Results 761-780 of 4,085 for speaker:Dan Boyle

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Oct 2009)

Dan Boyle: The final meeting will be held on Tuesday and the Minister will make his recommendation on the synthesis of the recommendations made. He will then make a recommendation to the Cabinet and I believe a Bill will be available before Christmas. The House will have an opportunity to debate the matter. It will refer only to the short-term legislative changes we can bring about in this Chamber.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Oct 2009)

Dan Boyle: No, and to put Senator O'Toole's mind at rest, this will only work if it deals with the university and vocational panels and the people who vote in all such elections.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Oct 2009)

Dan Boyle: It can be of valid benefit only if it does that.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Oct 2009)

Dan Boyle: The recently agreed renewed programme for Government includes the Electoral Commission reporting within 12 months on the election to Seanad Éireann. This will require a constitutional referendum. Before we debate this issue in detail - the Leader of the Opposition in the other House must consider this - I call for a referendum Bill to be submitted. Let it show what a referendum on...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Oct 2009)

Dan Boyle: The ballot paper that people would have to vote on would be miles long.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Oct 2009)

Dan Boyle: Yes. On those grounds let us have an honest debate-----

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Oct 2009)

Dan Boyle: -----in which we talk about the quality of democracy in this country. One will find there will be willing people on all sides of this House to help progress that debate.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Oct 2009)

Dan Boyle: It was political. These things are said about us every day of the week.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Oct 2009)

Dan Boyle: Noting comments made already by Senators O'Toole, MacSharry and Norris, I ask the Leader that an opportunity be taken in this House to debate formally the newly agreed programme for Government. I lack a certain critical distance from it, but the House and the Oireachtas would benefit from having such an early debate. While it has been presented with some new priorities, it is a document...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Oct 2009)

Dan Boyle: If the Leader is so minded, an early opportunity to have such a debate will be to the benefit of both the programme and the House.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Sep 2009)

Dan Boyle: We are producing legislation on the matter.

Seanad: Public Transport Regulation Bill 2009: Second Stage (24 Sep 2009)

Dan Boyle: Regardless of where people are coming from in this debate, it is clear this country's approach to public transport has improved over recent years. Despite our straitened economic circumstances, the balance between expenditure on public and private transport is better than it once was. It is nowhere near equality, but it is better. The Minister's recent announcement of new Luas routes shows...

Seanad: Public Transport Regulation Bill 2009: Second Stage (24 Sep 2009)

Dan Boyle: While he made many fair points, he was slightly disingenuous when he said he believes this Bill can solve problems in all the areas he mentioned, such as spatial planning. I am confident that many of the issues he raised will be dealt with in parallel legislation, such as the new local government Bill and the two planning and development Bills. The fruits of this approach are evident in the...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2009: Second Stage (23 Sep 2009)

Dan Boyle: I welcome this Bill and the opening comments of the Minister of State with responsibility for labour affairs in introducing it. In the context of a point raised by the previous Opposition spokesperson, we must be clear that part of the necessity for this legislation, in the first instance, has been the ongoing legal situation. As a Member of this House and when I was a Member of the other...

Seanad: The Economy: Statements (23 Sep 2009)

Dan Boyle: Just as Zhou Enlai said when speaking of the French Revolution, it is a bit too soon to tell about the international crisis and our own particular variant of it. However, there are some hopeful signs. We do not know yet whether the international crisis will be a V-type recession or a W-type recession. We have seen encouraging signs that France and Germany, two of our main trading partners,...

Seanad: Northern Ireland: Statements (14 Jul 2009)

Dan Boyle: I welcome the Taoiseach to the House. Today's statements are informed by the events of yesterday evening. The events are disappointing and still have a capacity to shock. There was a time when the events of last night were an everyday occurrence in the North. The sense of hopelessness and despair at that time generated indifference such that there would have been no shock in respect of...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Second Stage (14 Jul 2009)

Dan Boyle: Rights in a free society are hard won. They are protected by custom, precedent, common law, the Constitution, implicitly and directly, and legislation. A free society should strive to protect all such rights at all times. Very often rights are compromised by citizens who fail to act responsibly to respect the rights of others in society. Unfortunately, a group of no more than a few...

Seanad: OECD and IMF Reports: Statements (10 Jul 2009)

Dan Boyle: These reports, especially the IMF report, are neither a ringing endorsement of Government policies nor a crib sheet for the Opposition parties to say that things would be so much better if only they were in government. The reality is that the reports show the seriousness of our current economic position, one that was brought about by international factors that are affecting all other...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

Dan Boyle: Apparently I come from a party of tree worshippers.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

Dan Boyle: The offence of blasphemy is archaic. It is borne out of a jurisprudence which saw the development of events in an era where church and State were seen as a single entity. It is an offence that should be made obsolete and has been made so in other jurisdictions. It cannot be confused with the right of people to believe and to have that right respected. The difficulty in continuing to...