Results 18,341-18,360 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Mar 2006)

Shane Ross: Senator Jim Walsh has already apologised for terrorists in other countries. Let him speak again if he wishes. I will not tolerate those on the Government benches using a peace declared yesterday to start to excuse these people and using them as some sort of promoters and crusaders for peace, which they are not.

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Mar 2006)

Shane Ross: I have, and I hope the Leader will take action against Senator White.

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Mar 2006)

Shane Ross: I also hope Senator White does not get nominated in Dublin South-East if she is going to come out with that sort of propaganda.

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Mar 2006)

Shane Ross: I wish to refer to a point raised by Senator Ryan, which is a completely different issue. The issue of self-regulation is a serious and relevant one. I was a stockbroker for some years. Stockbrokers were one of the early victims of self-regulation and no group deserved it more. The self-regulation of the Stock Exchange was a farce and it was run, as Senator Ryan rightly said, for the benefit...

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Mar 2006)

Shane Ross: Lawyers are another example. Any profession, including accountancy, which is allowed to self-regulate will abuse the customer and protect itself. This is a principle we should discuss. There are vested interests in this House which can be flushed out or which can offer something to the debate. It is an issue which should be discussed seriously. It is an ideal subject for the Seanad with its...

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Mar 2006)

Shane Ross: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business. (21 Mar 2006)

Shane Ross: Once again we are in danger in this House of being left as spectators while important issues are being discussed elsewhere. Could we have an early debate on an issue with which the Leader is familiar, having been in the Department for so long, the privatisation of Aer Lingus? It is capturing the imagination of the media and will be a key issue in the partnership talks, although it is...

Seanad: Order of Business. (2 Mar 2006)

Shane Ross: I find it slightly depressing to hear the number of people who preface their remarks by saying——

Seanad: Order of Business. (2 Mar 2006)

Shane Ross: I have. I am referring to people who preface their remarks by saying "I am old enough to remember such and such an event". You could probably do so as well, a Chathaoirligh.

Seanad: Order of Business. (2 Mar 2006)

Shane Ross: I wish to make a serious point about the TB situation. As a child, I had TB and was in hospital for quite a long time. It was a depressing time and a lot of people died in beds around me. I would hate to see that sort of situation arise again, particularly concerning children. It was a real epidemic and, as Senator Norris said, it is an extraordinarily infectious disease. I would like the...

Seanad: Nitrates Directive: Motion. (1 Mar 2006)

Shane Ross: I do not claim any great knowledge of the nitrates directive. However, when I read the background I was very surprised to hear that the directive was first meant to come into force in 1991. It amazes me that it did not come into force much earlier and that successive Governments have resisted its implementation for so long. The reasons have been put forward by the Opposition in the motion. I...

Seanad: Nitrates Directive: Motion. (1 Mar 2006)

Shane Ross: Ministers' speeches are normally written in rather dull jargon produced by civil servants and backroom boys.

Seanad: Nitrates Directive: Motion. (1 Mar 2006)

Shane Ross: I was not here for the Minister's speech but there is a considerable amount of fairly convincing rhetoric in it. It is a tribute to this House that the Minister has taken the time to read the motion and reply to it in a quite robust fashion. I see this motion very simply. It is an issue of a strong but diminishing farming lobby against an issue of water quality. Those of us who are not...

Seanad: Nitrates Directive: Motion. (1 Mar 2006)

Shane Ross: The Opposition states it will put up with low water quality for everybody else——

Seanad: Nitrates Directive: Motion. (1 Mar 2006)

Shane Ross: ——providing their friends in the farming lobby are looked after. That is not acceptable politics in this House. It is cheap politics to pander to this lobby for a short period of time and hope that everybody else will forget because the water cannot be polluted if no one can get it. The Minister has taken the right decision at some political cost. Apparently, we are falling behind the...

Seanad: Nitrates Directive: Motion. (1 Mar 2006)

Shane Ross: They do a lot for the nation and for the economy. However, where they are polluting the environment, it must be stopped. I commend the Minister, the Government and all those who had the courage to introduce a directive such as this and enforce it in quarters in which it will be unpopular and difficult to do so. I support the Government amendment.

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Feb 2006)

Shane Ross: Senator Ulick Burke's suggestion that we should all stand for re-election and that those who oppose us should sign an agreement that they will not take the seat is utterly splendid.

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Feb 2006)

Shane Ross: We should pass that by acclamation immediately. On a more serious point, while it is difficult to criticise such a good parliamentarian, Senator Higgins ought to resign.

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Feb 2006)

Shane Ross: That is preferable to an empty seat. It is wrong that anybody should dictate to whom he or she bequeaths a seat in this House, however worthy the recipient.

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Feb 2006)

Shane Ross: It is wrong for Senator Higgins to say that he will vacate his seat if the emigrants take his place. This was a device used in the European elections by Senator Higgins to appeal for the votes of constituents whose relatives had emigrated. His tactic worked extremely well but, in terms of the status of this House, it is ridiculous for anybody to agree to vacate a seat on the condition that it...