Results 161-180 of 605 for speaker:John Whelan

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Public Procurement Contracts (12 Jun 2014)

John Whelan: I am grateful to the Minister of State for coming to the Seanad this afternoon to respond to what I have to say about local authorities being allowed to put out to tender the contracts to stock Irish libraries. I was appalled to learn that many similar contracts are being farmed out to overseas companies and multinationals at a time when we should be taking all opportunities to sustain and...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Public Procurement Contracts (12 Jun 2014)

John Whelan: I thank the Minister of State. I am glad the Government realises there is an issue at stake here. I am pleased it is embarking on a range of positive and constructive initiatives to address the problem. While I accept that we need open, transparent and fair tendering and procurement processes, I do not think it is fair for multinationals to be able to undercut and underbid Irish firms. I...

Seanad: End-of-Life Care and Bereavement: Motion (16 Apr 2014)

John Whelan: I welcome the opportunity to address this motion tabled by Senator O’Donnell who deserves all credit and thanks for providing us with the chance to have a constructive discourse around this important topic. I am relieved the Government, through the influence of the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, decided to withdraw the amendment to the motion. I do not know how we would...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Apr 2014)

John Whelan: I would have thought that by now we in this country would have learned the consequences of turning a blind eye. We have seen in no uncertain terms what happens when we have light-touch regulation in the financial services sector, and we are all still paying the price for it, as the previous Senator stated, and we will continue to do so. We have also seen what happens when we have lax or no...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Apr 2014)

John Whelan: It does what it likes with immunity. Thanks to the Cathaoirleach I was able to table a question to the Minister on the Adjournment last Thursday and I was horrified to learn the EPA is accountable to no one. It is not answerable to the Minister or the Department and it is not accountable to the Oireachtas. It is a law unto itself and it is going about the country on tyre-kicking exercises...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Air Pollution (10 Apr 2014)

John Whelan: I respect that the Minister of State is replying on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, but my fears are not in any way allayed. I accept that the EPA is an independent regulatory authority. I am saying it is not doing its job. Are we now saying there is no ministerial or Government oversight of this agency or authority? The...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Air Pollution (10 Apr 2014)

John Whelan: I wish to raise with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government a shocking matter of grave concern. In fact, it is the most serious matter that has ever come to my attention. I am not raising it lightly and it is causing me serious distress and anxiety. I ask the Minister to immediately call to task the Environmental Protection Agency over its lax oversight and light...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Wind Energy Generation (11 Mar 2014)

John Whelan: I am grateful to the Minister for his response and agree with him on one issue, namely, that there has been a great deal of dishonesty surrounding much of the information concerning these projects, not least from those who, at some stage or other, claimed they would bring in 60,000 jobs. This has now been diluted to a projection of 6,000 jobs. Was it not the case that when this policy was...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Wind Energy Generation (11 Mar 2014)

John Whelan: I welcome the Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, to the House. I am very grateful to him for coming to the House to respond to my question. As the Minister is aware, there is a great deal of anxiety and speculation concerning the status of the intergovernmental agreement between the UK and the Government on the wind export project. I have been inundated with contact from communities from Knockmore...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2014)

John Whelan: If the Deputy's party had spoken up when-----

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2014)

John Whelan: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2014)

John Whelan: Yes, but the matter has become even more pressing because we learned today that the Taoiseach himself is in the United Kingdom meeting Prime Minister Cameron to give mouth-to-mouth to this dead-duck plan.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2014)

John Whelan: I believed it was dead in the water.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2014)

John Whelan: We believed we could sleep easy in our beds but now the Taoiseach is trying to revive and breathe new life into this agreement by giving it mouth-to-mouth with Prime Minister Cameron.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2014)

John Whelan: My question is very straightforward.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2014)

John Whelan: I have a question and it is very straightforward.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2014)

John Whelan: Can the Leader confirm in one way or another whether this intergovernmental agreement is gone for good - if so, good riddance - or has just been shelved so as to be dusted down and revived in a few months?

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2014)

John Whelan: Communities want to know the truth, and we need to know it.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2014)

John Whelan: Never before have I come across an issue so divisive as the prospect of the development of joint industrial wind farms across the country from Mayo to Laois and in every county in between. We thought we had some respite on reading newspaper reports on Friday that the intergovernmental agreement on which these industrial wind farms were predicated had fallen through, but it has led only to...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Mar 2014)

John Whelan: As the Seanad commences its working week, the unfolding crisis in Ukraine may not seem to be the most pressing issue facing Irish people. It is, however, one of the most serious threats to peace in Europe and one of the gravest crises facing Ireland and the European Union since we joined the European Economic Community in the early 1970s. I commend the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign...