Results 101-120 of 204 for speaker:Tony Mulcahy

Seanad: Gas Regulation Bill 2013: Second Stage (17 Oct 2013)

Tony Mulcahy: There were many others, I assure him. This is the latest addition.

Seanad: Gas Regulation Bill 2013: Second Stage (17 Oct 2013)

Tony Mulcahy: In addition, we are obliged under Directive 2009/73/EC to dispose of parts of the energy business of Bord Gáis. This is covered under the third gas directive, which was passed into law on 3 September 2009 by the last Fianna Fáil Government. It aims to progress the liberalisation of European markets for gas and electricity. Transposition of the EU's third package of gas and...

Seanad: Gas Regulation Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Nov 2013)

Tony Mulcahy: I support the Minister and I will not listen to lectures from Senator Ó Clochartaigh in respect of the sale of companies in the private sector. Unprofitable companies are generally sold for 10% or 20% of what they are worth and then asset-stripped. Ultimately, those involved probably make some sort of profit. The idea here is to make a profit from the sale of a profitable company. We...

Seanad: Gas Regulation Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Nov 2013)

Tony Mulcahy: I thank the Minister and my colleagues for their contributions. I wish the Minister well in the pursuance of the sale. I welcome another competitor coming into the market. There is plenty of room for more competition.

Seanad: Electricity Transmission Network: Motion (13 Nov 2013)

Tony Mulcahy: I welcome the Minister to the House. I am generally in favour of the motion but have serious reservations regarding its practicality. The motion calls on the Government to introduce legislation to "regulate the construction, siting and associated matters connected with high voltage electricity transmission lines in Ireland, in particular to make provisions for the placing of such high...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Nov 2013)

Tony Mulcahy: Senator Colm Burke raised a very important issue regarding section 38 funding. This issue has been close to my heart over the past two and a half years and I have been highlighting it since I became a Member of the House. Colleagues in the House often raise issues relating to the intellectual disability service providers and the various non-governmental organisations, NGOs. I have always...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Public Petitions: Discussion (27 Nov 2013)

Tony Mulcahy: I propose that we follow the recommendation to refer this petition to the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade seeking a specific report on the issues raised in it.

Seanad: Critical Utilities (Security of Supply) Bill 2013: Second Stage (11 Dec 2013)

Tony Mulcahy: I welcome the Minister and the debate. I hope the other Chamber will also debate this issue. Certain services are critical to the common good. Electricity, water, fuel and transport services are all essential on this island and I would like to see them being protected for the consumer. How we go about this is the question. I have reservations about how the Government could square the...

Seanad: Critical Utilities (Security of Supply) Bill 2013: Second Stage (11 Dec 2013)

Tony Mulcahy: At 10.30 a.m. tomorrow.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Dec 2013)

Tony Mulcahy: I second Senator Paul Coghlan's amendment to the Order of Business, that No. 15 be taken before No. 1. I ask the Leader to list in order of priority a number of serious issues raised by Senators. I agree with Senators Brian Ó Domhnaill, John Kelly and John Whelan on the issue of wind energy. It is not often that Senators are all on the same page on an issue. I have a problem with the...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Dec 2013)

Tony Mulcahy: I begin by suggesting to Senator O'Brien that he call to mind who set up NAMA.

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Dec 2013)

Tony Mulcahy: Nevertheless, I echo his concerns. A Member of the other House, Deputy Mick Wallace, has stated publicly that the people he was dealing with before the crisis are the same people he has dealt with since the crisis. I was very worried to hear that comment. I do not condone whatever the Deputy might have done, but it is disturbing to discover that the same people are sitting on the other...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Disabilities Services Funding (15 Jan 2014)

Tony Mulcahy: I wish to share one minute of my time with Senator Martin Conway. I had better first declare an interest in that my child has received a service from the group I am about to mention. I will not second-guess the Minister's reply, but I do not imagine we will receive any great news this evening. The group is a parents' group and the Minister of State has met them in the past. I do not need...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Disabilities Services Funding (15 Jan 2014)

Tony Mulcahy: I thank the Minister of State for not reading the five-page reply that has been distributed to us but rather answering the questions. I know her heart is in the right place with this subject. There is now an appropriate director and perhaps the group can meet him in order to sustain the project.

Seanad: Recent Flooding: Statements (12 Feb 2014)

Tony Mulcahy: The south west of Ireland has experienced hurricane force winds today. Schools in the region should not have remained open given that a code red alert had been issued. In Shannon the schools have closed and children have been sent home. Their parents have had to collect them. In one area a row of mature poplars was ripped out of the ground. A single Department needs to be made responsible...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Water and Sewerage Schemes Status (19 Feb 2014)

Tony Mulcahy: I welcome the Minister. The matter I wish to raise is self-explanatory. I am seeking an update on the Shannon water treatment plant. Difficulties have arisen because the plant has reached maximum capacity. There are many reasons for this, including the fact that one local pharmaceutical company pumped large volumes of material into the river in recent years and that leachate seeped into...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Water and Sewerage Schemes Status (19 Feb 2014)

Tony Mulcahy: I thank the Minister for his reply. It is a welcome statement. I am sure the people of Shannon, all the employers and, most important, those of us who live in the town are grateful that the matter will be dealt with finally after all these years, that we will have a proper scheme in the town and that we will be able to grow the industrial base.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Domestic and Sexual Violence: Discussion (19 Feb 2014)

Tony Mulcahy: I wish to set the scene. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Public Service and Oversight, but the matter under discussion at this committee is much more serious than the three ring circus being discussed at that meeting. However, the proceedings of this committee will not get the media coverage they should get. I was born in 1959 and my first memory is of the radio broadcast of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Domestic and Sexual Violence: Discussion (19 Feb 2014)

Tony Mulcahy: We must empower the garda to take statements and give his or her version of what he or she has witnessed, photograph the scene of the crime and, if the victims are willing, they should be photographed at that stage and doctor called immediately. That is when the bar is set. It should not be a case of having to consider where the woman and her children will be housed; the criminal is the...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Feb 2014)

Tony Mulcahy: Yesterday there was a lot happening in Leinster House and it was a bit of a circus at the meeting of the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions, of which I am a member. However, in an adjoining room, before the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality a more serious debate was taking place, which we are now charged with addressing, on the issue of domestic...