Results 14,001-14,020 of 14,706 for speaker:Phil Hogan

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Phil Hogan: I do not know why we did not get it.

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Phil Hogan: What——

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Phil Hogan: I had no——

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Phil Hogan: The assertion——

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Phil Hogan: I have actually——

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Phil Hogan: I am supporting that view.

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Phil Hogan: I have the floor, a Chathaoirligh. I did not interrupt the Minister.

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Phil Hogan: No, the Minister is not entitled to do that.

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Phil Hogan: I remind the Minister that I would like to see discounts and rebates being passed on to consumers. The Minister had the opportunity to receive many submissions on the matter and to produce a report, but there is nothing in the report to suggest that such practices are happening or to indicate what the Minister intends to do about them. The problems in this regard again cause me to highlight...

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Phil Hogan: The second reason is the question of proof required to establish predation. I have been advised that cases on predatory pricing may give rise to huge costs for any supplier or customer advocating a case to the High Court in regard to predatory pricing. Who will take the risk of putting themselves out of business by the evidential burden of costs or by losing customer share, if they lose the...

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Phil Hogan: The Bill is fundamentally flawed and needs to be amended if it is to deliver true benefits to consumers——

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Phil Hogan: ——that it ostensibly set out to provide. I will bring forward amendments to ensure consumers receive benefits from what the Minister is trying to do. The Minister has not done so.

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Phil Hogan: The Minister has been against the consumer for a long time. Now is the time for the Fianna Fáil backbenchers to sort the Minister out.

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Phil Hogan: Minister, you can spin all you like, but what you are doing is concentrating the market in the hands of big business——

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Phil Hogan: May I finish without interruption?

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Phil Hogan: The Minister is not listening.

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Phil Hogan: In the present configuration of the legislation in which the Minister promised so much and delivered so little, he is anxious to satisfy big business at the expense of consumers.

EU Services Directive: Motion. (25 Jan 2006)

Phil Hogan: I welcome the opportunity to debate this motion tabled by the Independent Deputies. I was surprised at the innocuous content of the amendment to the motion tabled by the Government, and given the reasonable nature of the motion, I was surprised the Government could not agree with its contents. There is very little difference between the motion and the amendment. The motion would have been a...

EU Services Directive: Motion. (25 Jan 2006)

Phil Hogan: I am speaking about Deputies behind me also. The Minister often opposed issues, then turned around and told me to support them. I remember the Anglo-Irish Agreement very well.

EU Services Directive: Motion. (25 Jan 2006)

Phil Hogan: The EU ensured that we were not all just a collection of workers toiling to feed an economy but were rather a collection of citizens whose economy worked for our society. It was Europe that dragged Ireland into line on issues such as workers' rights, health and safety protections, equality for women and a raft of other anti-discrimination measures. That is what makes the country of origin...