Results 1,341-1,360 of 1,591 for speaker:Eugene Regan

Seanad: Order of Business (14 May 2008)

Eugene Regan: ——and by specific articles in the treaty.

Seanad: Order of Business (14 May 2008)

Eugene Regan: I ask the Leader to urge the relevant Minister to make a statement and give the lie to the line being put out by Mr. Joe Higgins, Sinn Féin et al.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (13 May 2008)

Eugene Regan: I join Senator Fitzgerald in raising the issue of the World Trade Organisation talks and the importance of the votes of those involved in the agriculture sector in the referendum on the Lisbon treaty. The Government must address this issue, on which we have been seeking a debate for some considerable time. I, therefore, ask the Leader to organise it. It is an important matter and one we...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (13 May 2008)

Eugene Regan: I make this point because it is important. If one has not read the treaty, how can one explain it to people and expect them to vote on it? It is akin to a Minister presenting a Bill in the House without having read it. It is not simply a question of not having read the Bill, as this suggests the treaty is unreadable. People run away from this issue. I have the treaty to hand and it has...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (13 May 2008)

Eugene Regan: While I do not wish to delay the House on this subject, it has been suggested the treaty is unintelligible. People from the private sector and one Opposition party have claimed it is unreadable and is for lawyers and eurocrats. However, the aims of the treaties are set out. The "aim is to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples". The treaty continues on in such...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (13 May 2008)

Eugene Regan: —— and the new areas in which the Union is extending its competence with the agreement of member states, such as climate change and energy security. It is set out in the treaty in plain language. In raising the point of the Taoiseach not having read the treaty I am trying to be helpful to the Government. Were the Ministers to read the treaties——

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (13 May 2008)

Eugene Regan: —— they then could stand on a platform and explain it to people with conviction. Once it has been explained, I believe people will support it.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (7 May 2008)

Eugene Regan: I want to follow up on Senator Fitzgerald's mention of the Lisbon treaty. I spoke at a number of Fine Gael public meetings this weekend. It is evident there is a lack of information and a certain apathy about this treaty and the referendum. Also, a message has gone out that it would be a disaster — that was the language used by the Minister of State, Deputy Roche, who is leading the...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 May 2008)

Eugene Regan: I thank those who congratulated me on receiving the Magill Senator of the Year award.

Seanad: Order of Business (1 May 2008)

Eugene Regan: It is quite an honour. It is a mark of recognition of this House and its significance that the magazine has a distinct award for Senators. I refer to the Department of Finance statement to the social partners reported in The Irish Times today. It states that the economic prospects for this year and 2009 are challenging, which must be the understatement of the year. The Department also...

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Apr 2008)

Eugene Regan: While a debate on the referendum Bill on the Lisbon treaty, in respect of which there has been ongoing discussion in the House, has been arranged, I wish to comment on recent polls detailing how narrow the vote on the referendum will be. Judging from the experience of the first Nice treaty referendum, people either do not tend to turn out or vote "No" when there is a lack of information....

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Apr 2008)

Eugene Regan: The President of the European Parliament, Mr. Hans-Gert Pöttering, MEP, confirmed in the House that the treaty would have no effect.

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Apr 2008)

Eugene Regan: I appreciate the Cathaoirleach's help. Herr Pöttering confirmed that there would be no impact on Ireland's corporation tax rate. The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Durão Barroso, confirmed this position emphatically when speaking at the National Forum on Europe, as did the chairman of the Referendum Commission. It is important to stop this lie. The other lies...

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Apr 2008)

Eugene Regan: They are still in denial.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Apr 2008)

Eugene Regan: I second the Senator Donohoe's amendment to the Order of Business on the Dublin Transport Authority Bill. It is important legislation. Since we commenced this Seanad, we have amended three Bills because of errors in them. It is important that time is permitted for the taking of such an extensive Bill. On a transport-related matter, I ask that the Minister for Transport be invited to come...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Apr 2008)

Eugene Regan: I hope that prior to the finish of the debate on the Lisbon treaty, Senator Norris can be brought around to vote "Yes". He raises an interesting question as to why we will have a referendum in Ireland. It is not for constitutional reasons. It is because we have a tradition of having referenda in light of the Crotty judgment of 1986.

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Apr 2008)

Eugene Regan: The reason other member states do not have referenda is because they do not consider that the treaty has constitutional implications. It is also a question of sovereignty that each member state in accordance with its constitutional traditions will decide how it adopts treaty changes. This is an important point. With regard to the Lisbon treaty, I wish to take up the remarks of Senator...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (22 Apr 2008)

Eugene Regan: It most certainly was not.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Apr 2008)

Eugene Regan: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Apr 2008)

Eugene Regan: Senator Joe O'Reilly and others called yesterday for a debate on the World Trade Organisation and asked that the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food be invited to this House to explain what precisely is going on, what control the Council has over Commissioner Mandelson and implementation of the mandate given to him in the WTO negotiations. I join in the call for a debate on the...