Results 821-840 of 3,356 for speaker:Feargal Quinn

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Feargal Quinn: It later reads-----

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Feargal Quinn: Subsection (2) reads: "This Act may be cited as the Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Act 2013." However, the previous subsection (1) reads, "this Act shall be collectively known as and may for all purposes be collectively referred to as the Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution". It does not say anything about abolition of Seanad...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Feargal Quinn: I will be very brief. I wish to follow through on something that was said previously. My point is exactly the same as Senator Zappone made. My concern is that the same people will be doing the scrutiny if we only have one House. I have a deep concern about the issue. I will not spend time on it but the Minister of State might have heard me speak previously about two particular instances...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Feargal Quinn: The Bill had gone through the Dáil and it had not been noticed that anything was wrong with it. The Dáil had already gone into recess and the point was originally picked up by the then Senator, now Deputy Shane Ross, that polls could be released at midnight before the election. That would have meant there were three weeks without opinion polls and then at midnight before an...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Feargal Quinn: It is a worthy Bill and the Minister of State has put his heart and soul into it. They were all worthy Bills. I recently introduced a Bill on food provenance. In the latter case the Minister was unsure about his response to the Bill but he was convinced by the various speakers in this House. The reason I mention those Bills is not just because they are the ones that come to my mind, but...

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (11 Jul 2013)

Feargal Quinn: I would never think that.

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (11 Jul 2013)

Feargal Quinn: I thank the Minister of State.

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (11 Jul 2013)

Feargal Quinn: I would love to hear it. I keep hearing that we have news. I raised this issue a couple of years ago and again last year. It would be great if something was happening. The Minister, Deputy Howlin, says a lot of this information is online, but I dispute that because the facts and figures are simply not generally accessible to the general public and there is very little information. We do...

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (11 Jul 2013)

Feargal Quinn: I agree entirely with what Senator Harte said. The Minister of State is almost part of this House, so he should make sure he does not abolish it.

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (11 Jul 2013)

Feargal Quinn: This is a very worthy Bill in terms of the whole objective of planning Government expenditure in advance and disclosing it. I think every business does something similar.

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (11 Jul 2013)

Feargal Quinn: The principal thing a business does if it has bad news is that it goes to its employees to convince them to take a pay cut or whatever. It also goes to its customers and apologises for putting the prices up. If the business can manage to find a way to do that and to get them on board, then it is able to continue. The same applies here. We must get the citizens of this country to...

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (11 Jul 2013)

Feargal Quinn: We should include all public bodies in a simple easily accessible public spending website. This public spending website could be based on the American Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act 2006, introduced by President Obama when he was a Senator. This has led to the creation of website which lists any expenditure above $25,000 by the federal government and a number of states,...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Jul 2013)

Feargal Quinn: Yesterday we engaged in a good and long debate on the legislation relating to the abolition of the Seanad. That debate was very useful and a great deal emerged from it. I have found my years in the Seanad very educational and there was a good example this morning. I was listening to Senator Crown who explained to us the difference between something that is treatable and something that is...

Seanad: Parental Leave Bill 2013: Second Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Feargal Quinn: I welcome the Minister of State. This Bill is also welcome. Senator White has put a significant amount of effort into it. As someone who has run a business and is also a mother, which is not easy, she has a great deal of experience of this matter. I was delighted to hear Senator Moran's reference to a prenatal clinic. My wife and I have five children. With our first child, my wife had...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Feargal Quinn: On that occasion the Ulster team won. I am probably the only person here who remembers the Second World War. I also remember the shortages and the effort the country put together and the threats there must have been to the country in those days. I am quite sure the Taoiseach and Government of the day worked hard to ensure the Constitution they established in 1937 was not abolished. Not...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Feargal Quinn: Our Constitution survived as did our democracy. The Fifth Republic came into being and France ended up with a new constitution on this basis. In 1973, we had to vote on whether we would give up our independence - we thought - and join the European Economic Community, EEC. We held a referendum and it was a big challenge to our future. We joined the EEC as it was in those days. Our...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Feargal Quinn: The Minister of State is very welcome. I remember well the time we spent together in this House and what an enthusiastic leader he was for the Opposition. It was a good Seanad. A great deal was achieved in that time and the Minister of State's enthusiasm, commitment and intelligence worked very well. I am delighted he is here today and that he has given so much time to come to this House...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Feargal Quinn: My apologies. The Minister of State is right. I have the wrong Bill.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Feargal Quinn: I quoted from the Bill that will come before the House at 5 p.m. My apologies; I picked up the wrong piece of paper. When this State was established in 1922, we established a State with two Houses of the Oireachtas. That was 91 years ago. After 15 years, the Government of the day decided it did not like the second House and then put forward a Constitution in 1937. At that time it...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2013)

Feargal Quinn: I support Senator Mullen; his words are worthy of listening to. We need to be temperate in our language and expressions. Some of the expressions made in recent weeks, particularly on the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill, have been anything but temperate. My attention was drawn to a different point. This week, Britain announced that it would arrange for the determination of school...