Results 121-140 of 784 for speaker:Jimmy Harte

Seanad: Order of Business (29 May 2013)

Jimmy Harte: The abuse of children is a personal choice. The individuals who engaged in the mistreatment highlighted did not do so because they were not being paid enough or because State funding for these facilities was insufficient.

Seanad: Order of Business (29 May 2013)

Jimmy Harte: Moreover, this is not a problem that emerged yesterday or last week. The abuse and mistreatment of children have been ongoing for generations in different institutions.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2013: Second Stage (28 May 2013)

Jimmy Harte: I welcome the Minister of State. I would like to raise two issues with regard to this legislation. I welcome the Bill, as I am sure all Members of the House do. Money has been laundered through this country for many years. Senators might be familiar with the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, which records details of all transfers of money to the UK or elsewhere...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2013)

Jimmy Harte: In the context of Senator Hayden's contribution regarding the deadline for the property tax, I heard a councillor this morning on the "Today with Pat Kenny" programme say that there is an elite in this country who do not pay tax and who are very well off. They are the people who own houses worth anywhere between €2 million and €4 million whom she claims to be protecting. Such...

Seanad: Diesel Laundering: Statements (23 May 2013)

Jimmy Harte: Smuggling in the Border areas has been going on since the Border was established. Some people have made a lot of money out of it and criminals have used it to enrich themselves. That is still ongoing and will continue until we devise a solution. The thinking behind this is that diesel costs 50 cent per litre less for farmers who do not use the public roads. It is a logical way to look at...

Seanad: Seanad Bill 2013: Second Stage (15 May 2013)

Jimmy Harte: The Bill is emotive for Senators on all sides of the House. Members of the public hold differing views, depending on which day of the week one speaks to them. People keep changing their minds. The Bill will, therefore, be discussed for a long time. On my first day in the House I quoted Cicero and recommended a book by Robert Harris entitled Lustrum in which he referred to Cicero...

Seanad: OECD Review of Irish Pensions System: Statements (15 May 2013)

Jimmy Harte: I welcome the Minister. The pension problem is one of the biggest issues facing this country. I recall as a young man looking at the pension model when I started in the insurance business. It showed that when one started earlier one was on a bicycle on a slope, but the longer one waited, the steeper the climb on the slope became. Nobody realises how difficult it will be for this country...

Seanad: Wind Energy Guidelines: Statements (15 May 2013)

Jimmy Harte: I welcome the Minister of State. This is a subject that causes raised eyebrows throughout the country, no more so than in Donegal where, from my experience as a councillor over the years, there is something of a negative view towards the development of wind energy. There seemed to an attitude in the east of Donegal, although it was not such an issue for the west of the county because we had...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 May 2013)

Jimmy Harte: I ask the Leader to arrange a debate on an issue I raised recently regarding a provision within the insolvency legislation, whereby VAT will be charged for the service. The Minister might come into the Chamber to clarify this point because I have investigated the issue and found the same situation arose in the United Kingdom. The position there was challenged and VAT is not now charged in...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 May 2013)

Jimmy Harte: It was not. The Labour Party group in Dublin City Council has committed to reducing it. I have not heard the Fianna Fáil councillors make such a commitment.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (8 May 2013)

Jimmy Harte: I have some points of clarification. I agree with Senator Reilly about roaming charges on the Border. I encounter the problem every week travelling to and from Dublin. I refer in particular to data roaming. Anyone who has switched it on while travelling through Northern Ireland would have paid the cost of a flight to California by the time he or she got home. It is totally ridiculous....

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (8 May 2013)

Jimmy Harte: The broken promise of the previous Government was the most costly in the history of the world, not just this State.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (8 May 2013)

Jimmy Harte: That is a broken promise. The promises to which the Senator referred are small beer compared to the broken promise when the previous Government was given a country to look after. It did not look after it; it broke that promise.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (8 May 2013)

Jimmy Harte: I ask the Leader to ask the Minister for Finance to come to the House to discuss the personal insolvency legislation, especially personal insolvency practitioners who are obliged to pay VAT on fees. That is not acceptable. People should not have to pay VAT on the situation in which they find themselves.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (8 May 2013)

Jimmy Harte: I want to pay tribute to Alex Ferguson.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (8 May 2013)

Jimmy Harte: We could bring him into the House to sort out a few------

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (1 May 2013)

Jimmy Harte: I agree that we would listen to the case the petitioner would make if she were to come before the committee. All State bodies, including local authorities, should encourage non-smoking. If we get to the stage in the future that nobody smokes that would be great. We have to educate people about this. There are two issues involved, one is the public health issue and the other is the visual...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 May 2013)

Jimmy Harte: It is that we discuss this. Maybe the Opposition does not like when the Government-----

Seanad: Order of Business (1 May 2013)

Jimmy Harte: It is that we discuss the sale of Coillte's harvesting rights and that the Minister come to the House to officially put it to bed. Those are the words everyone wants to hear and I call for that debate to take place. The Opposition may not see the good in it-----

Seanad: Order of Business (1 May 2013)

Jimmy Harte: The Opposition will be disappointed.