Results 19,201-19,220 of 20,831 for speaker:David Norris

Seanad: Order of Business. (16 Feb 2005)

David Norris: In that case, the Government parties should not vote down the Bill.

Seanad: Order of Business. (16 Feb 2005)

David Norris: No.

Seanad: Order of Business. (16 Feb 2005)

David Norris: This is a black day for Seanad Éireann. I am ashamed of what is happening here today, as are many Senators on all sides of the House regardless of their position on the Civil Partnership Bill 2004. I intend to withdraw the Bill to spare the shame of the Government or, perhaps, to rub it in in an ironic way. I will not be present this evening and I will not move the motion for the Second...

Seanad: Order of Business. (16 Feb 2005)

David Norris: ——whose socialist caring face has now been ripped off. When I left my meeting with him, I thought I had been given the sun, the moon and the stars, as most people do. As I walked down the corridor, the stars started to twinkle more dimly and the moon dimmed. As I emerged from Government Buildings, the sun went out. It has finally gone into eclipse here today. As a democrat, I want to be...

Seanad: Order of Business. (16 Feb 2005)

David Norris: ——that it is a perfect Bill, that it is incapable of being amended or that it could not be withdrawn at some stage to be replaced by a better Bill. However, the Government has not made any proposal in this regard. I am worried because the Government acted against the principles enunciated by the former Minister, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, who said she would require clear and cogent factual...

Seanad: Order of Business. (16 Feb 2005)

David Norris: Instead of addressing that inequality, the Government introduced legislation that copperfastened it by redefining a "spouse". I am disgusted by the Government's behaviour today. I oppose the Order of Business.

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Feb 2005)

David Norris: I support Senator Callanan's comments on yesterday's apology by Prime Minister Blair. Apologies are usually facile and redundant. I agree that it should be followed up with some action, particularly in regard to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. The appropriate papers should be made available and individuals made responsible and accountable. It is dreadful to imagine that agents of...

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Feb 2005)

David Norris: There was a certain sneering tone in some of the contributions. I wonder if Members realise how that may be regarded in the sister isle, if they ever heard of it, or in the North of Ireland. We are always cosying up to the North of Ireland, saying how nice we want to be to the Unionists. Let us really show it then. Yesterday, the House debated the tabloidisation of news and Prince Charles and...

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Feb 2005)

David Norris: ——I always like to be helpful in cases of distress and, through the Chair, I wish to address his inferiority complex. Trinity College, Dublin, is open to mature students. I expect he might qualify and get the tie after four years.

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Feb 2005)

David Norris: Hear, hear. Absolutely.

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Feb 2005)

David Norris: Rubbish. That is absolute rubbish. The Senator should take the beam out of his own eye.

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Feb 2005)

David Norris: That has nothing to do with it. Senator Ryan is obsessed. He ought to give it up. He has an inferiority complex.

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Feb 2005)

David Norris: Hear, hear, absolutely, and quite right too.

Seanad: Overseas Development Aid: Motion. (9 Feb 2005)

David Norris: I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Conor Lenihan, to the House. He has already made his case on overseas development aid to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. I did not realise he had been pilloried and savaged over the Christmas, which I greatly regret. I deprecate that because I know he is a decent man and has real concerns in this area. However, I...

Seanad: Overseas Development Aid: Motion. (9 Feb 2005)

David Norris: In those circumstances, it is regrettable that the objective of achieving the 0.7% figure has stalled. For a while it even went backwards. The comparatively small amounts of money involved make it shameful. I respect that good northside Dublin Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern. Like the Minister of State, he has the capacity to make one feel as one walks out of his office that one has the sun,...

Seanad: Overseas Development Aid: Motion. (9 Feb 2005)

David Norris: That is a reason for giving it. We have so much more money. The figure involved is minuscule. As there are numerals in it such as five and four and seven, we think it is a lot of money. If an individual budget were involved it would be. The figure however is 0.7%. The Bible refers to tithes, stating that if one has not fed and clothed the least of these people, out one goes. We need to look...

Seanad: Overseas Development Aid: Motion. (9 Feb 2005)

David Norris: The biblical quotation?

Seanad: Overseas Development Aid: Motion. (9 Feb 2005)

David Norris: I am always available to be instructed from the Minister of State's vast religious repository. The report at this stage is wrong because a tithe is 10%. Dóchas, among others, has made useful recommendations. The current situation is that we will be reneging on our commitment, which is a pity. The figures represent a major shift in policy as the projected growth falls well short of what was...

Seanad: Overseas Development Aid: Motion. (9 Feb 2005)

David Norris: It would be well worth trying. To me, the real experts are the people on the ground. If the Minister of State has any difficulty in finding absorption I can produce God's quantity of good projects where one will get a bounce for one's buck for any spare capacity. The Minister of State can tell that to Mr. Sachs of whom I have never heard. Is he part of Goldman Sachs?

Seanad: Overseas Development Aid: Motion. (9 Feb 2005)

David Norris: Good for him. I am delighted for him.