Results 1,561-1,580 of 1,591 for speaker:Eugene Regan

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Nov 2007)

Eugene Regan: ——before it completes its inquiries into the Taoiseach's finances?

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Nov 2007)

Eugene Regan: I appreciate that the Leader might not be in a position to give that assurance today, but I ask that he return to that issue and respond to my question.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Nov 2007)

Eugene Regan: I raise an issue in regard to the Tribunals of Inquiry Bill 2005, which I understand is being restored to the Order Paper. Section 10 of the Bill provides that the Government can close down a tribunal of inquiry when it deems it fit. I question the timing of the restoration of this Bill to the Order Paper. It seems rather strange, if not sinister, given that the Taoiseach has already...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Nov 2007)

Eugene Regan: By all accounts, his evidence at the tribunal has not been found credible.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Nov 2007)

Eugene Regan: According to recent opinion polls, a majority of people do not believe his evidence at the tribunal. Indeed, the remarks of the judges at the tribunal, where they speak about polar opposites in evidence and contradictory evidence——

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Nov 2007)

Eugene Regan: The Taoiseach is in the middle of giving evidence to this tribunal. There are serious questions about moneys received and lodged in bank accounts between 1994 and 1995 which the Taoiseach has yet to answer convincingly and comprehensively. A Bill is being reintroduced on which the Oireachtas will have to decide and which allows the Government to close tribunals. The Mahon tribunal has not...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Nov 2007)

Eugene Regan: I appreciate that.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Nov 2007)

Eugene Regan: I have a question for the Leader. An issue is raised about the publication of confidential material in the possession of the tribunal, whether it is required to be circulated to interested parties and the legal obligations in regard to disclosure of information. What is the basis of this statement? Is it an attempt to target The Irish Times or is it some form of retaliation against that...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Nov 2007)

Eugene Regan: I would like the Leader and the Deputy Leader to assure the House that the restoration to the Order Paper of the Bill I have mentioned does not represent an attempt to undermine the tribunal and that the Bill, if adopted, will not be used to close the tribunal before it completes its work of inquiring into the Taoiseach's finances.

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Nov 2007)

Eugene Regan: The Taoiseach has announced that a referendum will be held on the new EU treaty in the first half of next year. The House is due to have a debate on this treaty but I wish to draw the Leader's attention to two issues. In the context of the opt-out on policing and judicial co-operation in criminal matters, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, indicated, and this is indicated in...

Seanad: Pre-Budget Outlook: Statements (1 Nov 2007)

Eugene Regan: I want to focus on the Justice Estimate and raise two specific points. We had the introduction of the Coroners Bill some weeks ago by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Brian Lenihan, and it is now on Committee Stage. That provides for the introduction of a full-time service. In the Bill's explanatory memorandum the financial implications indicate the cost of the...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (1 Nov 2007)

Eugene Regan: Yesterday I raised the fiasco of the new rules for provisional driving licences, the recent inordinate salary increases the Government chose to award itself which bear no comparison with those applicable in other member states of the European Union or even the United States, and the legislation for an individual's pension entitlements. I indicated that this characterised a Government which...

Seanad: Witness Protection Programme Bill 2007: Second Stage (31 Oct 2007)

Eugene Regan: This Labour Party Bill is appropriate and opportune. During the debate on crime two weeks ago, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Brian Lenihan, outlined his ideas on how gun crime and gangland crime might be counteracted. There were no new ideas presented, only self-justification and congratulatory statements, and an amendment was tabled to the motion. The motion...

Seanad: Order of Business (31 Oct 2007)

Eugene Regan: I support Senator Fitzgerald's call for information and a debate on the issue of pensions in the light of the decision of the Tánaiste, Deputy Cowen, regarding the former Minister. A genuine issue is reflected in Senan Molony's article in today's Irish Independent about a garda with no pension despite many years' service in the force. I am sure many others are in a similar position. The...

Seanad: Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill 2007: Second and Subsequent Stages (24 Oct 2007)

Eugene Regan: I welcome the Minister and appreciate that he has personally presented the Bill to this House. I have no difficulties with the Bill and, in fact, the matter to which it refers has only recently come to light. A number of criminal law practitioners brought it to my attention last week. I welcome the Minister's comprehensive explanation. It was an inadvertent oversight and essentially a...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Oct 2007)

Eugene Regan: I want to follow up on what Senator Fitzgerald said about last week's debate on gangland crime. As Senator Fitzgerald said, the Minister, Deputy Brian Lenihan, displayed no sense of urgency about this problem. He did not suggest any new legislation or the provision of additional resources, and there was nothing from him regarding a change in policing methods. He described the motion as...

Seanad: Serious Crime: Motion (17 Oct 2007)

Eugene Regan: The Minister claims the Fine Gael Party's motion was tendentious and opportunistic, despite his agreeing that gun and gangland crime is a major problem. He also agrees with the essential statement in the motion, that "adequate resources for our Garda, effective criminal legislation and innovative policing methods" are needed to tackle the crime problem. The Minister does not agree, however,...

Seanad: Serious Crime: Motion (17 Oct 2007)

Eugene Regan: I move: That Seanad Eireann, noting: the upsurge in the brutal killing of citizens across the country; the dramatic increase in gun crime in our society; the poor detection rate for gun crime; and the inexorable growth in gangland drug-related crime calls on the Government to admit that it, and the last Government, have failed to ensure that the streets of Ireland are safe from vicious thugs...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Oct 2007)

Eugene Regan: When I called two weeks ago for a debate on the opt-out from the EU structures for police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters, the Leader kindly agreed to hold such a debate. Unfortunately, the Government subsequently made a decision on the matter in the absence of debate in this House or the Lower House. The Dáil discussed the matter yesterday, albeit after the event, but we are...

Seanad: Access to Education: Motion (10 Oct 2007)

Eugene Regan: The problem we are discussing is essentially one of planning and integration. It represents a failure of education policy. There is a constitutional right to education, which entails a right to ethos education. To commence the argument based on the issue of ethos education misses the point. The right to ethos education is given expression in a detailed legislative framework under which...