Results 701-720 of 1,886 for speaker:Fergal Browne

Seanad: Irish Medicines Board (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2005: Committee Stage (Resumed). (6 Dec 2005)

Fergal Browne: I rise in support of my colleagues. When it comes to health there is a certain amount of snobbery or elitism. Regardless of the Department of Health and Children, health professionals do not seem to want to give information to the public. We are dealing with a sophisticated public. Consumers have access to the Internet and can access information if they so a wish. They deserve to access...

Seanad: Irish Medicines Board (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2005: Committee Stage (Resumed). (6 Dec 2005)

Fergal Browne: I asked a question about the chairperson of the advisory council.

Seanad: Irish Medicines Board (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2005: Committee Stage (Resumed). (6 Dec 2005)

Fergal Browne: I intend to call for a division on this amendment. This is not because I disagree with it, but to express my annoyance at the manner in which the Seanad is being treated. This is a major amendment under discussion today, and while Members were promised a briefing note, we were not briefed properly. I am concerned because this is a quite substantive amendment. The explanation provided last...

Seanad: Order of Business. (6 Dec 2005)

Fergal Browne: I ask for a special debate on the sugar beet industry. We are having a debate tomorrow on World Trade Organisation talks but I suspect there will not be sufficient time to debate the sugar industry. I ask that before the Seanad rises next week we have a specific debate on the industry's future. When we return in late January next year we might well have no sugar beet industry left.

Seanad: Order of Business. (6 Dec 2005)

Fergal Browne: We owe it to the 4,000 beet growers and the hundreds of workers that may lose their jobs over the Christmas period.

Seanad: Order of Business. (6 Dec 2005)

Fergal Browne: I agree with Senators who raised the question of the child protection officers being appointed with regard to schools. Bullying is a significant problem in secondary schools in particular, and the Government has given only €2 million instead of the requested €5 million. Perhaps we should examine whether resources are being well spent. It may make more sense to give money to teachers to...

Seanad: Order of Business. (6 Dec 2005)

Fergal Browne: We talk of the importance of democracy.

Seanad: Order of Business. (6 Dec 2005)

Fergal Browne: We speak of the benefits of democracy, but those poor people are out on a cold street today and their voices are not being heard. Neither the former nor the current Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has honoured a commitment or even met the workers to hear their case.

Seanad: Order of Business. (6 Dec 2005)

Fergal Browne: It has been raised as an Adjournment matter time and again, here and in the Dáil, but the workers are being continually cut down.

Seanad: Irish Medicines Board (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2005: Committee Stage (Resumed). (6 Dec 2005)

Fergal Browne: On a point of order, last week we were promised briefing notes. Perhaps I might raise in the House the fact that mine arrived at 10.45 a.m., and I received it only at 2 p.m. My point is that the briefing note is less than the substantive amendment that we were discussing last week. It does nothing to endear the Bill to the House. The Minister of State seeks co-operation, but it is very...

Seanad: Irish Medicines Board (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2005: Committee Stage (Resumed). (6 Dec 2005)

Fergal Browne: I will agree to this amendment, but I will not do so in future.

Seanad: Irish Medicines Board (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2005: Committee Stage (Resumed). (6 Dec 2005)

Fergal Browne: This is turning into a farce. The Labour Party spokesperson is not present, although I am sure that he will arrive presently. We have eight civil servants in the House and no proper briefing material on the Bill.

Seanad: Irish Medicines Board (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2005: Committee Stage (Resumed). (6 Dec 2005)

Fergal Browne: I asked last week regarding the consequences of typographical errors. I understand that they normally arise in Bills, but there seems to be a very large number in this Bill. I did not receive an answer last week, so perhaps I might get one this week. Apart from the need to correct the text grammatically, do all these mistakes have legal consequences if the Bill is ever challenged?

Seanad: Irish Medicines Board (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2005: Committee Stage (Resumed). (6 Dec 2005)

Fergal Browne: That did not happen.

Seanad: Irish Medicines Board (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2005: Committee Stage (Resumed). (6 Dec 2005)

Fergal Browne: Could we have an explanation of the amendment?

Seanad: Irish Medicines Board (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2005: Committee Stage (Resumed). (6 Dec 2005)

Fergal Browne: It is unusual and I wonder if it could be explained.

Seanad: Irish Medicines Board (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2005: Committee Stage (Resumed). (6 Dec 2005)

Fergal Browne: Can "2001

Seanad: Transport Policy: Statements. (1 Dec 2005)

Fergal Browne: I thank Senator Quinn for sharing his time with me. We under-invested in public transport in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s and we are now playing catch up, although in the late 1990s we corrected that. We have come a long way but we have a long way to go. We have begun to learn from some of our past mistakes. I notice when I travel to Dublin every week that on the road from Carlow to...

Seanad: Order of Business. (1 Dec 2005)

Fergal Browne: I repeat a call for a debate next week on what is left of the sugar beet industry after last week's talks. I also agree with calls for a debate on Northern Ireland and the on-the-runs. I agree fully with Senator Bradford on the calls he made today and on other occasions on the need for a truth and reconciliation system such as that in South Africa. I find it amazing that people can be...

Seanad: Road Safety: Motion. (30 Nov 2005)

Fergal Browne: I move: That Seanad Éireann, noting: —that 354 persons have been killed on our roads in the first ten months of 2005; —the number of persons killed or seriously injured on our roads in the first ten months of 2005, is now higher than for the same period in 2004; —that the number of fatalities last month was almost double that for October 2004; —that the Government is failing to...