Results 1,241-1,260 of 3,356 for speaker:Feargal Quinn

Seanad: Recent Developments in Eurozone and European Council: Statements (16 Dec 2011)

Feargal Quinn: I wish to share my time with Senator Sean D. Barrett.

Seanad: Recent Developments in Eurozone and European Council: Statements (16 Dec 2011)

Feargal Quinn: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. This debate is an example of what we could do with an active Seanad given the responsibility of scrutinising legislation. However, such debates should take place prior to Ministers heading off to negotiate. It would be much more valuable if we could scrutinise measures before negotiations take place rather than afterwards. Senator Burke...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Dec 2011)

Feargal Quinn: What an interesting Seanad session this has been. Next February, please God, I will have been a Member of the House for 19 years. I note how well the new Senators have settled in and participated in this Seanad. They have been helped no end by the Cathaoirleach and the Leader of the House, among others. On my first visit to Leinster House in February 1993 I was shown around by a former...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Dec 2011)

Feargal Quinn: I am normally reluctant to propose or second an amendment that would delay the work of the House and a Minister due to come here to speak to us, but I listened carefully to what Senator Crown had to say and he made a strong case. It is with pleasure, therefore, that I support his proposed amendment to the Order of Business to request the Taoiseach to come to the House today to debate the...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Dec 2011)

Feargal Quinn: Many of them became Lords——

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Dec 2011)

Feargal Quinn: They received peerages, became Lords and everything else.

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Dec 2011)

Feargal Quinn: I am not proposing that the House could be open to such suggestions——

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Dec 2011)

Feargal Quinn: ——but I suggest democracy will be damaged if we end up in a situation where we will have only one House. In the 18 years I have been a Member of this House I have seen mistakes made by the other House. I am sure mistakes have been made in this House also, but when the mistakes made in the other House were scrutinised here, democracy improved. We have been able to say to the Lower House...

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility (Statement) Bill 2011: Second Stage (14 Dec 2011)

Feargal Quinn: I second the motion and welcome the Minister of State. This is an interesting Bill and we should be grateful for the opportunity to have Senator Sean D. Barrett in the House. We do not often have an economist of such stature in the Seanad who is able to do what is contained in the Bill. While I studied economics in UCD, I never really got on top of some of its ideas. I attended the...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (13 Dec 2011)

Feargal Quinn: People going on stage are advised never to share a stage with animals or children, because they cannot win against them. One should never stand up to speak after Senator Norris because one cannot win, as he speaks with such emphasis and clarity. I had planned to speak about the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Barnados and Focus Ireland, because we have been approached by all three and they...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (13 Dec 2011)

Feargal Quinn: We should either centralise the means test or tax the allowance. I think it should be taxed and gather that such a tax would bring in approximately €500 million annually. We face a challenge in this regard and must be willing to take on that challenge to ensure that if we are limited on the amount available, we increase what is available by only providing social protection to those who...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Dec 2011)

Feargal Quinn: In March 1996 in the British House of Commons, the discovery of a link between CJD and BSE was announced — in other words, a link between mad cow disease and the human form of the disease. It devastated the beef industry in Britain to the extent that from 1996 to 2007, no beef was exported from Britain, including Northern Ireland. That did not apply to the Republic of Ireland due to very...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Dec 2011)

Feargal Quinn: When the very survival of any organisation is threatened, it tends to focus one's attention. However, this House has not been devoting sufficient attention to its own survival. If the Seanad is abolished and we have done nothing about it, it will be very much our own fault. The way we behaved here on Tuesday night, where we organised ourselves in such a manner that we did not manage to...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Dec 2011)

Feargal Quinn: In the wake of what happened Tuesday night and yesterday morning, we can blame only ourselves if the argument is being made that the Seanad should be abolished. I found Michael McDowell's comments of interest in this regard. He argued that if the proposal to abolish the Seanad is primarily a matter of cost, then we in this House should focus our attention on how we might reduce that cost....

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (7 Dec 2011)

Feargal Quinn: It is relevant.

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (7 Dec 2011)

Feargal Quinn: Senator Gilroy, please.

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (7 Dec 2011)

Feargal Quinn: This is not relevant.

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (7 Dec 2011)

Feargal Quinn: Senator Cullinane, sit down. The Chair is on his feet.

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Feargal Quinn: On this side of the House, we regard ourselves not as Opposition but as non-Government because sometimes we are with the Government. I welcome the Minister of State and this Bill to the House. I regard it as a rubber-stamp of the will of the people. More than 80% of us voted in favour of a reduction in judges' pay. The obvious question is whether we can reduce the top public sector...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Feargal Quinn: Lithuania had really reached a low — it was much worse than Ireland — when the IMF was called in but it has come back up very quickly. It implemented tough measures such as a straight-off reduction of top public sector salaries by more than 20%. That along with other cuts has seen Lithuania become one of Europe's success stories. It is now one of the fastest growing economies in...