Results 1,741-1,760 of 1,799 for speaker:Luke Flanagan

Spent Convictions Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Jun 2011)

Luke Flanagan: Biased.

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Jun 2011)

Luke Flanagan: What would he have done if he was a block layer or a plasterer?

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Jun 2011)

Luke Flanagan: Deputy Doyle should try lifting blocks on a building site at the age of 68.

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Jun 2011)

Luke Flanagan: I am surprised their chances do not decrease by even more.

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Jun 2011)

Luke Flanagan: The Opposition, including the Technical Group, is looking for more time to discuss Second Stage. The reason we will not be given more time is that the Bill must be passed in a hurry to satisfy the deadly duo of the IMF and the EU. Regardless of the argument that the IMF or the EU is doing good things for us, how can it be a good thing that we are being forced to push something through...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Jun 2011)

Luke Flanagan: He is on a course.

State Visits (8 Jun 2011)

Luke Flanagan: Why was he not contacted?

Spent Convictions Bill 2011: Second Stage (7 Jun 2011)

Luke Flanagan: I agree with the essence of the Bill. If our criminal justice system is meant to have anything to do with transforming and rehabilitating people, it is essential that once they have served their sentence, they be given the opportunity to participate fully in the world. When I stood up in my local council chamber, if I had a vested interest on any issue, I was meant to state it, so I might...

Government and Oireachtas Reform: Motion (31 May 2011)

Luke Flanagan: Reforming the Oireachtas will be a waste of time unless we reform the way local government works as well. If Ireland wants to do well, it needs places such as Roscommon, Leitrim, Wexford and Limerick to do well. Unless those pieces of the jigsaw are right, we cannot put the whole jigsaw together properly. I got involved in politics and democracy because I thought that if I put my name...

Government and Oireachtas Reform: Motion (31 May 2011)

Luke Flanagan: There is no problem with the good councillors. In fact, the councillors would be even better if they had real powers. I was the mayor of Roscommon County Council last year.

Government and Oireachtas Reform: Motion (31 May 2011)

Luke Flanagan: At a meeting, when I asked for further details on our budget, the director of services threatened to walk out of the room because I was looking for too much information. Not only was I elected by the people, I was also elected by my fellow councillors as the head of the council, yet people were getting annoyed with me because I was looking for too much detail. It is a phenomenal type of...

Government and Oireachtas Reform: Motion (31 May 2011)

Luke Flanagan: I have suggestions about what we should do. I do not have as many suggestions about what we should do in Dáil Éireann because I have not been here very long and I am not an expert on it by any means. However, one thing I know a lot about is how local government does not work. These are my suggestions. For a start, we should reduce the number of county councillors around the country by...

Government and Oireachtas Reform: Motion (31 May 2011)

Luke Flanagan: -----and every county manager in the country. We can then use a system set up through the Better Local Government programme which involves corporate policy groups and strategic policy committees. Through this system, we can give the people in local government real power to develop policies and drive ideas, and, in the case of Roscommon County Council, manage a budget of €70 million. The...

Government and Oireachtas Reform: Motion (31 May 2011)

Luke Flanagan: My fellow councillors used to warn me to be careful not to mention that the council was wasting money because I would not get anything from them. That is an absolutely ridiculous system. What I am proposing is a new system under which we have a directly elected mayor along with - in the case of Roscommon County Council - six elected councillors who sit in cabinet and make decisions. They...

Government and Oireachtas Reform: Motion (31 May 2011)

Luke Flanagan: One Fine Gael Deputy wants us to default on our debt.

Government and Oireachtas Reform: Motion (31 May 2011)

Luke Flanagan: The Minister interrupted me.

Progress on the 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language: Statements (26 May 2011)

Luke Flanagan: Some people might think this a less important issue than our banking debt, health service and so on. However, I believe it is equally important. It is the essence of who we are. If, as some people have predicted, the Irish language dies out, we will have to hang our heads in shame. We have so many things for which to hang our heads in shame these days that were we to hang them any more...

Progress on the 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language: Statements (26 May 2011)

Luke Flanagan: Like me, Deputy Feighan would have a good understanding of how not to teach Irish. If one knows how not to teach it, then one at least has some idea of how to teach it. From the perspective of most people not having a clue about Irish, this was a good idea. The Deputy could have learned the language along with the public and we could have progressed together. There is hope for the Irish...

Progress on the 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language: Statements (26 May 2011)

Luke Flanagan: Tuigim.

Agriculture: Motion (Resumed) (25 May 2011)

Luke Flanagan: Others have spoken about the important issue of how we can increase our exports in order to bring more money into the country but there is also an area of agriculture that needs to be developed in places such as where I come from, where last year, according to figures I have, we used in the region of €9 million worth of fruit and vegetables. Myself and a few other people tried to establish...