Results 961-980 of 1,591 for speaker:Eugene Regan

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: These remarks are a preface to my question to the Leader. A national Government is required when the incumbent Administration does not have the numbers to take decisions. Leadership and competent Government are essential in this crisis and are precisely what we do not have. There has been much constructive engagement by the Opposition. We have offered many ideas and have acknowledged the...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: By way of constructive criticism, I have a question for the Leader. The Taoiseach made the announcement on Tuesday of his grand plan to secure a reduction in Exchequer expenditure. Of the €2 billion in savings to be made this year, €1.4 billion is to come from the public sector pension levy. In The Irish Times today, Dominic Coyle writes that, after tax relief, the saving will be...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: I appreciate the praise from the Fianna Fáil benches of a former Fine Gael Taoiseach. It is obvious that the Senators on the Government benches consider that attack is the best form of defence. As they read from their prepared scripts today, they are attacking the Opposition——

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: They are attacking and criticising the Opposition. That criticism is rather cheap. In both Houses we have supported the Government and taken it on trust with regard to the State guarantee. We knew decisions had to be made. At the time we suggested that recapitalisation of the banks would have to be addressed. That was rubbished by the Government, yet ultimately it realised that it had to...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: At least they are my own notes.

Seanad: Human Rights Issues: Motion (4 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: I propose to share time with Senators McFadden and Fitzgerald.

Seanad: Human Rights Issues: Motion (4 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Power. He has done a good job as apologist for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Dermot Ahern, in regard to the disproportionate cutbacks in the budgets of the Human Rights Commission and the Equality Authority and the elimination of the Combat Poverty Agency. The Minister of State's speech suggests that fundamental human...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: I support Senator Fitzgerald's amendment to the Order of Business. It is extraordinary that in both Houses, the Opposition is continuously calling——

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: Yes, I am opposing the Order of Business. The Opposition has been calling for information on the economy, indications from the Government on its proposals, and some sense of direction on where we are going. The pleas of the Opposition have been rebuffed at every turn. We are asking today whether we can have a briefing on what is happening. My understanding is that the Leader is not...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: The question is for the Leader. The Taoiseach's nerves may be shattered after the disastrous decisions that have been taken in the budget, be it on medical cards for the elderly and so on. However, I would have thought that the Taoiseach would have found his composure after the long recess and found an ability to take decisions. I hope that he will be in a position to do that this...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2009)

Eugene Regan: Stop him, a Chathaoirligh.

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Jan 2009)

Eugene Regan: I wish to address the talks between the Government and the social partners. These talks began as discussions on expenditure cuts and pay. Issues of taxation were left to the Commission on Taxation, which would report later in the year. The Minister for Finance had indicated there was no scope for further increases in taxation in 2009. In a concession in those talks, the emphasis has...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2009)

Eugene Regan: There has been much talk in this House and in the Lower House by the Minister for Finance and the Taoiseach about patriotism in respect of the economy, the bipartisan approach, the Tallaght strategy and reaching consensus. The outburst by the Taoiseach yesterday in the Lower House has put paid to that. It clearly demonstrates that he has his own view about how things should be done. He...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2009)

Eugene Regan: The Taoiseach has his own way of doing things, it appears. On 25 June, there was an editorial in The Irish Times entitled "Is Mr. Cowen up for it?". It is still relevant in the light of what has happened on the first day of this Oireachtas session. With the economy in recession and the Lisbon Treaty receiving intensive care, determined leadership is required to steady nerves and chart a way...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2009)

Eugene Regan: Reference was made to the forecast of the ESRI in its medium-term review, which stripped away the possibility of prevarication. Six months later, nothing has changed. Clearly the Taoiseach is not listening to people in these Houses, nor to The Irish Times.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2009)

Eugene Regan: Is the reason we have had no decision from the Taoiseach that he has become institutionalised, that he cannot think outside of the institutional box he has grown up with and he cannot think for himself and take decisions? The problem now is that Deputy Brian Cowen is Taoiseach. That is the problem in the economy and in the international reputation of the country. That is the problem we...

Seanad: Economic Situation: Statements (27 Jan 2009)

Eugene Regan: I wish to share my time with Senator Burke, by agreement.

Seanad: Economic Situation: Statements (27 Jan 2009)

Eugene Regan: I ask the Minister of State and the previous speaker to tell us something we do not know. The Minister of State's presentation threw out a few new figures, several generalities and some literary comments of such a generic nature that they have no relevance to the problems we face. We need the Government to provide directions, decisions and policies. The role of the Opposition is to comment...

Seanad: Economic Situation: Statements (27 Jan 2009)

Eugene Regan: It was well spotted.

Seanad: Economic Situation: Statements (27 Jan 2009)

Eugene Regan: It is significant enough.