Results 15,301-15,320 of 19,162 for speaker:Alan Shatter

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2011)

Alan Shatter: Senator Byrne is handy at giving out. I sat quietly listening to him but he has great difficulty in listening to me and I suggest to Senator Byrne that he listens. Let us deal first with the issue of this Bill and then we can deal with the other issue raised in this House yesterday and today. I want to make a number of points clear so they are not open to misinterpretation. RACO has made...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2011)

Alan Shatter: No representations I have seen had any hand or part in my dealing with this legislation.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2011)

Alan Shatter: This legislation derives from when I entered the Department of Defence and inquired about what was happening with regard to the military tribunal, why we had paralysis, why cases were not being processed, the extent of the problem and why it had not been addressed. The legislation derives from nothing else despite the view others may wish to take. I made inquiries into this matter and I was...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2011)

Alan Shatter: Senator Mullen told me it was the Chief of Staff and the Advocate General. The Defence Forces has its own legal structure. I had no hand or part in telling the Chief of Staff how he should deal with interviews on a committee of that nature, or who should be selected. I have no hand or part in telling that to the Advocate General. As Minister for Defence, I have no intention of interfering...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2011)

Alan Shatter: -----for which the Fianna Fáil Government was responsible. We are trying to clean up the mess left by the previous Government-----

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2011)

Alan Shatter: -----because of vacancies and inadequacies in the 2007 Bill. Let us be absolutely clear about that - that is what we are doing. My view, which I believe is correct, is that we should extend the pool of qualified people from which a choice can be made by the independent group who will make that choice. I do not believe a choice between only five people, when we do not know whether all of...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2011)

Alan Shatter: ----- in a very straight and direct way.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2011)

Alan Shatter: We need to provide clearer criteria for eligibility and to widen the pool of individuals from which selection can be made. In the context of the contributions made, I reply, effectively, to that of Senator Mullen who dealt with the objective in question. Perhaps it is a symptom of what has happened in the past in the context of advertising but in the Defence Forces there are individuals...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2011)

Alan Shatter: Our addressing the difficulty that has arisen from the previous legislation and the difficulty the previous Government failed to address will be facilitated by extending the numbers to whom the eligibility criteria apply.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2011)

Alan Shatter: Perhaps the Senator will contain himself. I did not put him in the same boat as the two gentlemen on my right but credited him with having more decency.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2011)

Alan Shatter: In the context of the proposal that we reduce the period to seven or eight years, I note that Senator O'Donovan got this wrong on the Order of Business. He suggested that in dealing with practising barristers and solicitors I intended to change the criteria from ten years of practising to seven or eight years. Earlier today, he seemed to have gone off on a rant, criticising me for doing...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2011)

Alan Shatter: -----a very articulate critique of his own proposal.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2011)

Alan Shatter: Let me return to the substance of what we are dealing with and what is desirable in all of this. Senator O'Donovan described the Bill as a dangerous precedent. At least Senator Mullen had the decency to acknowledge two very important reforms contained in the Bill albeit he expressed reservations about an issue concerning which I hope we will have a friendly disagreement. I believe extending...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2011)

Alan Shatter: I am replying to something the Senator raised. Senator Byrne made a false allegation against me again this afternoon in this debate which mirrors an allegation he made yesterday. The allegation is that I made some misrepresentation in this House during the debate on the Smithwick tribunal. That is untrue, and he knows that. I told this House, as I did the other House, the exact position...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2011)

Alan Shatter: The Senator raised the issue.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2011)

Alan Shatter: Am I not allowed to reply to an allegation made? The Senator made an allegation. I am going to respond to it with brevity, but he made it.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2011)

Alan Shatter: He made it in his contribution. It is of no relevance to this debate. I informed the House that I had received correspondence from Judge Smithwick. I informed this House that he had certain concerns and I addressed all of those concerns in my contribution. The suggestion is that I concealed the information from this House. I did not because the letter I received from Judge Smithwick on...

Order of Business (6 Jul 2011)

Alan Shatter: It is better than being one of the three stooges.

Order of Business (6 Jul 2011)

Alan Shatter: It is entirely bogus and Deputy Calleary knows it.

Order of Business (6 Jul 2011)

Alan Shatter: You are a disgrace to make that allegation.