- Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)
David Norris: After a lot of pressure.
- Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)
David Norris: After a lot of pressure from the people who are included in this subsection.
- Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)
David Norris: I know perfectly well that legislation is produced by Government, I did not come down in the last shower. However, the Minister of State cannot deny that it was provoked by the Friends of the Earth to act. I think I am correct in saying they produced the first legislation in this area. They were primarily responsible for pushing this agenda, so it is disingenuous for the Minister of State...
- Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)
David Norris: I am making a point of information.
- Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)
David Norris: I support Senator Sean D. Barrett's amendment for the reasons he has given. I note, moreover, that the subsection in question provides that the agency shall "provide the Advisory Council with such services of a secretarial and administrative nature as is appropriate". Who decides what is appropriate? Will the advisory council be able to say it wants X number of secretaries, or will the EPA...
- Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)
David Norris: On this occasion I disagree with my colleagues because it seems to me that it is appropriate for a Minister to have possession of the report so he or she can consider it and prepare a response to any keyhole journalism or anything like it. I have no difficulty with the provision. A period of 30 days does not seem to me to be a particularly long time. Ministers have specific...
- Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)
David Norris: Ten days seems to be a remarkably short time to produce a report. I would not like to be faced with that. Thirty days is pretty speedy and I would leave it at that. One would get a rushed report in ten days and it might not be as good as one produced in 30 days. Even 30 days is even pushing it. I am sorry to disagree with my learned colleagues.
- Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)
David Norris: In support of that, although ten days is quite a short amount of time, without particularising it or making it definite, the term “as soon as maybe” is like “come day, go day”, “blue moons” and all that kind of stuff. It could be any time at all. It is unacceptably vague and poor legislative draftsmanship. I agree with the principle and spirit of...
- Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)
David Norris: Senator Quinn has proprietorial rights over these amendments, which he has been exercising all the time.
- Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)
David Norris: Why is one termed “as soon as maybe” and the other, “not more than 30 days”?
- Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)
David Norris: No, it does not. The Minister of State is talking nonsense.
- Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)
David Norris: In parliamentary terms, this is the most important amendment we have seen today. It may not be the most far-reaching in dealing with climate change but in terms of ensuring openness and accountability, it is crucial. Two months is perfectly adequate time for the Minister in which to provide a reason advice has not been taken. In the context of parliamentary procedures with which I have...
- Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)
David Norris: Cleaning up.
- Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)
David Norris: Clinging on to power.
- Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)
David Norris: It should be explained.
- Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)
David Norris: Like the Roman Catholic Church magisterium.