Results 8,521-8,540 of 20,831 for speaker:David Norris

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

David Norris: Come on.

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

David Norris: Deliberately.

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

David Norris: In which case one gives him or her a small fine.

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

David Norris: That can be said about murder.

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

David Norris: Yes.

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

David Norris: I would appeal to the Minister to reconsider the position because it is a serious offence. I accept that this is a new offence and I welcome the Minister's innovation in introducing this offence, but why not make it a real offence? If serious harm is done by the actions of this person, be he or she a civil servant or not, the person certainly should be prosecuted. Six months in jail is not...

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

David Norris: That is a wriggle.

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

David Norris: I would like to comment on the Minster's response. I am glad that he sees the point of the argument that I am making but I wish he would go a little further. I would like him to explain to me the meaning of the word "private". If something is private it means immune to prying eyes. How can a private correspondence be made accessible to the 4 million citizens on this island? It is not...

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

David Norris: Why not?

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

David Norris: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

David Norris: I move amendment No. 16: In page 73, line 7, after “fine” to insert “and/or 6 months in prison”. This is a point where I felt that the penalties were not sufficiently severe. The section states, on page 73 line 5: "Where an FOI request has been made in respect of a record, a person who without lawful excuse and with intention to deceive destroys or materially...

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

David Norris: I oppose this amendment also. The Office of the President should be above this kind of thing. This is dragging the office, which is the highest office in the land, into the political hurly burly and I do not think it appropriate. Perhaps the Estimates can be discussed in the Dáil and Seanad, but the Office of the President is the one thing which must be kept out of politics and, in...

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

David Norris: I move amendment No. 9: In page 47, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following:"(a) consists of a private communication between two or more members of the Government,".This arises from a discussion during an earlier Stage of the Bill. I feel strongly the Bill may be going too far. The original Bill exempted private communications between two or more members of the Government. Even...

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

David Norris: Before we take Report Stage, on a point of order, may I ask for some information about the rather unusual fact that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, has seconded several Fianna Fáil amendments to this Bill. Does this indicate the Government’s approval for these amendments? Is it an offshoot of the McNulty affair?

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

David Norris: On the amendments list, no fewer than ten amendments have been seconded by Deputy Paschal Donohoe who once was a Member of this House but is now the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. Is this a sign of the Government’s support for the amendments in the name of Senator Thomas Byrne?

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

David Norris: Why is he then supporting ten Fianna Fáil amendments?

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

David Norris: Of course. That had not occurred to me.

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

David Norris: I oppose this amendment because there is a bit of peeping-tommery about it. There is plenty of information around already without going outside the official networks and into the personal databanks of people involved in political life. This will stifle discussion. In light of the experience of the operation of the original Bill, we should be very careful about extending it all over the...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (2 Oct 2014)

David Norris: I join my colleagues in expressing concern regarding the drop in the world ratings of Irish universities. This calls for careful examination of the criteria by which universities are judged. I am unsure whether the Times Higher Education group actually has the right criteria. I am unsure whether it has the tools to measure the performance of the universities. That said, the consistent...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (1 Oct 2014)

David Norris: I thought I had given my apologies. I asked Miriam to convey them but perhaps she did not pass them on.