Results 381-400 of 31,123 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Jun 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: Time would be well spent by debating this issue with a view to understanding the role the Government will play in defending our country in the economic war and the role these institutions will play in aiding our people.

Seanad: Aviation (Preclearance) Bill 2009: Second Stage (9 Jun 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I welcome the Minister to the House. I also welcome this legislation. As the Minister said, it is a legislative change that is very much to be welcomed. I agree with his concluding remarks that during times of great economic difficulty, such as those in which we find ourselves, there is no single silver bullet remedy that will release us from them. Achieving that will require the...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Jun 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I join with my colleagues in support of a debate on the broader aspects of the Ryan report. The need for this is underscored in documents which appear in many of today's newspapers regarding reports given by local health area managers to the HSE on the quality of child protection measures within their own areas. The quotes from some of these reports underscore the need for this debate. Such...

Seanad: Aviation (Preclearance) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: From my understanding of the Bill, I do not believe it confers the capacity on a preclearance officer to engage in strip searching, as Senator Ryan described. That said, his amendment is a good idea because it addresses our concerns, raised on Second Stage, regarding the fact that the powers of the preclearance officer will be quite extensive. Those powers will be wielded under the terms of...

Seanad: Aviation (Preclearance) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: Before we go to the final Stages of the Bill, do we need to get a copy of the Bill with all amendments made to it?

Seanad: Aviation (Preclearance) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: Does that mean we are not taking Report Stage now?

Seanad: Site Acquisitions. (11 Jun 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Finneran, for taking this Adjournment matter. I raised the situation of Gaelscoil Bharra in Dublin 7 on the Adjournment on a previous occasion and today I propose briefly to outline how the situation has changed in the interim. This gaelscoil, which is extremely successful and popular, has been located in temporary prefabricated buildings for 13 years....

Seanad: Site Acquisitions. (11 Jun 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Minister of State for his response which has provided an up-to-date summary of the current situation. However, it included the ominous phrase that progress will be dependent on the "capital budget available to the Department for school buildings generally". I will continue to raise this matter here and elsewhere to ensure the project is steered to a conclusion.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Jun 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I congratulate former Senator Alan Kelly on his new role in the European Parliament. I am sure he will be a great success. He will be missed in this House. It is on a European note that I wish to speak. I support the request from my colleagues for a debate on the Lisbon treaty. We find ourselves in the run-in to another referendum and in an environment where there appears to be support...

Seanad: Aviation (Preclearance) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (16 Jun 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: We discussed this on Second Stage, when both I and Senator Ryan raised the matter. The Minister gave a categorical assurance that a preclearance officer would not be in possession of a firearm. The amendment seeks to copperfasten that. This is a matter of potential sensitivity to the Irish people and while we accept the Minister's bona fides in this regard, it is such an important point...

Seanad: Aviation (Preclearance) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (16 Jun 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank all involved in the production of the Bill and in getting it to this point. It is important legislation that will make a difference to the airports and the regions they are in. I acknowledge the work done by Senator Ryan in improving parts of the Bill which will improve its operation. I acknowledge, too, the positive attitude of the Minister towards the amendments tabled in the...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Jun 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: My colleagues have touched on the considerable variety of challenges facing the country, with potentially 550,000 unemployed by the end of the year, the set-up of the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, and the future of rural life. A crucial question is the ability of the Government and politicians in general to lead the country through such considerable challenges facing us. I call on...

Seanad: Information and Communications Technologies: Motion (17 Jun 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and support the amendment of my colleague, Senator O'Reilly. I was in secondary school when I began to understand how to debate and speak in public and did so through my debating class. My teacher used to give me the tip that it is good to begin a speech with a personal anecdote of some kind to show one is engaged with one's subject and to try to...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Jun 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: Professor Kevin O'Rourke of Trinity College, Dublin has just produced a paper comparing the current global recession to the Great Depression of the 1930s. The conclusion he draws is stark, namely, that globally we are tracking even worse than during the Great Depression. Professor O'Rourke makes two points, essentially that the collapse of world trade in the past year has been greater than...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Jun 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: It is appropriate that the Taoiseach would be paid an additional €30,000 on top of a TD's salary, a Minister €20,000 more than a TD and a Minister of State €10,000 more than a TD. I cannot help but feel that if the people who founded our country, from all political parties, were present and saw the way Ministers are treated now, they would wonder how everything went so wrong.

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Jun 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I want to conclude on a point raised by Senator Hannigan on Bord Gáis. Last night we were treated to what I can only describe as a sermon from the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, on the progress the Government is making on cloud computing, where quantities of data are held on the Internet as opposed to laptops. If even a fraction of this work was being done, the crimes being...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Jun 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not think so.

Seanad: Financial Services (Deposit Guarantee Scheme) Bill 2009: Second Stage (18 Jun 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I welcome the Minister of State. This is important legislation. The last time I had an opportunity to debate matters of this nature with him, I raised the issue of the accountability of banks. Given the fundamental change in the relationship between taxpayers and banks, what are we going to do to ensure banks are held accountable for the guarantees and support that will now be afforded to...

Seanad: Financial Services (Deposit Guarantee Scheme) Bill 2009: Second Stage (18 Jun 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Minister of State.

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Jul 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: Yesterday's publication by the Central Statistics Office of national income figures must be debated in the House. They indicate that national income shrunk earlier this year by between 7% of 10%. If this trend continues for the year, it will shatter the country. The figures emphasise two crucial points, the first of which is on economics. When other economies are showing signs of bottoming...