Results 161-180 of 784 for speaker:Jimmy Harte

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Apr 2013)

Jimmy Harte: There is no shame on the other side of the House.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Apr 2013)

Jimmy Harte: There will be less shame at the weekend.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Apr 2013)

Jimmy Harte: It is the Bobby Ewing effect. One can come out of the shower and forget about everything that happened previously.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Apr 2013)

Jimmy Harte: I stand here in incredulity regarding the bankers' pay. While I do not wish to go back over history, I am afraid I must. The Fianna Fáil road to recovery-----

Seanad: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (18 Apr 2013)

Jimmy Harte: I welcome the Minister to the House. I know he is passionate about this subject as any medical practitioner would be. What would we think about manufacturing a product and following the instructions which guarantee that it will kill people early or destroy their quality of life? The costs resulting from tobacco are phenomenal. I suppose in a couple of hundred years, the next civilisation...

Seanad: Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill 2013: Second Stage (28 Mar 2013)

Jimmy Harte: I welcome the Minister. There are a couple of very important points to be made in the debate. I have been in the insurance industry for many years. There is a social aspect to motor taxation as there is a social aspect to tax on alcohol as both are products that can cause death and suffering. We have to be cognisant of that fact. In Donegal there are a couple of lobby groups and...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Mar 2013)

Jimmy Harte: On the occasion of the Irish soccer match tonight against Austria, this morning I attended a seminar of Irish supporters' clubs from throughout the world. One group I met from west Belfast asked me to raise this issue which it felt was in breach of the Good Friday Agreement, that tonight RTE will scramble its signal to any viewer north of the Border so that, unlike us, they cannot watch the...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Mar 2013)

Jimmy Harte: Mr. Murdoch does not yet own RTE. It is an issue that concerned them and many fans who follow both the Republic of Ireland soccer team and the Northern Ireland soccer team - it is not exclusive. They said that many families up there then have to go to the pub to watch it at a cost. I would ask that we get clarification on it from the Minister or have a debate.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Mar 2013)

Jimmy Harte: I welcome Senator Mary Ann O'Brien's contribution and fully support her call for a debate on the death of town centres. I am sure everyone has noticed how they are dying. I have a business in Letterkenny and in the past six or seven years many shops have closed. Car parking has become expensive on main streets, whereas free parking is available outside shopping centres. Multinationals...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Mar 2013)

Jimmy Harte: I have some advice for Senator Norris in respect of his property. I would advise him to telephone an estate agent. Many estate agents in Donegal have said to me that people should contact them and there would be no fee. Most local estate agents would be amenable to give a fairly accurate valuation of one's property for free. One should do that if one considered the valuation was too high...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2013)

Jimmy Harte: In light of all the different constituency names, the Minister should have a discussion on whether they could be called names other than those based on geographical locations. I am sure parts of Dublin are confusing for Dubliners, such as Dublin North-East and others. The same applies to Donegal, Sligo and Cavan. Perhaps consideration should be given to this matter. I am sure it would be...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2013)

Jimmy Harte: As Senator Wilson said, there is a valid issue about the naming of the Sligo-Leitrim-Donegal-Cavan constituency. I am sure that the opposite side would be in favour of renaming it the Wilson constituency.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2013)

Jimmy Harte: Is the Senator authorising that?

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2013)

Jimmy Harte: The renaming of constituencies is an ongoing problem. In the Australian model, the constituencies are named after persons and there is no geography involved. One could have the Hogan or Cullinane constituency or, perhaps in Cork, a Keane constituency. It might take some of the parochialism out of it.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2013)

Jimmy Harte: I would not suggest my own name. It is not the big issue. In Donegal, for example, we have lost part to Sligo-Leitrim. There were two three-seaters and Donegal South-West ended up almost in Inishowen, which is the most northerly part of Ireland. The people of St. Johnston - next door to Inishowen and where the border parish of Carrigans is in Inishowen - were being represented by three TDs...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Mar 2013)

Jimmy Harte: Could we invite the Minister for Education and Skills, or the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills, to the House to discuss the Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, near-fiasco? The City of Dublin VEC and SUSI must clarify some issues that are cropping up in the offices of many Members. There is one that arises in Donegal, where many of the people go to college...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Dumping at Sea (7 Mar 2013)

Jimmy Harte: I wish to raise the issue of the dumping of chemical weapons off the coast of Donegal which, according to British records, took place between 1940 and 1957. The British Ministry of Defence only admitted to these dumps in the 1990s. In 1995 politicians raised this issue in the Seanad and Dáil. The late Hugh Coveney, who was Minister at the time, said that by 2000, a comprehensive analysis...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Dumping at Sea (7 Mar 2013)

Jimmy Harte: I thank the Minister of State for his reply which I think is the same one given in the late 1990s. According to the late Hugh Coveney, that report was due to be completed in 2000. The part from the UK Government was awaited. My information is that it was never received. It is called the quality status report and, as far as I know, the British Government's submission to it was not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Mobility and Motorised Transport Allowances: Discussion (6 Mar 2013)

Jimmy Harte: Everyone present and many members of the public believe this issue has been handled poorly, not only from a public relations perspective but also from the perspective of disseminating information on the decision. No one has emerged well from the decision to abolish overnight the mobility allowance and mobilised transport grant without explanation. Most members were left confused by the...

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Mar 2013)

Jimmy Harte: It is not a 32-county party.