Results 701-720 of 3,241 for speaker:Brian Ó Domhnaill

Seanad: Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Second Stage (8 Jul 2015)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Fine Gael was the first party to advocate the abolition of rates in its 1976 manifesto. We just followed them.

Seanad: Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Second Stage (8 Jul 2015)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: It is very important.

Seanad: Conditions of Work: Motion (8 Jul 2015)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I welcome the opportunity to engage in this debate. I commend Senators Power, van Turnhout and Moloney on tabling the motion. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has brought the issue to the fore in recent times. I was very happy to sign the charter it presented to Members of the Oireachtas regarding subscribing to a national living wage that would be available to employees. I listened to...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Jul 2015)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I support Senator Bradford's call for a debate on NAMA. It is an organisation that is beyond openness and transparency.

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Jul 2015)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I certainly have no vested interest in protecting it. Every Member of the House should be given an opportunity to ask the Minister for Finance some straight questions about NAMA's transactions. To date neither this House nor the other House has received an answer as to who the directors of the new 17% in NAMA that was sold under the watchful eye of the present Minister for Finance to a...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Jul 2015)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: We need to have some fresh air blowing through the organisation. Perhaps we might start here. The Greek issue is not just about the debt. Everyone seems to refer to the vote in Greece, but it is a much bigger question than that. It is a question about the European Union and the future of the euro. Greece is one of 19 eurozone members and represents 2% of the European economy. Its...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Jul 2015)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I support all of the comments made about the protest, if one could call it that, outside the gates of the Houses. Members were accosted and people who probably thought a legitimate protest was being organised were overtaken by the usual thuggery we have seen in the country over the past 18 or 24 months. Individual elements from a past that this country should not recognise are involved in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Aquaculture Development: Discussion (1 Jul 2015)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I apologise for the delay but it was due to unforeseen circumstances. Gabhaim buíochas leis na finnéithe as an gcur i láthair maith atá déanta acu. Bhí siad ag fanacht tamall fada. Is dócha go bhfuil sé seo mar tús na díospóireachta ar an ábhar seo. This is the beginning of a process of dialogue in an area which, as Mr. Ó...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Jul 2015)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Cuirim le focail mo chomhghleacaithe i dtaca leis na daoine a chaill a saolta tráthnóna inné i dtimpiste ar an uisce in iarthar Chorcaí - another tragedy at sea. Unfortunately, this time of year brings an increase in the number of such occurrences and it is extremely sad, particularly for those involved and their extended families. It is most unfortunate that west Cork...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Jul 2015)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: An international protectionist system is being used, through democratic institutions of government, where international financial speculators and the capital markets are being protected by democracies. That is wrong.

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Jul 2015)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: We must have a debate about this issue because the central pillar of the European Union in its founding form, together with the euro, is under threat. At what cost do we protect the euro? Is it at the cost of lives or of children dying? How dare the German Finance Minister ask or instruct the ECB not to intervene?

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Jul 2015)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: The ECB was supposed to be independent but the Germans seem to think they control it. How dare our Taoiseach stand up to protect capitalism in a world where hunger is allowing people to die. If we believe in the Europe that was founded by the Treaty of Rome, there should be solidarity and integration at Europe's core. That is not happening today. As democrats, we need to stand up for it.

Seanad: Growing Tourism to 2025: Statements (1 Jul 2015)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I welcome the Minister to the House.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Jun 2015)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I second Senator Darragh O'Brien's amendment to the Order of Business on lone parents. I call on the Leader to ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to come before the House to discuss his Department's decision to undertake a review 12 months after his decision to abolish town councils. I understand a parliamentary reply to my colleague in the...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jun 2015)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I support the campaign by Senator O'Donnell to retain the vitally important post office network. As we speak and posture, services in Donegal have been centralised. Why have sub-post offices been closed in Donegal and centralised in Letterkenny? It is because the Department of Social Welfare will not roll out Government transactions through the post office network and, thus, support the...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jun 2015)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: The only difficulty is that the sum was not larger. If it were, then the taxpayer would not have been exposed, to the extent that we have been, to fund sporting projects up and down the country. I am chairman of my local soccer club. Therefore, I can say, without qualification, that the work that John Delaney and the FAI have done to benefit grassroots soccer and under age soccer is...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jun 2015)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: There are other political questions about money, which has been taken from the taxpayer and is in the IBRC, that the Government does not want to discuss. A view has been adopted to direct attention at John Delaney and the FAI in order to make him a scapegoat. That is a wrong thing to do.

Seanad: Moore Street Area Renewal and Development Bill 2015: Second Stage [Private Members] (10 Jun 2015)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Ba mhaith liom tréaslú leis an méid atá ráite anseo tráthnóna ag mo chomhghleacaithe agus, ar ndóigh, leis na focail deiridh atá ráite ag an Seanadóir Mooney, a rinne cur síos ar an tábhacht a bhaineann le forbairt agus fad saol a thabhairt do Moore Street anseo i mBaile Átha Cliath, áit stairiúil a bhfuil baint...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (9 Jun 2015)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I welcome the various representatives from the two Departments, the FSAI and the EPA. GM foodstuffs are not new. Genetic modification is an emerging theory which brings potential but also limitations and dangers. The use of GMOs is a concern for consumers. It may not be the topic of many conversations but, ultimately, it will reflect in the foodstuffs that consumers eat, whether that is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (9 Jun 2015)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Before we conclude, may I obtain the opinion of the members of the delegation on the importation of protein-rich GM food ingredients, whether they be soya beans or whatever? They account for some 40% of imported products and, therefore, GM ingredients are already in the food chain. In the context of the Irish beef and poultry we buy in the supermarket and then bring home to cook and eat, we...