Results 21-40 of 501 for speaker:Maurice Hayes

Seanad: Suicide Incidence: Statements. (27 Feb 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I thank the Minister of State for his contribution. I appreciate his manifest interest in this subject and his dedication to it. I will not go over the points so ably made by other Senators, but I was struck by what Senator Brian Hayes said about the profound nature of the identity crisis being undergone by men in society and the multifaceted nature of the problem, which requires a wide range...

Seanad: Convention on the Future of Europe: Statements. (4 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I also welcome the Minister of State and commend him on the energy and application he has displayed in terms of the work he is doing on the Convention on the Future of Europe. I also commend our other representatives Deputy John Bruton, Proinsias De Rossa, MEP, Deputy Gormley and the alternates, Deputy Carey and Mr. Bobby McDonagh, on the work they have done. They have been extremely willing...

Seanad: Convention on the Future of Europe: Statements. (4 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: This is something to which we should be bending our minds. We might have to make a trade-off between a strong Commission and a fully representative one. If that was the case, I think our interests are to be found in a strong Commission rather than otherwise. I am also interested in the Minister of State's pursuit of rules for good governance and administrative good behaviour. He will be aware...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (4 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I have some declarations of interest to make before I begin. I am a member of the board of Independent Newspapers and I write for one of its organs. Some of my friends in the field of journalism might not like all of what I am about to say. I am also a former civil servant and some of my former colleagues in that profession may not like what I have to say either. It is a pity that this...

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I do not wish to put in a bid for Stangford Lough, but I support Senator O'Toole's imaginative proposal regarding the Americas Cup. It could be of enormous importance to the country and it should be pursued. I do not like to disagree with a Senator who requests a debate, but the Minister for Education and Science should have more to do than be concerned with text messages. They are a...

Seanad: Order of Business. (11 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I look forward to the debate on hospitals, a matter in respect of which I am in absolute opposition to almost everything which has been said so far. I hope people do not play politics with hospitals because they are far too important. We should not toss around words like "downgrading". It is a question of whether one wants five or six hospitals in the premier league or two dozen in the third...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I may be jumping the gun and I do not want to be involved in a filibuster. It is regrettable that the time of the House is taken up in this way. We are digging ourselves into trenches when there could be easier ways of getting through the Bill. I respect the position of the commissioner and take his point that he is not contributing to the legislative process. I was concerned about a section...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: While we are addressing the Bill we are not sticking to its text and are drawing in other things. It is interesting that the commissioner is being blamed for doing something while simultaneously being blamed for not doing something. Section 2(a) is quite sensible and reinstates the position as the commissioner thought it was before the High Court indulged in certain semantics. The subsection...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I am not convinced of the utility of Iris Oifigiúil as a means of conveying information on anything to anyone, particularly to those who might be looking for information on personal circumstances or whatever. I shed no tears over that particular subsection. If it is not being used, that is the end of the matter and the world has not come to an end. I was a member of the committee which dealt...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I agree with Senator Mansergh. I have some experience working these things, both as an official and as an ombudsman. There are vexatious complainants just as there are vexatious litigants from whom the courts occasionally have to refuse to accept actions. It is an exercise in judgment. The trouble is that requests might be off the wall in 98 cases, but the next request might not be so. Like...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I have no difficulty with this section—

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I do not wish to intrude on private grief or private quarrels. If I do, I apologise in advance. I have no difficulty with this part of the Bill, but I have enormous problems with the later part, which we will discuss later. Five years is too short. The proper limit is a matter for discussion. Ten years does not appear to be extravagant. I differ from the conclusion drawn by Senator O'Meara....

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: Yes, I am an eccentric person and I am entitled to be so. Of course, I am drawing on experience from elsewhere, as one would know, rather than in this jurisdiction. Being what it is, I do not think human nature is likely to change. A serious point that would arise in any business or grouping is that people must be free to have discussions. As to how long the record of such discussions should...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: This seems to be a beautifully academic discussion. I have no difficulty with the Attorney General making these decisions because it is not an executive role but a quasi-judicial one, though we need not go into that. If we have already agreed that these papers be closed for ten years and if one applies the principle of Occam's razor, there is no point in discussing what one would do with...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: We do not want to elevate the words of my old friend, the Information Commissioner, to the status of holy writ any more than we would want to elevate the words of the high level committee. There could have been better constitutional proof reading of this section because Bills have gone to the Supreme Court before on this ground and been found wanting. I have great difficulty with this...

Seanad: Convention on the Future of Europe: Statements. (12 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: It is a great pleasure to welcome Deputy John Bruton to the House. I thank him for the enormous effort and the fundamental contribution he is making to the debate on the future of Europe, his great accomplishment of having chaired a working group on a contentious subject and brought it to near consensus and constructive agreement and for his work on the Presidium. It is good to know, where...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I wondered whether in relation to this the Minister would think about the problems of complementarity. I take the point Senator Mansergh made. If it was a Northern Ireland issue which was manifestly not of huge importance, it might be odd if access were refused in Dublin when access had already been granted in Belfast or in London. Equally, in regard to international relations, it is worth...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: Absolutely.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (20 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I thank the Minister for attending the debate and for his attention to it. I wish him well in his important discussions in Brussels and have no wish to delay his departure. I found I was unable to accept the Bill on Second Stage, although I was strongly in favour of parts of it. I strongly favour protecting the integrity of Government discussions. It is a sensible measure to extend the...

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Motion. (21 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: This is one of those sad days in the House when everybody has the same end in view – concern for peace and justice and a modicum of moral certainty. The fact that we will differ from very good friends who are expressing themselves passionately on these subjects should not make us respect any the less the strength of the views they hold. I have a sense of déjà vu in regard to this debate....