Results 18,001-18,020 of 20,831 for speaker:David Norris

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (4 Jul 2006)

David Norris: I agree this is a very important Bill. Every Member of the House supports the Minister in his objectives. Some of us had qualms about some of the approaches but the Bill will pass. I join my colleagues in thanking the Minister. He has taken a clear and personal interest in the Bill. He has been present in the House throughout its passage and did not hand the debate to a surrogate Minister. As...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (4 Jul 2006)

David Norris: I will not resile. I congratulate the Minister and his team on the passage of the Bill. I thank him for the courtesy he has, as usual, shown to the Seanad, and for being present throughout the debate and answering all the questions. Even if questions were tedious and ill-informed, he was always courteous. I learned a good deal during the progress of the Bill. I hope it will achieve the...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (4 Jul 2006)

David Norris: I second the amendment. I have something of a Machiavellian interest in it because it deals with such matters as conflict of interest, validity of statements and so on. In addition to supporting this important amendment, I wish to afford the Minister an opportunity, if he so chooses, to revisit my amendment No. 5, which relates to the video taping of the taking of samples. I was 30 seconds...

Seanad: Order of Business. (4 Jul 2006)

David Norris: I join with my colleagues in calling for an explanation of the Aer Lingus situation. The Minister appeared before the Joint Committee on Transport, and I attended that meeting. There are worries about it. The same, or similar, advisers who were involved in the Eircom situation have been advising on this. It does not look as if we will get a good deal. The public was misled in the run up to...

Seanad: Order of Business. (4 Jul 2006)

David Norris: I am not, however, altogether surprised, in light of the acerbic remarks of some people in this House, and the Minister. May I remind the interrupters on the other side of the House that the people who attack An Taisce for its reasonable comments on one-off housing and its implications for water and sewerage systems, squeaked about this but did not like it when An Taisce told the truth. I...

Seanad: Order of Business. (4 Jul 2006)

David Norris: The State owns it through Coillte but has allowed it to collapse. Something perhaps should be done with that. The editorial in The Irish Times states: "But the remit of the fine-sounding Irish Heritage Trust is so limited that the institution does not deserve that title". I hope that after a period this will be re-examined and proper and full legislation brought in, through this House, to...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

David Norris: It is absurd that the Seanad is not trusted to make any recommendation that involves the spending of money. It is utterly fatuous and ridiculous.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

David Norris: It is foolish and it neuters the Seanad in many areas. It means we have to find mechanisms to circumvent it, as I have done once or twice. On one occasion I got as far as a couple of pages into a budget because Albert Reynolds accepted it. It is a mistake and diminishes the dignity of the House to impose a blanket ban, so that when we table sensible amendments they are disallowed. Even though...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

David Norris: Yes it has — it came before section 185. It is a matter of arithmetic.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

David Norris: The whole Seanad is precluded. Are we all the Opposition — the loyal Opposition on one side and the disloyal Opposition on the other?

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

David Norris: I will provide the Minister with another term he may use, "invincible ignorance". How about that? There is a good old fashioned ring to it. I believe a child-centred, preventative policy would be better. If we are to learn from the experience in Great Britain, a significant problem with ASBOs has been the fact that, unusually, the names and addresses of under-age people are released by the...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

David Norris: That was a criminal offence, it was stolen car. This is where this issue gets very blurred.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

David Norris: Driving a stolen car is surely an offence.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

David Norris: I knew it.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

David Norris: I may be quite bald but the Minister could not say there is much of a point on my head.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

David Norris: Would they have stopped the car driving into Senator Tuffy's wall?

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

David Norris: I am not a little person. Look at me.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

David Norris: Such things are not unknown in my life but I put up with them.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

David Norris: I would suspect the cat.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

David Norris: They are a slippery couple, those Soaps.