Results 9,201-9,220 of 14,090 for speaker:Marc MacSharry

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2015)

Marc MacSharry: We cannot agree to the Order of Business. I, therefore, propose an amendment that the relevant Minister come to the House for an emergency debate on the flooding issue. As we know, the forecast this evening for counties Clare and Kerry, all counties in Connacht, County Donegal and other parts of the country is again very bad. In 2012 the Taoiseach spoke about the need to have much more...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2015: Second Stage (2 Dec 2015)

Marc MacSharry: I welcome the Minister to the House. He is under pressure as the man says.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2015: Second Stage (2 Dec 2015)

Marc MacSharry: The Minister is doing what he can. Fair play to him.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2015: Second Stage (2 Dec 2015)

Marc MacSharry: I will be nice to the Minister because he is a former Member.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2015: Second Stage (2 Dec 2015)

Marc MacSharry: We welcome the Bill which, effectively, will streamline the planning process from a ministerial perspective. It follows on from recommendations of the Mahon tribunal, notwithstanding current challenges in housing. While we are supporting it, one of the concerns is that if some guidelines of planning institutions go beyond the national standards in terms of quality and what they bring to it,...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Nov 2015)

Marc MacSharry: We will not push this matter to a vote today but could the Deputy Leader invite the Minister for Health, Deputy Varadkar, to the House at some stage this week to discuss the debacle of the emergency department crisis throughout the country? This has worsened by 100% in terms of trolleys, waiting lists and so forth since 2007. For the last 15 months the numbers have increased consistently...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Cancer Screening Programmes (18 Nov 2015)

Marc MacSharry: Notwithstanding the fact that the Minister of State has taken the time to come to the House, I am disappointed that the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, is not here for the debate on this very important issue. Some weeks ago, I raised with the Minister the issue of ladies being referred to the symptomatic breast clinic at University Hospital Galway and who, effectively, were being sent home to...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Cancer Screening Programmes (18 Nov 2015)

Marc MacSharry: What about lumps? We heard nothing about those. This is not the Minister of State's core area but, to quote the lady in question, "when I get to Galway will I have lost vital time?" These patients are not being referred by lay people, traffic wardens or people in the street. They are being referred by medical professionals with seven years of training. I am bound to say that these delays...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2015)

Marc MacSharry: I propose an amendment to the Order of Business, namely, that the Minister for Health, Deputy Leo Varadkar, come to the House to account for his supreme ability to talk the talk and inability to walk the walk. The latest debacle is the complete abandonment by the Government of its plan to introduce universal health insurance, which has been Fine Gael policy since 2007 and Labour Party policy...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2015)

Marc MacSharry: I propose that the Minister for Health, Deputy Leo Varadkar, come to the House today to account for the fiasco which is the Government's abandonment of universal health insurance.

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2015)

Marc MacSharry: It is.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2015)

Marc MacSharry: Will the Leader make contact with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine today in the interests of finally arriving at a solution regarding the delay in payments to the many farm families throughout Ireland? I am sure all Senators have received representations at their clinics and advice centres in respect of these delays. The delays in question have occurred at the same time in...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2015)

Marc MacSharry: There was full employment.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2015)

Marc MacSharry: We should not forget the prefabs.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Nov 2015)

Marc MacSharry: The Cathaoirleach will have been aware of job losses in recent days at Aurivo, a co-operative in the north west. Against its own ethos, Aurivo now plans to produce butter in Cork instead of Connacht. It was originally the North Connacht Farmers' Co-operative Society. In addition, 37 jobs will be lost at Avantcard. If we add up all the retail businesses, restaurants and bars in the small...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Nov 2015)

Marc MacSharry: A north-west issue.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Nov 2015)

Marc MacSharry: I mentioned the south east as well.

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Nov 2015)

Marc MacSharry: Later today there will be a demonstration outside Leinster House and a briefing in the audiovisual room on hydraulic fracturing, so-called fracking. My colleague, Senator Mooney, has championed the movement against fracking for many years in the House and it pertains specifically to the north west where there are plans by various companies to engage in fracking for their own gain. The...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Ireland Strategic Investment Fund Investments (4 Nov 2015)

Marc MacSharry: I thank the Minister for taking the time to deal with this motion. I did not believe that it would be him who would be present. This motion is in connection with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF. As the Minister undoubtedly knows, part of the Government's two-pronged approach in the budget to the housing crisis was NAMA's programme to build a certain number of houses between now...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Ireland Strategic Investment Fund Investments (4 Nov 2015)

Marc MacSharry: I thank the Minister for that clarification. The base rate and actual rate are two different things. Sometimes the old bankers are very good at telling us the APR and so on. I ask the Minister to query it with his officials because I do have concerns that it is higher than 10%. Second, where possible, we should encourage more imagination in terms of taking equity in projects and maybe...