Results 7,421-7,440 of 8,391 for speaker:Mark Daly

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2012)

Mark Daly: Like my colleagues, I call for a debate on a report published only two hours ago. This is quickly becoming one of the most undemocratic countries in Europe. As my colleagues have pointed out, we have the lowest level of public representation per head of population at local level among the EU 15 member states. Up until yesterday in Ireland there was one public representative per 2,600...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Oct 2012)

Mark Daly: I call on the Acting Leader to provide time for a debate on the mortgage issue. Former President Clinton advised the Government at the Irish Global Economic Forum last year that it needed to tackle the mortgage problem here. All we have seen to date from the Government is activity and no action. It has introduced a personal insolvency Bill which, if the banks had drafted it, we would not...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Oct 2012)

Mark Daly: If it is left up to the banks to declare whether a person is insolvent then no one's problems will be solved.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Oct 2012)

Mark Daly: It has not been passed yet.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Upward-Only Rent Reviews (10 Oct 2012)

Mark Daly: I know. However, one must be destitute, in a commercial sense, to be in NAMA and then one might get a rent reduction. There is no legislative requirement for upward-only rent reviews in leases, as was said in the Minister's reply. However, it was stated in the manifesto that there would be legislation against this. I thank the Minister for coming to the House to clarify the issue. It is...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Upward-Only Rent Reviews (10 Oct 2012)

Mark Daly: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank her for taking this matter in respect of which I seek clarification on upward-only rent reviews. Fianna Fáil has published a Bill dealing with the issue of upward-only rent reviews, which is within the bounds of the Constitution. As the Minister of State will know, upward-only rent reviews are crippling many businesses. Those tenants...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Upward-Only Rent Reviews (10 Oct 2012)

Mark Daly: I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I know she was not involved in making the promises or drawing up the manifesto. However, I am sure she will agree that it is not surprising that people are extremely cynical of all politicians in all political parties about issues such as this one when a commitment on this is contained in party manifestos and in the programme for Government. One...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Discussion with Ambassador of Islamic Republic of Iran (10 Oct 2012)

Mark Daly: I welcome Mr. Panahiazar to the meeting. I have to say the Iranian leader's comment that Israel should be wiped off the map was reprehensible, to put it mildly. I would like to hear the ambassador's views on that. It is unacceptable that the leader of a country like Iran, which has such a proud history and culture, said when addressing people at a public forum like the United Nations that...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Oct 2012)

Mark Daly: I call for a debate on the growing democratic deficit in the country. Previously I have spoken on the issue of Seanad reform. We are all awaiting the final report of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government on local government reform. Ireland has the lowest level of local representation of anywhere in Europe next to the United Kingdom. Yet we are talking about...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Oct 2012)

Mark Daly: Will the Leader allow time for the reintroduction of the NAMA and Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Transparency Bill 2011? As of August, 2,500 properties had been sold by NAMA for ¤4.6 billion, yet the Minister for Finance is unable to tell us how many of those were sold in an open and transparent manner. NAMA refuses to tell him how many were put on the market, publicly advertised or...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Oct 2012)

Mark Daly: NAMA paid ¤32 billion for those properties-----

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Oct 2012)

Mark Daly: NAMA paid ¤32 billion for those properties, yet we do not know and the public is not told how many of them have been sold in an open and transparent manner, as is required under the NAMA legislation.

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Oct 2012)

Mark Daly: We introduced it, but the Government is not enforcing it.

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Oct 2012)

Mark Daly: Previously, I asked that the Attorney General attend the House under Standing Order 56, yet she has not appeared before us to explain----

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Oct 2012)

Mark Daly: -----why NAMA is not selling property in an open and transparent manner. Under the legislation, NAMA must sell those properties as if they were State assets, which must be sold by auction or tender. As Senator Paul Coghlan is aware, most of the time we only find out after the event that properties have been sold. In some cases, the people who took out the large loans in the first place are...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Oct 2012)

Mark Daly: The highest standards of transparency are not being achieved by any measure.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Emigration Statistics (4 Oct 2012)

Mark Daly: What happened the NewERA plan? The Taoiseach said in May 2010 that it would create 105,000 jobs. I am concerned about the brain-drain. We are sending highly-educated young people abroad. I will give an example of the Government's lack of joined-up thinking. I would like to hear the Minister of State's view on it. The Government's internship programme has been made available to the...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Emigration Statistics (4 Oct 2012)

Mark Daly: What happened the 105,000 jobs that were promised? What happened the jobs initiative and the jobs plan? It was forecast that 80,000 jobs would be created. What happened them? How can we keep our young people in Ireland? The numbers of jobs mentioned by the Minister of State in his reply are not of the scale that was promised.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Emigration Statistics (4 Oct 2012)

Mark Daly: I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. Emigration is the most pressing issue in Ireland. The CSO indicates that 87,100 people emigrated from Ireland between April 2011 and April 2012. This harks back to the worst days of the 1950s, when 1,000 people a week left our shores. In addition to this brain drain of the best and brightest of our youth,...

Seanad: Radical Seanad Reform Through Legislative Change: Statements (3 Oct 2012)

Mark Daly: I welcome my colleague, Councillor Ger Fogarty, to the Visitors Gallery. He contributed to this debate by examining ways of having the Diaspora represented in the House. Seanad reform is a broad topic. While the scale of the financial crisis has been widely discussed, the Seanad could play a role in addressing the issue of the national democratic deficit. The scrutiny of legislation by the...