Results 13,721-13,740 of 20,831 for speaker:David Norris

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2010)

David Norris: I raise, first, a matter concerning education which I would like the Leader to raise with the Minister for Education and Science. As a result of a decision by the HEA, there is a proposal to phase out by 2014 the plastering course in the Dublin Institute of Technology. We are privileged to work in this beautiful Chamber, Mr. Michael Stapleton's masterpiece. There is a tradition of European...

Seanad: Petroleum (Exploration and Extraction) Safety Bill 2010: Second Stage (28 Jan 2010)

David Norris: I welcome the Minister. I will follow Senator Ó Brolcháin - it is what I had intended to say, but I will say it again, perhaps more vigorously - in that the Bill is a form of reaction. We should be grateful to Shell to Sea, without which we would not have this Bill. Shell Oil did not appear to take locals' concerns on board and was either blissfully unaware or uncaring of the safety...

Seanad: Haiti Disaster: Motion (Resumed) (27 Jan 2010)

David Norris: I very much welcome the motion. The issue has the attention of the Irish people and it is on the political agenda as well. The Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs had an interesting and useful discussion on this subject this afternoon, in the presence of representatives of Haven, Concern and various other organisations. The delegates were looking for aid etc. They pleaded for practical...

Seanad: Haiti Disaster: Motion (Resumed) (27 Jan 2010)

David Norris: I am sorry, I meant to refer to Senator Hannigan. What a blooper.

Seanad: Haiti Disaster: Motion (Resumed) (27 Jan 2010)

David Norris: There is a very big difference. One might say it is the difference between right and left. Senator Hannigan mentioned the meeting in Davos to me. At today's meeting of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, I said it is obscene that the International Monetary Fund has dared to respond to the Haitian earthquake by offering loans to that impoverished country. Haiti has so much debt that it...

Seanad: Haiti Disaster: Motion (Resumed) (27 Jan 2010)

David Norris: Do I hear a "but"?

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Jan 2010)

David Norris: Yesterday I offered my congratulations to Trinity College for hosting a meeting of the Joint Committee on the Constitution. This morning, however, I wish to withdraw my congratulations. A letter from the college's department of political science purporting to invite me to the meeting revealed that its professors know sweet damn all about practical politics. It states that the proceedings...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Jan 2010)

David Norris: This is the Order of Business. I am making an important point about the insulting way in which the Seanad is being treated. I have never seen a professorial snout in the Seanad.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Jan 2010)

David Norris: I beg the Senator's pardon.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Jan 2010)

David Norris: She is not a member of the department of politics.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Jan 2010)

David Norris: The professors inform me in the letter about who will be on the platform. They have no right to do so and they do not understand the Constitution or Standing Orders. Every Member of the Oireachtas has a right to sit in and contribute to any joint committee. I discussed this matter with the Chairman of the committee, Deputy Ardagh, who shares my feelings about it. The second paragraph of...

Seanad: Banking Sector: Statements (26 Jan 2010)

David Norris: I listened with great interest to Senator Boyle's contribution and wish to make a couple of comments on it. The inquiry should be held in public. This is our money. There has been a failure and it has been at the top. We know the people involved; we do not need to identify them and know that largely they are still there. I am not looking for what Senator Boyle called a circus or a star...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jan 2010)

David Norris: No, I am not. Not unless we get a commitment. Someone else can second it but if I did I would be contradicting what I said. I am glad to see the motion on Haiti, in the name of the Government. It is very important that we do this. I was interested to hear an Italian earthquake expert noting that one of the difficulties is the number of groups trying to create what he called a bella...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jan 2010)

David Norris: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Dog Breeding Establishments Bill 2009: Second Stage (26 Jan 2010)

David Norris: Exactly.

Seanad: Dog Breeding Establishments Bill 2009: Second Stage (26 Jan 2010)

David Norris: Go away out of that.

Seanad: Dog Breeding Establishments Bill 2009: Second Stage (26 Jan 2010)

David Norris: I have often heard Senator O'Toole speak in this House. He spoke again with passion today, but I have never heard him speak such absolute, arrant rubbish in my entire life.

Seanad: Dog Breeding Establishments Bill 2009: Second Stage (26 Jan 2010)

David Norris: He talked about the windy uplands and sentimental crap about only the people who live in the countryside, rural people, being able to understand certain issues-----

Seanad: Dog Breeding Establishments Bill 2009: Second Stage (26 Jan 2010)

David Norris: -----and that we in the leafy suburbs cannot understand cruelty. Come off it, O'Toole. We know cruelty when we see it. It is a pity about his pals in the hunts and all the rest of it.

Seanad: Dog Breeding Establishments Bill 2009: Second Stage (26 Jan 2010)

David Norris: If they are so good with their dogs and all the rest of it they should be queuing up to join this initiative.