Results 321-340 of 501 for speaker:Maurice Hayes

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Jun 2004)

Maurice Hayes: Like other Senators, I congratulate the GAA, but I would like to reduce Senator Brian Hayes's three cheers to two. I say this because I think the GAA has changed its rhetoric without changing its behaviour. There is something anomalous when any sporting organisation that does great work for communities has to rely for funding on bar takings and so on. There has to be some means found of...

Seanad: Dormant Accounts (Amendment) Bill 2004: Second Stage. (29 Jun 2004)

Maurice Hayes: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and recognise his commitment to the work that goes on in the charitable and voluntary sector. I have no intention in raising my voice or making political points on this. I do not impugn anyone's motives or intentions. However, I regret the direction that the proposed legislation is taking. It is retrograde. I welcomed the action that was taken to...

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Jun 2004)

Maurice Hayes: I am sorry if I lower the tone of the debate by not being abusive of anybody. I strongly support Senators Ó Murchú and Henry on visas, particularly for temporary visitors. It is shameful how we treat people. It is extremely difficult for the Taoiseach to ask for special treatment for Irish people in America when we are denying the same sort of thing to people here. I accept that problems...

Seanad: Order of Business. (16 Jun 2004)

Maurice Hayes: As ever, Senator Ross speaks for himself when he describes the reading habits of Members of the Oireachtas. I, too, would like to be associated with the tributes to Senator Norris, who is noteworthy not only for his scholarship but for making Joyce and his works meaningful for the ordinary person on the street. He has done a wonderful job for us all. Only in Ireland would we be celebrating...

Seanad: Order of Business. (15 Jun 2004)

Maurice Hayes: I feel like a fish out of water today, having a licence neither to laugh nor cry about the election results. I congratulate those people who participated. As an ex-returning officer, I would like us all to pay tribute to the people who keep the machine going during elections and play an important role in that way. I support Senator Brian Hayes's request for a calm debate on citizenship. After...

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (3 Jun 2004)

Maurice Hayes: My suggestion probably subverts all proper procedures. Will the Minister conduct a dialogue, even on the side, with Senator Terry and others interested in this point before tabling amendments? This would in a sense be a halfway house between adjourning the debate and allowing Committee Stage to proceed, while also having an opportunity to explore the issue fully on Report Stage. I, too,...

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (3 Jun 2004)

Maurice Hayes: The rules of court are not a matter for us and we have no means of making representation to people who make them. Perhaps in a moment of ultimate boredom, they might even read the proceedings of the Seanad. I was struck by what the Minister said earlier. I hope the rule of court would make it easier for doctors when they are in court. When doctors are in court, they are not treating patients....

Seanad: Order of Business. (3 Jun 2004)

Maurice Hayes: I support Senator Finucane's request for a review of autism services. I am not about to make a bid for as yet unrealised public finances, but I think the Minister could pay particular attention to the state of affairs at Middleton, County Armagh, which was set up as a showpiece centre of excellence for autism. However, it appears from reports I am receiving that it is not sufficiently...

Seanad: Decentralisation Programme: Motion. (2 Jun 2004)

Maurice Hayes: I thank Senator Dardis and his colleagues for introducing this important matter for debate. The last time I spoke on this matter, the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, told me that I had a Dublin mindset, which I thought was teetering on the edge of unparliamentary language although it did not bother me unduly at the time. Dublin is not my constituency; I have no particular axe to grind. I...

Seanad: Order of Business. (26 May 2004)

Maurice Hayes: I refer to the question of transport and fuel costs. The Minister for Transport should be reminded there is a significant difference between prices north and south of the Border and he should be careful not to do something that would put industry in Northern Ireland at an even greater disadvantage and that would increase cross-Border smuggling, which is engaged in by all sorts of dodgy...

Seanad: Order of Business. (19 May 2004)

Maurice Hayes: I too believe we must think carefully about procedures. This is very important in the case mentioned and I am aware of all the difficulties of complication and pollution. I would be happy if the Leader would arrange for the Committee on Procedure and Privileges to consider this matter and bring some recommendations to us. This must be done in consultation with what is being done elsewhere. It...

Seanad: Order of Business. (11 May 2004)

Maurice Hayes: I do not intend what I am about to say be hurtful to anyone. I deplore the murder of Detective Garda McCabe and I sympathise with his relatives. I equally deplore the murders of 306 RUC officers. I live near the widows and children of some of those RUC officers who were asked to make an enormous sacrifice in the interests of the peace process. By and large most of them did so on the basis...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2004: Second Stage. (7 May 2004)

Maurice Hayes: I welcome the Minster of State. Like Senator Quinn, I believe this is the quintessential non-party, non-partisan issue because it is in everybody's interest to have a proper voting system in which the public can have confidence. I, too, favour electronic voting. I hope it can be brought in and that it will be introduced in a way that will preserve the theatricality of the count. Watching the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (7 May 2004)

Maurice Hayes: I also congratulate the investigative journalists who exposed what was going on in AIB, although we must remember that one man's investigative journalism is another man's invasion of privacy. There is a delicate balance to be struck. There are hundreds of people, of whom I might be one, who went into the bank and obtained a bank draft and will never be able to prove they were overcharged. It...

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Maurice Hayes: I support Senator Mansergh's proposition. I am glad the Minister rather went out of his way to reassure people in Northern Ireland that there will be no diminution of the position they thought they had reached through the Good Friday Agreement and the constitutional changes flowing from it. However, the architecture of the Good Friday Agreement is really based on the proposition that the...

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Maurice Hayes: That is a distinction.

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Maurice Hayes: Surely it is the birth of the child that counts. It does not necessarily require the continuing existence of the parent.

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Maurice Hayes: Perhaps Senator Tuffy was unnecessarily worried about this aspect. I do not want to get into a discussion on eugenics but one acquires a parent at conception. They do not cease to be a parent even though they die before the child is born.

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Maurice Hayes: I do not think that is the case.

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Maurice Hayes: What is mentioned in the Constitution is at the time of birth of the child. There are posthumous children who still retain the rights, whatever they were, of their parents. I suggest the Senator is unnecessarily worried about that aspect.