Results 41-60 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Jan 2016)

Sean Barrett: I pay tribute to Eileen Leslie Greer, aged 98, who was presented with a medal and certificate by the British ambassador yesterday for her work in Bletchley Park in decoding German codes. She is a first class honours German graduate from TCD. We owe a lot of our freedoms to those who did work at Bletchley Park, especially in this jurisdiction. I must express concern at an article by Eithne...

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2016: Second Stage (19 Jan 2016)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister. He and I have had this discussion many times in various existences and I compliment him on all the work he has done on road safety, in particular, Jake's Legacy. The family campaigned outside Leinster House and I got Deputies and Senators to sign their petition. The parents, Roseann and Christopher, lost their six year old son, Jake, and I referred them to the...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Jan 2016)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the political reforms announced by the Taoiseach on 5 January 2016 and circulated to us the next day by the Oireachtas Library and Research Service. The reforms include election of the Ceann Comhairle by a secret ballot, the proportional allocation of chairs of Oireachtas committees using the D'Hondt method and regular appearances by the Taoiseach before the working group of...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Jan 2016)

Sean Barrett: I join in the happy new year wishes expressed by other Members and the congratulations offered to Mr. Peter Finnegan. I also congratulate Ms Maria Louise Fufezan and Ms Diana Bura who won the BT Young Scientist of the Year award last week with a project on enzymes in animal foods. They attend Loreto College in Balbriggan. The event was a huge success and, as Senator Ivana Bacik said, will...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Jan 2016)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Innovation 2020: Statements (13 Jan 2016)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State and thank the Leader for extending the time. I complimented the Minister of State earlier on the Order of Business on being in Birr yesterday to launch the radio telescope. The family there has been at the centre of science in Ireland for many hundreds of years. It was a great endorsement by the Government. Action No. 5.10 of Innovation 2020 is to "bring...

Seanad: Innovation 2020: Statements (13 Jan 2016)

Sean Barrett: We should not have done that. Mathematicians and mathematics departments in Ireland have a duty to explain their subjects to young people. Writing articles in learned journals and so on is one thing but we need the supply of STEM people. When we are all gone and the articles are on dusty shelves in libraries, it will be time for the next generation of maths teachers, economics teachers and...

Seanad: Innovation 2020: Statements (13 Jan 2016)

Sean Barrett: -----and I am sure there were pressures to give everyone a PhD at birth, so to speak, but they did not. They held the standards but we are not meeting the standards. This will have to by addressed by whoever holds the Minister of State's post in the future. I hope, with the best of good wishes, that the Minister of State will either retain his current position or obtain a higher-rated one....

Seanad: Irish Water: Motion (13 Jan 2016)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State. This is an issue that brought 100,000 people onto the streets. Looking at the record of this Government, which has much to commend it in many ways, this was the low point. It really annoyed the citizens and I am not so sure that the annoyance is at all gone away. Last week we had the Ombudsman complaining that he is not allowed to investigate Irish Water....

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 1:In page 10, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following:“(4) The Minister shall, after consultation with the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, give a direction to a Port Company to report on the implementation of the Competition Authority Report on Competition in the Irish Ports Sector (2013) in particular in respect of the vital need for...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister for his reply. I will not be pressing the amendment. It has to be referred somewhere - perhaps the Economic Management Council of the four senior Ministers. I do not envisage these reforms being made unless there is pressure somewhere else. I used to serve as a Government representative on the National Economic and Social Council; I wonder if it can do anything. I am...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: I second the amendment and will let the Leader speak before me.

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: I formally second Senator Craughwell's amendment and thank the Leader for his experience in this regard. There are a number of angles on this issue. The idea of worker directors was that people who actually did the work would have a seat on the board. These are State organisations. I do not know how it fell through the holes in the system that there is no such provision. The fear is that...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: Who are the harbour masters and what could they bring to the board? This is redundant as far as the Leader is concerned but for the rest of us, I will quote from the website of the International Harbour Masters Association:Harbour Masters require a variety of skills as well as specialised knowledge and understanding. Traditionally Harbour Masters have a marine background and have usually...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 4:In page 16, line 18, after “executive” where it secondly occurs to insert the following:“in accordance with the guidelines on appointments to public boards published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform”. The formulation of amendment No. 4 contains the words of the Minister when he was in the House on Committee Stage. We also...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister for his reply. As we are ad idem, I will withdraw the amendment with leave of the House.

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: I join in the good wishes to the Cathaoirleach, the Leader, all the staff in the Bills Office and the Seanad Office, the ushers and the people who serve us so splendidly throughout the year. I thank all the Senators, from the father of the House to its newest Member, Senator Cahill. We must wish the Members of the Seanad many happy returns, the appropriate greeting. A Christmas Carolwas...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015: Second Stage (17 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister. I second what Senator Norris said about the splendid year the Minister had and his great celebrations because of the result of the constitutional referendum. This debate might belatedly be informed by some of the facts. The Sheffield study is simulated on page 32 of the Library and Research Service documentation supplied to members. It states that if one implements...

Seanad: Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill 2015: Second Stage (17 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: I extend a welcome to the Minister of State and the Bill. I echo all of the accolades that have been bestowed on Deputy Willie Penrose in his promotion of this matter. Bringing the bankruptcy term back to one year is a good move and protecting the family home is commendable. In addition, the provision whereby people who deliberately conceal assets may face a bankruptcy term of up to eight...