Results 13,081-13,100 of 13,214 for speaker:Pat Gallagher

Seanad: Grant Payments. (26 Feb 2004)

Pat Gallagher: I am responding on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Noel Dempsey, who is chairing the meeting of EU Education Council in Brussels. I thank the Senator for the opportunity to set out the position of the Department of Education and Science on this issue. Under the terms of the higher education grant scheme administered by the local authorities, generally...

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (25 Feb 2004)

Pat Gallagher: I reiterate what I said on Committee Stage. The effect of this amendment would be that the temporary derogation for Members of the Oireachtas who stand as candidates in next June's European Parliament elections to hold the dual mandate until the general election to both Houses would not apply. The arrangement negotiated during the 1998 to 2002 discussions allowed for a rolling derogation...

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (25 Feb 2004)

Pat Gallagher: I thank the Senators for their co-operation in bringing the Bill through the various Stages. I appreciate their interest. They put their amendments down in good faith and I hope they accept that the points I made in response are in the best interests of the House, particularly with regard to the derogation period. I hope I provided good and justifiable reasons for not accepting the...

Seanad: School Transport. (25 Feb 2004)

Pat Gallagher: I thank the Senator for raising this matter as it affords me, on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science, the opportunity of outlining to the House the position regarding school transport to Pallaskenry post-primary centre from the Limerick city catchment area. The school transport scheme was established to cater for children in rural areas who, if living a long distance from school,...

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (25 Feb 2004)

Pat Gallagher: A Chathaoirligh, I know you have given us very clear guidelines. However, perhaps you will be somewhat tolerant and give me a minute to answer the point. I did not think I would have to take the opportunity to advise Senator Bannon on the different mixes. Voting electronically will differ somewhat from voting with the traditional ballot paper as that method depends on the mix and the...

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (25 Feb 2004)

Pat Gallagher: Is the Senator speaking to amendment No. 1 or No. 7?

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (25 Feb 2004)

Pat Gallagher: This amendment would add definitions to section 1 of the Bill. These amendments are unnecessary as the Minister is defined in section 2 of the Electoral Act 1992 and in section 2 of the 1997 Act, which is being amended. The proposed addition of "the Electoral Act 1992" is linked to amendment No. 5. As I indicated last week on Committee Stage when discussing the other amendment, I understand...

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (25 Feb 2004)

Pat Gallagher: As I said on Committee Stage, this amendment is unnecessary. I refer to the EU directive that defines the requirements in this area. It specifies that resident EU citizens wishing to vote in their member state of residence must certify their nationality, address and any other details as are required on the form. They must do this by way of formal declaration which, if inaccurate, makes the...

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (19 Feb 2004)

Pat Gallagher: I will deal first with the contribution of Senator McCarthy regarding section 48. I said, and I still believe, that the Minister has the power to extend the voting system to all the other electoral codes, whether they be local, European or Presidential, by order under section 48 of the Electoral Amendment Act. The matter was raised by Deputy Gilmore, the spokesperson on this issue for Senator...

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (19 Feb 2004)

Pat Gallagher: It is wrong to say that the system has not been used. Holland, which has a population of 15 million, has been using the system for years. On the matter of the former Leader of Fine Gael writing to the Taoiseach, the fact of the matter is that the leaflet is in the public domain stating that electronic voting is like one, two, three. I rest my case there. We are not in favour of Internet...

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (19 Feb 2004)

Pat Gallagher: The EU directive which sets down the requirements in this area specifies that resident EU citizens wishing to vote in their member states of residence must certify their nationality, address and any other details required. The EU directive states they must do this by way of a formal declaration which, if inaccurate, makes the person concerned liable to penalties in accordance with the new...

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (19 Feb 2004)

Pat Gallagher: I take it the Senator is outlining Fine Gael policy. If Senator Bannon takes this view, I presume it is also the view of Senator Higgins, Ms Madeleine Taylor-Quinn and Deputy Coveney. However, the formulation of Fine Gael policy is not a matter for me.

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (19 Feb 2004)

Pat Gallagher: If that is the Senator's view, so be it. As I stated last week, the effect of this amendment would be that the temporary derogation for Members of the Oireachtas who stand as candidates in the European Parliament elections next June to hold a dual mandate until the next general election to both Houses would not apply. The derogation negotiated during discussions from 1998 to 2002 allowed for...

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (19 Feb 2004)

Pat Gallagher: At that time, 13 of the 15 Members elected had a dual mandate. Many of those Members were returned in June 1981 to serve in Government — a majority of those may have been from the Labour Party but I am simply making a point. While we have come a long way since then, I do not think anybody in this House would suggest that to have Members running for Europe would necessarily destabilise a...

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (19 Feb 2004)

Pat Gallagher: I have no information about the commission's recommendations other than what was set out in the report. I am in the same position as every other Member. In preparing the Bill, the Government formed the view that the commission's recommendations constituted a package and that we would accept or reject it in its entirety. We have accepted it, as successive Governments have done since the...

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (19 Feb 2004)

Pat Gallagher: I do not envisage any great difficulty with this proposal, which is a reasonable one. I am sure Members on both sides of the House would like to retain the names of the provinces in the constituencies, but such a proposal must be realistic, practical and take into consideration the terms of reference that were given to the commission in 1997. While it might not be a main issue, if we were to...

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (19 Feb 2004)

Pat Gallagher: As I stated on Committee Stage in the Dáil, I consulted the Parliamentary Counsel on the need for this amendment and was advised it is not necessary. In those circumstances, the Senator might consider withdrawing his amendment.

Seanad: Planning Issues. (19 Feb 2004)

Pat Gallagher: I thank Senator Tuffy for raising this issue. In August 2000, the European Commission advised Ireland that it had received a complaint that a fee for the making of a submission on a planning application would restrict citizens' rights to participate in development consent procedures and was contrary to the public participation provisions of the environmental impact assessment directive and...

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (19 Feb 2004)

Pat Gallagher: Amendment No. 1 seeks to define 'Act of 1992', 'Act of 1997' and 'Minister'. The amendment is unnecessary as the Minister is defined in section 2 of the Electoral Act 1992 and in section 2 of the 1997 Act, which is being amended. The addition of the words "Electoral Act 1992" is unnecessary as section 6 the Bill is cited together with the European Parliament Elections Act 1992-2003 and they...

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (19 Feb 2004)

Pat Gallagher: I am sure everyone thought about the possibility of changing name by deed poll from time to time in order that they might appear further up the ballot paper. That is just not possible. I tried to have the returning officer in Connacht-Ulster accept my name as Cope Gallagher but he did not do so. I appreciated his decision because my name appears as Gallagher on my birth certificate. Even if a...