Results 121-140 of 602 for speaker:Fiach MacConghail

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (15 Mar 2012)

Fiach MacConghail: The difference between the amendments is that amendment No. 5 relates to local elections. We would not like to think-----

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (15 Mar 2012)

Fiach MacConghail: Yes.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (15 Mar 2012)

Fiach MacConghail: I would like to second this amendment, which arises from the Committee Stage debate. We might have to wait until seven years after the next election. It is very convoluted. We think the Seanad should be brave and progressive. I know many people have a difficulty with the setting of quotas in the first place. We have accepted and put aside the problematic aspects of that. We believe it...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (15 Mar 2012)

Fiach MacConghail: I move amendment No. 5: In page 27, between lines 11 and 12, to insert the following: "29.—Section 17 of the Act of 1997 is amended by inserting the following subsection after subsection (4A) (inserted by section 50(c)(iv) of the Act of 2001): "(4B) All political parties shall endeavour to reach the quota of at least 50 per cent men and 50 per cent women in local elections by 2019.".". Our...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (15 Mar 2012)

Fiach MacConghail: Exactly. Thank you. I look forward to the Minister's response on this because I feel a Bill should inspire and encourage and be a guidance to us, as parliamentarians and as citizens, to make our political culture better and more equal, where men and women can participate. This is a non-binding and aspirational clause in the Bill which calls on all political parties to reach a quota. I know...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (15 Mar 2012)

Fiach MacConghail: I am relieved. Go raibh maith agat, a mháistir.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (15 Mar 2012)

Fiach MacConghail: It took the Minister a month.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (15 Mar 2012)

Fiach MacConghail: The technicalities win. I acknowledge the work of former Senator Gemma Hussey. My first ever political action was to help Senator Hussey in her first Seanad election. Before computers were used, I addressed thousands of envelopes in Dartry Park. I remember that very well and I am proud to have supported her such a long time ago. Senator Keane is a little churlish about this proposal, when...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Mar 2012)

Fiach MacConghail: While I am afraid I was not present at the discussion last night on the future of the Seanad, I remind Members that they had considered the idea of inviting leaders of civil society to this Chamber on a regular basis to inform and to share information with them. One of the Seanad's difficulties is that it is not fully democratic. I am a nominated Senator and consequently can speak for this....

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Mar 2012)

Fiach MacConghail: I support Senator Healy Eames and Quinn in their call to the Leader to set aside some time to debate the increased participation in civil society, which is why the Seanad was originally formed. I refer to Change Nation and Ashoka who organised events last weekend in Farmleigh and the Mansion House. There are an extraordinary bunch of social entrepreneurs and social innovators from Ms...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Apr 2012)

Fiach MacConghail: I welcome the courtesy and the advance notice the Leader gives us when planning debates. It means we can plan our debates better and be more informed. I draw attention to the important debate we are having this evening on criminalising the purchase of sex. We expected the Minister to come back within the past six months on a commitment for the public consultation process. He has done so...

Seanad: Human Trafficking and Prostitution: Motion (18 Apr 2012)

Fiach MacConghail: I am seconding this motion. I welcome the Minister to the House. His presence is an acknowledgment of the seriousness and commitment he brings to the substantive issue covered in the motion before the House. Just over six months have passed since we debated the possibility of criminalising the purchase of sex. We suggested that such a measure could and would halt the pernicious and...

Seanad: Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution (Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (24 Apr 2012)

Fiach MacConghail: I also welcome the Minister of State to the House and formally congratulate him on his recent elevation. As a nominated Senator with no experience in EU politics or in the governance of our country, today is a day that I sometimes dread, a day in which I have to contribute to debates like this. It would be easy for me not to appear in the Chamber today, to excuse myself and hope there was no...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 May 2012)

Fiach MacConghail: I congratulate Senator Bacik on the Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill and House will debate Committee Stage today. It shows not only the perseverance but the time it takes for such a small but very important Bill to be introduced and go through the Houses. It started as a Private Members' Bill in 2011 and shows how the Seanad can initiate good legislation. What is the expected schedule...

Seanad: Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (2 May 2012)

Fiach MacConghail: I will be brief in my contribution. I concur with Senator Cullinane's view that these are technical amendments. On yesterday's Order of Business I congratulated Senator Bacik on this very important and significant legislation. This shows again how the Seanad can make a difference. I admire the language in the Bill which describes a philosophical non-confessional body. In my view this is...

Seanad: EU Presidency: Statements, Questions and Answers (10 May 2012)

Fiach MacConghail: The Senator could have made his contribution here first and then went to the media.

Seanad: EU Presidency: Statements, Questions and Answers (Resumed) (10 May 2012)

Fiach MacConghail: I welcome the Minister of State. As I have done privately, I offer my support to her. As Senator Healy Eames stated, Ireland has a fantastic opportunity to use the Presidency - I use the phrase carefully - to improve its damaged reputation. There is a fractured Europe. It is not structurally fractured but the relationships are fractured. We are cranky, for good reason. We have a...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 May 2012)

Fiach MacConghail: There is a crisis in the way culture and our living heritage is administered by the Government. This is not about money but about the lack of vision and public consultation in the way our national cultural institutions are being treated in a profoundly secretive and cavalier way. I am concerned about this and I call on the Leader to invite the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht,...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 May 2012)

Fiach MacConghail: Is this the end of the National Cultural Institutions Act 1997, initiated by the President when he was a Minister, and of the National Archives Act 1986? Will the merger of the National Archives and the National Library succeed in saving money? It will not. I know there can be reductions in costs and more sharing of services, but to abolish or merge organisations without any public...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 May 2012)

Fiach MacConghail: On a point of order, it is on commemorations and not on the issue I raised today.