Results 7,281-7,300 of 7,583 for speaker:Rónán Mullen

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2008)

Rónán Mullen: His son is a Fine Gael councillor. However, I think he likes to hear from me. I observe with interest my parent's programming tastes. The point is that research needs to be done. We owe it to older people not to make assumptions about what they like. We should require our broadcaster to do the necessary research to ensure they get what they like in terms of a programming diet. The...

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I thank the Minister of State.

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I hope it is not sugar beet FM.

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I thank all the speakers for their support of my now, sadly, doomed proposed amendment. I am disappointed there are no words of comfort from the Minister of State. I had hoped that at the very least this matter would be considered and it is not too late for him to change his mind, in my view. The main argument put forward by the Minister of State was that since RTE had not proposed it, nor...

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2008)

Rónán Mullen: Having heard the Minister of State, I would like to withdraw the amendment but this idea is worthy of consideration and deserves to be put to a vote of the House. I will press the amendment.

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2008)

Rónán Mullen: Yes, on Report Stage.

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I move amendment No. 22: In page 42, subsection (1), between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following: "(d) in the case of sound broadcasting a minimum of not less than 10 per cent of the broadcasting time is devoted to the broadcasting of programmes at people over 65 years,". Amendments Nos. 22, 82 and 90 are related to the amendments we discussed in the context of establishing a heritage...

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I should have known there was no danger of me quoting from a poem without Senator Norris responding at will with another quotation. As I indicated in our discussion on a heritage channel, I have a sense that in the area of broadcasting older people are taken for granted as civic minded participants in society and their specific needs are easily overlooked. Perhaps this is connected to the...

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I welcome the Minister to the House and thank Senator O'Reilly for and commend him on an excellent suite of amendments which I am pleased to support. As I said on Second Stage, when we talk about regulating the broadcasting sector and putting in place the necessary structures, we should give strong and intense regard to the common good. We should recognise that we are privileged to have...

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2008)

Rónán Mullen: One can tape it because one does not get to see too many such occasions. One can at least watch the few successful ones again. I have met many people, particularly older people, although it is unfair to single out any one category, who find TG4 a very refreshing source of alternative programming. However, that in no way takes from the validity of what Senator O'Reilly has proposed, namely,...

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2008)

Rónán Mullen: Perhaps that reveals me to be something of a philistine. I would rather have eaten it than read it a third time. Arts programming appeals to a small section of the community. It is right and proper that public service broadcasting should deal with the highbrow stuff. As I have said in another forum in respect of this Bill, it is great that we have Lyric FM, which caters for a relatively...

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I move amendment No. 17: In page 33, subsection (1), lines 5 to 17, to delete paragraphs (a) to (c) and substitute the following: "(a) prepare a strategy for the provision of broadcasting services in the State additional to those provided by RTÉ, TG4, the Houses of the Oireachtas Channel, the Irish Film Channel, and the Heritage Channel, (b) prepare a strategy statement under section 29(1),...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 May 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I welcome the comments of Senators Hannigan, Ó Murchú and others on the excellent news that more than 100 countries have agreed to sign up to a ban on cluster munitions. I raised this issue a number of weeks ago. It is disquieting that two members of the UN Security Council were absent from the negotiations. However, that is balanced by the good news that the UK has come on board. This...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 May 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I ask for a debate, along with my colleague Senator Bacik, on the integration of immigrants. It is disquieting that according to a report by UCD researchers, as few as 12% of Chinese immigrants and as few as 22% of Lithuanians regard themselves as being highly integrated into Irish society. I emphasise that being integrated is not the same as being employed. Lithuanians, for example, have...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 May 2008)

Rónán Mullen: ——are now facing deportation, while they know of people who have been in trouble with the law but have still got their papers. Is it not time we had a debate in this House about immigration?

Seanad: Order of Business (29 May 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I am concluding now. I ask that the debate on immigration include the question of an amnesty for people who came here as minors, who have been here for a number of years and who are of excellent character as testified by Irish people and others. Given that they do not have contacts they can rely on in their home countries, these people should be given their papers and allowed to establish a...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 May 2008)

Rónán Mullen: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Second Stage (22 May 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I welcome the Minister to the House. I also welcome the Bill, which presents us with an important opportunity, not only to reflect on the structures and mechanisms proposed but also to reflect on the importance of broadcasting in our society, the role media play in our society and how, as legislators, we should seek to influence things for the better using our broadcasting structures. We...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 May 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I apologise to my colleague, Senator Donohoe. I was checking an important point of fact with Senator Norris and was unaware we were causing a distraction. I apologise to the Senator, the Cathaoirleach and other Members of the House for that. The matter I was raising with Senator Norris is a grave one. The Prime Minister of Great Britain, Gordon Brown, chose to meet the Dalai Lama in the...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 May 2008)

Rónán Mullen: On another serious matter, when we are talking about cuts in public expenditure it is disquieting that given the importance of information and communications technology in our schools, an issue I have raised in this House in the past, the Minister for Education and Science was unable to commit to the spending of €252 million over a number of years as was originally proposed. It is also...