Results 41-60 of 204 for speaker:Tony Mulcahy

Seanad: Order of Business (2 May 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: It is relevant. Nobody works in that household and every one of them is in receipt of welfare payments. We need the courage to discuss this type of issue here.

Seanad: Order of Business (2 May 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: The amount of money spent in such instances and provided by the State has gone beyond a joke and gives the two fingers to people living in normal society. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister here to openly discuss a welfare cap and the provision of an appropriate amount of money for people to live on. I want to prevent cases like the showboating that took place in my town last weekend,...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 May 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: I will be a little parochial today. I am a Member for just over 13 months, as are the rest of the Senators. A monumental decision was taken today on Shannon Airport and Shannon Industrial Estate. Shannon is my town. I welcome the decision by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, to set...

Seanad: Treaty on Stability, Cooperation and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union: Statements (17 May 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: I have a business viewpoint on this. I have run my own business, a small catering business, for 30 years. The simple rule of business is that one cannot spend more than one earns. It is that simple. It does not matter whether it is £100, €100 or €50 billion.

Seanad: Treaty on Stability, Cooperation and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union: Statements (17 May 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: Our difficulty is that we spend €50 billion, but we raise €36 billion in tax. We must borrow money. Let us deal with the island of Ireland and its budget. This is what is involved. We must borrow that amount this year, next year and the following year within an agreed programme. To be honest, anybody who advocates a "No" vote, even though I have the greatest respect for my...

Seanad: Treaty on Stability, Cooperation and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union: Statements (17 May 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: Yes, we would all vote "No". At present, however, the only deal in town to manage our household budget, and it is a household and business budget in Ireland, is a "Yes" vote to secure a guaranteed stream of funding so we can maintain our services. Our services do not merely include ourselves, the politicians. They include the doctors, the nurses, the teachers. They also include those who...

Seanad: Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration: Statements (27 Jun 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: I welcome the Minister back to the House. It is important that we are addressing the work that has been carried out by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Communications, Natural Resources and Agriculture as access to oil and gas could be welcome components of a successful economic recovery. The committee has produced an informative report stretching to more than 200 pages arising from...

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions: Motion (27 Jun 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Seanad Éireann" and substitute the following: Recognises: Ireland's obligation under Article 27 (1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states: "Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits"; Ireland's national...

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions: Motion (27 Jun 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: I also refute the idea that other parties would not have done the same in similar circumstances. While there is a need to cut costs, on the one hand, there is also a need, on the other, to secure private funding from elsewhere and to put together programmes that will encourage philanthropy from new avenues. As the Minister outlined, we have seen great success, with the National Archives...

Seanad: Mortgage Arrears, Banking and the Economy: Statements, Questions and Answers (3 Jul 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: The Minister is welcome to House. I apologise for not being here earlier as I was attending a committee meeting. I welcome the general thrust of the Bill. Like some other Senators, I have a concern that we are relying on those, the bankers, who made no effort to solve the problem in recent years and we are going to trust them a little bit more to solve the current problem. I have not read...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011: Second Stage (10 Jul 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: I speak as someone who has been an employer for 33 years, a shop steward for ten years and a permanent employee throughout my working life, as I have worked alongside most of the lads I have employed. I am pleased to support this common-sense Bill. Times have changed since I started as a trainee chef in 1974, when I was fortunate to enjoy the protection of a JLC agreement. At that time, we...

Seanad: Water and Sewerage Schemes (12 Jul 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: Will the Minister consider increasing the grant for group sewerage schemes from €2,200 to a more realistic amount, say, €4,000 or €5,000, which would be nearer the grant of €6,000 for group water schemes. In the current climate there may not be many more group water schemes but there will be many more group sewerage schemes, given the issue of septic tanks. A substantially increased...

Seanad: Irish Water and Related Reforms: Statements (20 Sep 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House today and giving me the opportunity to speak about Irish Water. I want to address some of Senator Daly's remarks. The Health Service Executive was a classic example of giving responsibility to someone else. It was set up and allowed to take responsibility for whatever was said. We will spend the coming years trying to unravel that. We...

Seanad: Irish Water and Related Reforms: Statements (20 Sep 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: Regarding responsibility-----

Seanad: Irish Water and Related Reforms: Statements (20 Sep 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: -----I learned a long time ago that if one doorsteps half a dozen Ministers or Oireachtas Members one will get half a dozen answers-----

Seanad: Irish Water and Related Reforms: Statements (20 Sep 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: -----but we have the boss here today, in essence, who will give us the answers we need. The reason he is in the House is to answer all the questions the Senator raised. I have every confidence that we will not end up in the mess created by some of the other agencies set up here. In January I had the opportunity to speak in the House on this issue. I am pleased to see the Minister of State...

Seanad: Irish Water and Related Reforms: Statements (20 Sep 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: That proposal was to provide a new structure for providing water. In addition, this has been EU policy since Directive 2000/60/EC, also known as the EU water framework directive, which was adopted in October 2000. An article in the June 2012 edition of Public Affairs Ireland Journal dealt with the water framework directive and many of the issues facing Irish Water today. The article was...

Seanad: Flooding and Flood Prevention Measures: Statements (20 Sep 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: All politics is local but, unfortunately, flooding is also local. We have had that experience in County Clare. Senator Byrne referred to climate change and now we have a name for it. In 1974, we went on a family holiday in Ballybunion, County Kerry. After three summers, eight days into our holiday my father brought us home because there was 3 ft. of rain on the street in the middle of...

Seanad: Flooding and Flood Prevention Measures: Statements (20 Sep 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: It is critical there is a cohesive approach to solving this problem. Many flooding issues may not need flood prevention but may require management measures to resolve them. That is my experience in Clare in 2009. I wish the Minister of State well.

Seanad: Life-Limiting Health Conditions in Children: Motion (26 Sep 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: Although it sits uneasily with me, I cannot but fully support the motion. Perhaps I cannot support it in its entirety but I can empathise with the proposers of the motion. When we table amendments, I wonder whether we examine what we are writing and how we are presenting it. To give the impression that we have matters under control in the delivery of services in palliative care or...