Results 181-200 of 743 for speaker:Jim D'Arcy

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2014)

Jim D'Arcy: I too wish to raise the issue of the incident in Jobstown over the weekend. I wish to praise the fortitude in which An Tánaiste and our colleague, Senator Katherine Zappone dealt with a very unsavoury and unpleasant incident. Thank goodness we do not live in a mobocracy. We do not give into mob rule and the mob do not rule. It is a good thing that is the case. I am glad the public...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2014)

Jim D'Arcy: Like Senator Brennan, I attended last night's Fine Gael constituency executive AGM in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dundalk. There were protestors outside it. They were cacophonic, but they treated people with respect and did not interfere with where one was going or what one was doing. I was happy about that and congratulate the young man in charge. In contrast, Saturday in Jobstown saw a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Further Education and Training Strategy: Discussion (12 Nov 2014)

Jim D'Arcy: Sometimes SOLAS is like a referee officiating at a boxing match.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Further Education and Training Strategy: Discussion (12 Nov 2014)

Jim D'Arcy: I thank Mr. Moriarty.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Further Education and Training Strategy: Discussion (12 Nov 2014)

Jim D'Arcy: I apologise for being late, but we were dealing with the Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, a part of which relates to the grant system for further education and its management by SOLAS. I have two questions, the first of which is for SOLAS. That five education and training boards, ETBs, did not initially have training centres caused problems in some places. Has the situation been...

Seanad: Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Fifth Stage (12 Nov 2014)

Jim D'Arcy: It is not very often that I disagree with Senator Averil Power, but I must do so on this occasion. This is a very important Bill supporting the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, dealing with student grants and preventing the development of a system of league tables at further education level. I congratulate the Minister on bringing the Bill through the House.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2014)

Jim D'Arcy: I was very disappointed when the talks between the Minister for Education and Skills and the teachers' unions broke down yesterday. As Senator Fidelma Healy Eames has said, the members of the Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection asked the previous Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, to increase the level of standardisation of the junior certificate. I...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Nov 2014)

Jim D'Arcy: I wish to comment briefly on the Irish Water issue. Can Senator Cullinane explain whether he was talking about all the water of Ireland or just water in the Twenty-six Counties?

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Nov 2014)

Jim D'Arcy: I fully agree with Senator Feargal Quinn's comment about laundered diesel and both of us have raised the issue before. It is a bit like Italo Calvino's story about the Argentine ants. Everyone has a solution for how to get rid of them but none of them works. As the Senator said, we must remove the dye from diesel and give VAT rebates. Unfortunately, the British Treasury is blocking such...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Nov 2014)

Jim D'Arcy: I spoke to Mr. Danny Kennedy, who is the Minister for Regional Development in the North, and I know that diesel laundering is not a Northern issue but a Treasury one. We also need to raise the issue at the British-Irish Council. I have raised the matter with British parliamentarians, including very recently with Sir Roger Gale, and he said he will bring the matter to the attention of the...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Nov 2014)

Jim D'Arcy: Laundered diesel has led to Revenue losing approximately €1 billion over the past five years. Coincidently, that is the investment we need to make in Irish Water over the next two years and it would also more than pay for the A5 motorway. This is a very serious issue and I ask the relevant Minister to come into the House to give us an update on where we are at the moment.

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism (Amendment) Bill 2014: Second Stage (21 Oct 2014)

Jim D'Arcy: At 10.30 a.m. tomorrow.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Oct 2014)

Jim D'Arcy: Turn off the tap.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Oct 2014)

Jim D'Arcy: Last Tuesday eight cattle worth €12,000 were stolen from a farmer in Knockbridge, County Louth. Cattle rustling is on the increase. That man bought four of those cattle in Carnaross mart the previous day at a cost of €1,300 each. Louth IFA is calling for much greater sanctions to be imposed on anyone caught stealing livestock or tampering with cattle ID tags. This is a very...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2014)

Jim D'Arcy: Come on, now.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2014)

Jim D'Arcy: Fianna Fáil was worse.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2014)

Jim D'Arcy: Senator Leyden's concerns about the Labour Party and Fine Gael are a bit like the corpse expressing concern about the people at the wake.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2014)

Jim D'Arcy: I am sure Fianna Fáil is very deeply upset about the result of the Roscommon-South Leitrim by-election, so I will not say any more about it.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2014)

Jim D'Arcy: What?

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2014)

Jim D'Arcy: Senator Leyden raised the issue of Irish Water. We had a great discussion about it at the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party meeting. It was not a bun fight; it was a great discussion and progress was made. Our attitude to Irish Water, which I am sure is the same as Fianna Fáil's, is that we need better contact if there is a problem. We cannot be fobbed off by being given a number and...