Results 21-40 of 346 for speaker:Jim Higgins

Seanad: Rail Services and Related Transport Matters: Statements. (14 Nov 2002)

Jim Higgins: There is a huge amount of goodwill out there but there is a reluctance because Iarnród Éireann simply has not delivered. It is an inept and incompetent company, an abysmal failure. It is incredible that we are debating this motion. It is ten years into the life of the Celtic tiger and we have seen unprecedented growth in the volume of commercial and domestic traffic. Juggernauts traverse...

Seanad: Order of Business. (21 Nov 2002)

Jim Higgins: I support Senators Finucane and Leyden. It would be a disaster if we did not get our Christmas cards out.

Seanad: Book of Estimates, 2003: Statements. (21 Nov 2002)

Jim Higgins: In spite of what the Minister said, the contents of the Book of Estimates have little, if anything, to do with the slowdown in world economic growth. Last May the Minister and his Government colleagues perpetrated the biggest con job on the electorate since 1977. In that year the Minister's Fianna Fáil predecessors and their infamous manifesto wrecked an economy, which then took 15 years to...

Seanad: Overseas Development Aid: Motion. (27 Nov 2002)

Jim Higgins: I commend the Independent Senators on bringing this worthy and timely motion before the House. I disagree, however, with my good friend and colleague, Senator Henry, in relation to our performance as a nation, that is, at Government level. I fully agree with her on the performance of Ireland Aid in relation to the non-governmental organisations but from the point of view of our performance as...

Seanad: Order of Business. (28 Nov 2002)

Jim Higgins: I appeal for a debate on an issue touched upon by Senator Brendan Ryan, and it should not be taken as part of the debate on spatial planning. I refer to the dire warning issued yesterday by the managing director of Eirgrid, Ciaran O'Brien, that unless a new power station is built by 2005 there will be serious outages and blackouts and an electricity deficiency of 20%. There are no plans to...

Seanad: Order of Business. (28 Nov 2002)

Jim Higgins: It is currently going through the Dáil.

Seanad: Budget Statement: Motion. (4 Dec 2002)

Jim Higgins: I move amendment No. 1: After "Budgetary Statement" to add the following: "and deplores the mismanagement of the public finances by the Minister for Finance which will lead to unprecedented cutbacks across every Government Department." This is not a good budget. I listened to the Minister for Finance recite his old mantra this afternoon, when he said that international factors can be blamed...

Seanad: Budget Statement: Motion. (4 Dec 2002)

Jim Higgins: It is well known that small cars generate far fewer greenhouse gas emissions. In doing this we are flouting clear directives from Europe. This is a failed budget and one that the Minister will rue.

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 Dec 2002)

Jim Higgins: I raised a very important issue four weeks ago and it has remained unresolved in the interim. The Revenue Commissioners have refused to implement a recommendation of the ombudsman regarding the discrimination in taxation against two widows. The matter is of such importance that the ombudsman deemed it necessary to commission a special report and to set it before the Oireachtas, yet four weeks...

Seanad: National Spatial Strategy: Statements. (5 Dec 2002)

Jim Higgins: When is it proposed to sit again?

Seanad: Alcohol Consumption by Young People: Statements. (11 Dec 2002)

Jim Higgins: I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this very important debate, probably one of the most important that we have had in this House in its short time or in the previous Seanad. We are talking about something that goes to the very heart and fabric of society. The Minister of State delivered an extremely good speech which was very good and crisp in its analysis. The reality is that we have...

Seanad: Appropriation Bill, 2002 [Certified Money Bill]: Second and Subsequent Stages. (12 Dec 2002)

Jim Higgins: I welcome the Minister of State. The convention is that the Appropriation Bill is nodded through the Dáil and debated in the Seanad, but a debate is needed this year more than ever on the state of the public finances and the expenditure of public funds over the past 12 months. That is the reason I am glad we have a brief opportunity to debate the legislation. It should have been entitled the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (19 Dec 2002)

Jim Higgins: I fully endorse the call by the leader of the Fine Gael group for the presence of a Minister in the House to explain exactly what is the Government's position in response to the breakdown in the partnership talks. It is a tragedy that they have broken down as we are watching the dismantlement of one of the cornerstones of the Celtic tiger. Extrapolating from what was said by Senator O'Toole,...

Seanad: Order of Business. (6 Feb 2003)

Jim Higgins: It was only when I rang the Department of Social and Family Affairs on behalf of my local GAA club that I discovered that the student summer job scheme had been abolished. This has come as a thunderbolt. Community organisations have their projects and schemes in place and there was an anticipation that a good scheme offering 200 hours of community work at the princely sum of €770 would be...

Seanad: Order of Business. (6 Feb 2003)

Jim Higgins: I am seeking a debate on the issue as a matter of urgency. This is a retrograde step considering the small amount of money involved.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters. - Morris Tribunal. (6 Feb 2003)

Jim Higgins: The Morris tribunal will shortly commence its public hearing of what exactly the Garda was up to in relation to the deliberate and wrongful attribution of blame to the immediate and extended McBrearty family in the matter of the death of Richie Barron. It will also investigate the planting of explosive devices across the Border in Northern Ireland, the planting of an explosive substance on...

Seanad: Finance and Related Matters: Statements. (18 Feb 2003)

Jim Higgins: This self-congratulatory motion lauding the Government's management of the public finances is typical of the mechanical phraseology one would expect from the technocrats in the Department of Finance and not from someone with political know-how and experience or with a sense of everyday reality. It refers to the Government's determination and its commitment to keep a tight rein and keen eye on...

Seanad: Finance and Related Matters: Statements. (18 Feb 2003)

Jim Higgins: I am young at heart.

Seanad: Order of Business. (4 Mar 2003)

Jim Higgins: I support my colleagues on this side of the House in their total opposition to the manner in which the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill has been handled. This is a dark day for democracy because the Bill is sinister, subversive and dangerous. The modus operandi in introducing the Bill three days after publication is wrong. It is an insult to the House. If the Members on the other side...

Seanad: Order of Business. (4 Mar 2003)

Jim Higgins: I thank the Leader for her concession in proposing that spokespersons should have 30 minutes on Second Stage. Senators on all sides have much to contribute and the proposed 15 minute time allocation is inadequate, especially in the context of the way the debate is to be taken. I, therefore, propose amendment No. 2: that, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, the Order of Business be...