Results 1,561-1,580 of 3,356 for speaker:Feargal Quinn

Seanad: Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Jul 2010)

Feargal Quinn: Amendments Nos. 5 and 37 are related and will be discussed together.

Seanad: Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Jul 2010)

Feargal Quinn: That is not a point of order.

Seanad: Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Bill 2009: Second Stage (7 Jul 2010)

Feargal Quinn: I thank Senator Harris for sharing time. I grew up in an Ireland very different from the Ireland of today. In my youth there was no divorce, or so we thought. It was hidden. In my youth there was no child born out of wedlock, or so we thought, because that was hidden. In my youth there was no suicide, or so we thought, because that too was hidden. In my youth there was no homosexuality,...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Jul 2010)

Feargal Quinn: I support the motion tabled by Senator Mullen that Seanad Éireann affirms that each Senator should vote according to his or her conscience. I cannot believe anyone would object to the wording of the motion. It is a logical proposal and a shame the Senator had to table it.

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Jul 2010)

Feargal Quinn: No one could possibly object to the motion. I ask the Leader to clarify the issue raised by Senator Buttimer because concluding the Second Stage debate on the civil partnership Bill at 5 p.m. is certainly not what he promised us last week.

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Jul 2010)

Feargal Quinn: If Second Stage must conclude by that time, it does not accord with what the Leader promised us last week. The future outlook for the economy depends to a large extent on education. I will give Senators homework to do during the summer because I doubt the House will have a debate on education before the summer ends. I have spoken to a number of people from other parts of the world who are...

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Feargal Quinn: The Minister of State is welcome. This Bill presents a great deal of difficulty. On many occasions recently, I visited two relatives in hospital, one in St. James's Hospital and one in St. Luke's Hospital, on the same day. The relative in St. Luke's Hospital did not live; the relative in St. James's Hospital is alive and well. I was reminded of the contrast between the two hospitals. I...

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Feargal Quinn: It is clearly inherited.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Second Stage (6 Jul 2010)

Feargal Quinn: I welcome the Minister of State to the House once again. We seem to be seeing her a little more often than we have previously. Senator McDonald made an interesting point regarding the new title of the Department and of the Minister. She doubted whether the new title of the Minister - Social Protection - meant anything rather than merely being a play on words. I believe it is fairly clear...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad Bill Amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2010)

Feargal Quinn: I congratulate the Minister of State on his grasp of and interest in the topic. I have not been involved in the debate on this occasion. I thank him for coming back to us with those amendments, which have improved the Bill. As Senator Cannon has said, the Minister of State should not forget those 20 families who are still in limbo.

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Jul 2010)

Feargal Quinn: A shopkeeper often when deciding on prices discovers that when putting the price of a product up, he makes less profit but by reducing it on occasion he makes more profit. On that basis, the most nonsensical tax we ever introduced was the levy on airlines.

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Jul 2010)

Feargal Quinn: Ryanair is by far our largest carrier and it is also one of the largest in Europe. It is a price sensitive airline. In other words, people travel with the company if the price comes down but if it goes up, they do not. Our tourism industry has been decimated through steps we have taken to make it more expensive to travel to Ireland. That does not make sense.

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Jul 2010)

Feargal Quinn: The Dutch have abolished a similar levy for that reason. Yesterday, figures were published that showed the passenger numbers for Irish airlines had dropped by 18% as they had in Britain while numbers for Sweden, Finland and Germany have increased by 7% or 8% and Turkey by 24%, although there may be a different reason for that. I mention this as we seem to have scored an own goal. Surely we...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Jul 2010)

Feargal Quinn: The tax is affecting tourists, bed and breakfasts, hotels and campsites. The entire country is being affected by it and that should be recognised. The Irish Timespublished an article today by Dr. Chris Luke, a consultant at Cork University Hospital. He apparently wrote to the newspaper five years ago to highlight the model used by Australia, South African and America under which young...

Seanad: Order of Business. (1 Jul 2010)

Feargal Quinn: I rise to support Senator Mullen on the Civil Partnership Bill. I had not thought it out until he spoke but if it is the intention to have the Civil Partnership Bill taken after the Dáil has risen then we are wasting our time in having the debate unless there is a willingness to accept amendments. I would like some form of guarantee from the Leader that at least we will be listened to on...

Seanad: Employers' Job Incentive Scheme: Motion (30 Jun 2010)

Feargal Quinn: I thank the Minister of State for her interesting views. I always have a difficulty with Private Members' debates. The Government usually tables a motion, as it did today, stating "Seanad Éireann welcomes the Government's decision..." and the Opposition, in turn, tables an amendment, stating "To delete all words after "Seanad Éireann" and substitute the following "condemns the...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Jun 2010)

Feargal Quinn: One of the assets each of us have in this nation is an Irish passport. One is reminded of the value of an Irish passport by the two recent incidents, one in Saudi Arabia and one, allegedly by Russians, in the United States. Some years ago I introduced a Bill here banning the sale of passports. I was happy to see it initiated in this House and a Bill, not mine, later became law. It is a...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Jun 2010)

Feargal Quinn: Good.

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Jun 2010)

Feargal Quinn: We all were jolted by the EUROSTAT figures. I suggest the fault and the answer is in our own hands. When I entered the grocery business way back in the 1960s power was in the hands of the suppliers and those of us in the grocery business were told by Jacob's, Cadbury and others what we must do, what we must sell and we could not sell at a certain price or they would not supply us. Then in...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Jun 2010)

Feargal Quinn: I will use milk as an example, as I did not examine the EUROSTAT findings well enough to be sure. I tried to buy milk in France, Germany and Spain while I was on vacation. The only milk one can get is long-life milk. It is not the same milk. One can get milk like ours but it is very difficult to get it. Some 94% of the milk consumed in France, Germany and Spain is long-life, UHD milk....