Results 541-560 of 31,184 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I join many colleagues in congratulating our new Commissioner on her nomination to her new role. I wish her the best of luck. The comments made here this morning and the commentary in the media about our new Commissioner tell a story about our relationship with Europe. When any European job is to be filled, there is considerable media and political interest in it. Today's newspapers are...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I concur with colleagues on the Leader's side who suggested that our new Commissioner should come to this House to give an update on the work she is doing. In doing that we should bear in mind that her job is not to represent Ireland at the Commission table but to represent her portfolio and Europe. In so doing no doubt she will do very well for our country. I support Senator Fitzgerald's...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: We are being set up by leaks from a bank. My colleagues are correct in calling for a debate on the matter this evening to expose what is happening.

Seanad: Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Second Stage (18 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I welcome the Minister to the House for this important debate. At the beginning of the year, in the aftermath of the defeat of the first referendum on the Lisbon treaty and in the run-up to the second referendum, one of the options being considered in public by commentators who have an interest in these matters was that Ireland might seek to opt out of certain defence arrangements as...

Seanad: Institutes of Technology (18 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Minister of State for attending to respond to this matter. It concerns the status of the Grangegorman development project, the DIT site on the northside of Dublin. It is a project that has been in planning for many years. Its aim is to have all DIT facilities across Dublin located on a single piece of land. At present, that piece of land is occupied by St. Brendan's Hospital....

Seanad: Institutes of Technology (18 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Minister of State for his response and I have just one question. Will he tell me when he believes the Government will make a decision on the strategic plan and when it will be able to announce its support for it?

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I support Senator Walsh's call for a debate on the economy and our competitiveness. I, again, make the point that it is an absolute disgrace for a member of a Government party to stand up in the House or elsewhere to say there is a possibility the IMF might come in and take over. This means the Government is telling its people that it considers it a reasonable course of action because...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: Bearing in mind that this is a mess for which the Government is responsible, it is appalling for a Government party member to say to the people that if they do not do what it is needed, the Government will bring in the IMF. I asked the Leader to do this previously and I am asking him again. He should stand up and say this is not acceptable. Fianna Fáil is in government and it is its job...

Seanad: Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Second Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and the Bill he has introduced. The impression can sometimes be given in this House during discussions on competitiveness and the action that needs to be taken to increase job security and number of jobs in our economy that what is needed is a grand sweeping strategy focused on one particular element. However, the opposite is often the case....

Seanad: Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Second Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: On a point of order, why are we being asked to adjourn until Wednesday rather than Tuesday? I understand the Dáil will sit on Tuesday but the Acting Leader informs us that the Seanad will not. We should be given an explanation as to why that is the case.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: On a point of order, the RTE website reported that the House would not sit next Tuesday before Senators were informed. Why is the House not sitting on Tuesday?

Seanad: Local Authority Housing (19 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I welcome the Minister of State. The matter I am raising falls under the responsibility of his Department and I know he is aware of the issue, which is the future of the O'Devaney Gardens regeneration project. This is one of the large-scale regeneration projects located across Dublin. It is in central Dublin and was one of the lead public-private partnership projects that suffered enormous...

Seanad: Local Authority Housing (19 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Minister of State for his response and for his concluding comment.

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: As I listened to the contributions from all sides of the House on the need for a debate on the floods and the crisis facing our country I was reminded of a remark I heard last night by one of our finest novelists, Joseph O'Connor. He said on RTE last night that hope is the habit we need to acquire. This was brought home to me by the descriptions by my colleagues of the awful conditions so...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: ——given the number of debates we have had about State action taking place in this area as a result of the malpractice that took place in the banking sector? Third, can the Deputy Leader guarantee that in the event of a social partnership arrangement being put in place between the Government and the different unions, the Government will immediately initiate a debate on the arrangement in...

Seanad: Public Transport Regulation Bill 2009 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (26 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I welcome the Minister back to the House. This appears to be a sensible amendment and follows the discussions we had here at an earlier sitting of the House. I have two questions for the Minister. First, in the text that is being amended, the word "or" will now disappear. The original text included the words "public bus service will operate, or". It then went into paragraph (c) to state...

Seanad: Public Transport Regulation Bill 2009 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (26 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: Okay.

Seanad: Public Transport Regulation Bill 2009 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (26 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Minister for making this change. The display of licences was discussed in the House and we put forward the case for the change. We had a similar discussion on the display of timetables for passenger services. I felt it was very important that there be an obligation on providers of public bus passenger services to display timetables. I am glad the Minister has made the change...

Seanad: Public Transport Regulation Bill 2009 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (26 Nov 2009)

Paschal Donohoe: Amendment No. 3 is welcome but I have a question for the Minister thereon. Based on his response, he envisages that the Joint Committee on Transport will be the committee with an input. Would it be worth making a change to allow for more than one Oireachtas committee to have an input, or at least thinking about allowing this? The Joint Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local...