Results 18,701-18,720 of 20,831 for speaker:David Norris

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Nov 2005)

David Norris: Yes.

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Nov 2005)

David Norris: I support Senator Mooney. We should have a debate on the Middle East. Up to 70 people may have been tragically killed in Amman. I have stayed in that hotel, as have many Irish delegations. Another 35 people were killed today in Baghdad. It is clear that Bush and Blair are on the slide. They are responsible for this. They walked us into it but we must prepare for a situation when a more...

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Nov 2005)

David Norris: I will be as brief as I can, however, we run to 45 minutes every day. I have a motion on the Order Paper suggesting we recognise this fact. It has been opposed by some people although there is general agreement.

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Nov 2005)

David Norris: I could not speak more directly on the Order of Business. This is the tenth anniversary of the murder by the Nigerian authorities of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists who were protesting against the environmental devastation of the region by Shell Oil. I was a member of the foreign affairs committee when Des O'Malley was Chairman, and he was a good Chairman. When we planned to...

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Nov 2005)

David Norris: We can be proud of those types of Irish people in the building industry.

Seanad: Social Welfare Benefits: Motion. (9 Nov 2005)

David Norris: I welcome the Minister to the House. I want to comment on the general topic of the motion without going into some of the specifics. This is an important area. It touches people's real, lived experience and it is not appropriate for any of us to engage in a polemical, partisan series of attacks. What we must do in this House is urge the Minister to take as constructive a role in this area as...

Seanad: Social Welfare Benefits: Motion. (9 Nov 2005)

David Norris: I am sure it will be an expanded half minute.

Seanad: Social Welfare Benefits: Motion. (9 Nov 2005)

David Norris: I would like another minute and 30 seconds. I hope the Minister has received a copy of this report and that he will read it. It contains many graphs and so on, which I do not particularly like, but there is also the human face. There are six case histories in the report. One, for example, concerns a woman who applied for a one-parent family payment. She was denied on the grounds that she had...

Seanad: Social Welfare Benefits: Motion. (9 Nov 2005)

David Norris: I am just finishing. This woman was claiming disability allowance. She then took up a FÁS course and was denied the disability allowance. She was also a lone parent. Had she claimed the lone parents allowance, which she did not, she could have kept that payment and taken up the FÁS course. It seems daft to me that because she did not claim the right one she was denied a payment the...

Seanad: Social Welfare Benefits: Motion. (9 Nov 2005)

David Norris: It looked for a repayment of €3,000 and took away the payment, which I am glad to say was restored on appeal. I raised the issue of a blind student.

Seanad: Social Welfare Benefits: Motion. (9 Nov 2005)

David Norris: I am only on 25. The blind student got a scholarship to do a PhD in history. By way of reward they subtracted the value of the scholarship from the blind allowance. That is mean and penny pinching. Somebody with a disability who has the gumption to do something for themselves should be encouraged and supported, not penalised.

Seanad: Order of Business. (9 Nov 2005)

David Norris: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business. (9 Nov 2005)

David Norris: There is St. James's Hospital.

Seanad: Order of Business. (9 Nov 2005)

David Norris: Would it be possible to make time available to take the motion at some point?

Seanad: Order of Business. (9 Nov 2005)

David Norris: That is the reason I specifically used the word "churches", the plural form, in the motion. I regret that Senator Mansergh does not approve of equality for all citizens.

Seanad: Order of Business. (9 Nov 2005)

David Norris: Yes, and it was a disgraceful decision at the time. Look at where it got us.

Seanad: Order of Business. (9 Nov 2005)

David Norris: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business. (9 Nov 2005)

David Norris: It appears we will be allowed to continue the debate on the Ferns report. I welcome that decision. If we are serious about this issue, there is something we can do. I refer to No. 23 on the Order Paper, a motion put down by me and most of my Independent colleagues. It requests the Government to re-examine the exemption given to the churches from the operation of the equality legislation. It...

Seanad: Order of Business. (9 Nov 2005)

David Norris: Yes, but I want to explain why. Yesterday, on the wireless, Mr. Ben Dunne said we need to be careful about the removal of the groceries order, as the chain stores will use it to get gullible people into their stores. The Government is apparently committed to removing the order. However, the regulations must be monitored. If the chain stores are allowed, without being told,——

Seanad: Order of Business. (9 Nov 2005)

David Norris: I do not know how she can because I have not made it yet. However, I know she is a wonderfully perceptive and intelligent woman.