Results 6,901-6,920 of 20,831 for speaker:David Norris

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2015)

David Norris: I have already done so. Perhaps the Cathaoirleach overlooked it.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2015)

David Norris: I have an unending supply of questions. Why are the banks trying to force people online? There are many people like myself who do not use computers and elderly people are now made to queue up outside with large sums of cash, advertising themselves as potential victims of crime. It is an absolute disgrace that the banks have turned their backs on those people who rescued them during the...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2015)

David Norris: It will still happen.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2015)

David Norris: Hear, hear.

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

David Norris: I commend the introduction of this section. The independence of the National Concert Hall is important. It would be much more independent if all the principal officers were not directly appointed by the Minister. That concerns me a little, as does the exclusion of Members of Seanad Éireann. In continuance of public policy-----

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

David Norris: Yes but I wish to speak about it now on the basis of the independence of the National Concert Hall.

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

David Norris: Yes, but I am making the point-----

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

David Norris: Not really. I would like to make a brief reference to the issue now, if I may. Generally speaking, appointments are openly advertised and the people elected come from within that process. It is not clear to me that this system will be employed in this instance. However, I welcome the introduction of this section.

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

David Norris: I strongly support Senator Ó Clochartaigh on this. It seems the members of the board will be people who are professionally qualified and who have a keen practical and immediate working knowledge of the arts, so they are eminently qualified to make the decision. There is always the possibility that a Minister, although not this Minister in particular, may make a political decision....

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

David Norris: The person appointed by the Minister might not be the right person either.

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

David Norris: It could be a Fianna Fáil Minister or a Sinn Féin Minister.

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

David Norris: An issue has struck me and I do not mean this to be personal to the Minister. In terms of appointments to boards, we have the case of the appointment of the Fine Gael councillor in Donegal to a board for election purposes. That was under this Minister. It was a very blatant political stroke and everybody, including the Taoiseach, has now admitted that. I think we ought to be protected...

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

David Norris: Yes and painting the Sistine Chapel. I do not approve of that happening at all. It is a very corrupt practice which should be done away with. I have referred to just one example from the recent past where the Department was cynically used by the Taoiseach to nominate a totally unsuitable person to a board of a national cultural institution in order to get them elected in a by-election to...

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

David Norris: It was caught red-handed.

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

David Norris: Senator O'Keefe has made reference to people on a new board not knowing one another. I cannot remember how many members are on the board but while every single person might not know each other, it would be highly unusual in a restricted small circle such as the arts community that distinguished practitioners might not know of one another. It is a fantasy to suggest otherwise.

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

David Norris: One could form a good judgement from a general knowledge of somebody, which is my own experience on a number of boards, and I have rarely been wrong. I return to this without any kind of personal axe to grind but we could not have a clearer example of an inappropriate appointment made by this ministry. It is glaring. Other people may be a little timid and nervous about mentioning these...

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

David Norris: Absolutely, but I do not want to play party politics. I am merely pointing out it is the way it happened-----

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

David Norris: That is why I have every sympathy for the Minister.

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

David Norris: The provision seems to place an unnecessary restriction on the chief executive. An inability to express an opinion seems a bit Stalinist, particularly about a policy that one is expected to administer and supervise. First, one feels that the Government is going wrong but then one is gagged. That is the kind of thing that went on in the Department of Finance immediately prior to the...

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

David Norris: What we are looking at here is the installation of just a yes-man----