Results 1-20 of 393 for speaker:George Lee

Confidence in Government: Motion (resumed) (10 Jun 2009)

George Lee: I thank everybody for the warm welcome I received yesterday from all sides of the House. It is a privilege to be here, of which I am conscious. I am here on the basis of a strong mandate from the people of south Dublin to speak on their behalf and on behalf of other people whom they represent, a role which I take very seriously. The last couple of weeks have been a complete change of life...

Confidence in Government: Motion (resumed) (10 Jun 2009)

George Lee: Thank you, Deputy Ring.

Confidence in Government: Motion (resumed) (10 Jun 2009)

George Lee: The mandate this Government claims for itself is not real. It has the same mandate as I to speak on the people's behalf and to work to make things better. I acknowledge it wants to do that as much as I do. Fianna Fáil has an agreement to govern with the Green Party and a group of Independent Deputies based on what people thought would be fair weather in terms of our economic performance....

Confidence in Government: Motion (resumed) (10 Jun 2009)

George Lee: Nobody will follow somebody whom he or she does not trust, it is impossible to do so. That is why I believe it is so important to have a change of Government because we need leadership and we need to do the hard things. It is a fact that doing the hard things is what the Government thinks it is getting the blame for; I believe that doing the hard things is what the Government should have...

Order of Business (17 Jun 2009)

George Lee: My question concerns the legislation on the National Assets Management Agency, which is in preparation. The legislation and the idea of NAMA came from the report of an economic consultant, Peter Bacon, on dealing with the banking crisis. As the Taoiseach is aware, it is probably the biggest potential liability for taxpayers that we have ever taken on. Thus, we must proceed with a great...

Order of Business (24 Jun 2009)

George Lee: Similar to Deputy Burton, I wish to ask the Taoiseach about the consumer and competition Bill. Approximately ten years ago, it was discovered that the National Irish Bank was stealing money from customers' accounts on a wholesale basis. The theft was identified in internal audit reports and was the subject of a journalistic investigation in which my colleague, Charlie Bird, and I were...

Order of Business (24 Jun 2009)

George Lee: My question is on the consumer and competition Bill, which will amalgamate the consumer agency and the Competition Authority, and the financial services regulation Bill, which will modernise financial services legislation in accordance with the new situation. To what extent or how can consumers be protected by the legislation from banks that want to steal money in the fashion outlined?

Order of Business (24 Jun 2009)

George Lee: Will the modernisation of the financial services regulation Bill include any measures-----

Order of Business (24 Jun 2009)

George Lee: Will it include measures to ensure that it will not take ten years to pursue the people involved as it does now?

Order of Business (25 Jun 2009)

George Lee: In respectof the urgency of this debate, the Central Statistics Office has just reported that in the past 12 months 160,000 jobs have been wiped out and that the economic debate on this is much more important and more urgent.

Order of Business (25 Jun 2009)

George Lee: We have never lost so many jobs for so many people in so short a time and the idea that-----

Order of Business (30 Jun 2009)

George Lee: I refer to the company law (consolidation and reform) Bill. Yesterday in the United States, a major fraudster, Bernie Madoff, was jailed for 150 years for a $65 billion fraud. I am struck by the fact that, in terms of Irish company law, it takes so long to bring anybody to justice. Bernie Madoff was in handcuffs and in jail within two months of the discovery of this fraud. An action...

Order of Business (30 Jun 2009)

George Lee: We all know that many people involved in corporate law are waiting to see what happens in the financial services area because of so much money being lost there.

Order of Business (30 Jun 2009)

George Lee: It is stated that the purpose of the company law (consolidation and reform) Bill is to clarify, simplify and modernise Irish company law. In regard to that legislation, is it likely that there will be any attempt to speed up the process in which the law will be applied so that we do not have to wait ten years for people to be brought to justice for the kinds of fraud which have taken place?

Requests to move Adjournment of Dáil under Standing Order 32 (1 Jul 2009)

George Lee: I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 32 to raise a matter of national importance, namely, the implications for the public finances of the statistics published by the Central Statistics Office yesterday, which show that the economy contracted at an unprecedented pace of 12% over the past 12 months whereas in the supplementary budget two months ago, the Government predicted...

Order of Business (8 Jul 2009)

George Lee: I want to ask the Taoiseach about three items of legislation. The first relates to a large advertisement I saw in the newspaper this morning for 18 bottles of beer being sold for €11.45. There is a sale of alcohol Bill on the list. In regard to the 18 bottles of beer, the cost per bottle would be approximately 50 cent. One would not buy a bottle of water for that price.

Order of Business (8 Jul 2009)

George Lee: I raise the issue of the legislation because of the risk to young people in terms of how cheap alcohol is and its availability, the pressures they are under, and the competition for the pub industry and the hospitality industry generally which cannot compete with those prices. What will the sale of alcohol Bill do in regard to protecting our young people and dealing with the competition...

Order of Business (8 Jul 2009)

George Lee: On the third item of legislation about which I want to ask, as the Taoiseach is aware I am not that long a Member of this House but I was amazed to realise that if I tabled a parliamentary question now I would not get an answer until we reconvene at some point in September. That is remarkable, given that we were debating very important issues here until midnight - people could fall asleep in...

Order of Business (8 Jul 2009)

George Lee: -----that I would have wait that long to get an answer. I understand the Ceann Comhairle has tried to influence Oireachtas reform in this matter. Many public organisations are going through reform, whether it is an bord snip nua or whatever, and we will have to introduce reforms. Could legislation be brought forward-----

Order of Business (8 Jul 2009)

George Lee: -----whereby we could have an bord Dáil nua to bring about reform in order that one would not have to wait so long for a reply to a parliamentary question? An Oireachtas (amendment) Bill is coming forward. Could it be included in that?