Results 61-80 of 1,886 for speaker:Fergal Browne

Seanad: Order of Business. (17 Dec 2002)

Fergal Browne: I join Senator Kenneally in congratulating the ESB. County Carlow was one of the first rural areas to be electrified in the 1930s.

Seanad: Order of Business. (17 Dec 2002)

Fergal Browne: Carlow led the way, as usual.

Seanad: Order of Business. (17 Dec 2002)

Fergal Browne: Will the Leader ask the Minister for Transport to come before the House to make a statement about the legislative programme for the forthcoming year? While he has been active in announcing plans for next year, I am concerned that some of them will not happen. It has been proposed that a national driver testing agency be established. A decision to reduce the number of learner drivers on the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (17 Dec 2002)

Fergal Browne: I ask her to organise a debate in the new year.

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (17 Dec 2002)

Fergal Browne: The Senator is admitting that there are broken promises.

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (17 Dec 2002)

Fergal Browne: I welcome the Minister to the House. I had the pleasure of meeting him recently at a function in Carlow. I am glad that everything in the Fianna Fáil manifesto has not been left out. Many of my friends and constituents in Carlow are still looking for the first-time buyer's grant and for a big increase in children's allowance. They are also frantically searching for the section in the...

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (17 Dec 2002)

Fergal Browne: The Minister talks a little too straight at times and that is a difficulty. However, he seems to get bogged down in detail. We seem to have created another layer of bureaucracy. I take comfort from the fact that Senator McDowell also finds the Bill confusing. I was completely baffled by it and I took time to listen to the debate. Are we adding yet one more layer of bureaucracy? No one can...

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (17 Dec 2002)

Fergal Browne: The impression was given that it was completed.

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (17 Dec 2002)

Fergal Browne: I listened to the debate.

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (17 Dec 2002)

Fergal Browne: It is important to point out that the same system is already in operation in Montpelier. Much work will remain to be done even when the system is complete. I do not know the purpose of special purpose companies. The Minister did not indicate in his speech how many or why such companies will be established. Will one be established in every county? I do not know the reason for them. Perhaps the...

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (17 Dec 2002)

Fergal Browne: Unfortunately, people already have cars. Perhaps the Minister will consider giving back to the local authority a percentage of the money from tolls, rather than allowing it to disappear into one big central agency. That would generate goodwill in local communities. We are all hounded by people who oppose motorways and tolling systems. However, they might accept them if they thought car tax...

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (17 Dec 2002)

Fergal Browne: A lot of progress has been made, but to cite the Fianna Fáil election slogan, "A lot done, more to do".

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (17 Dec 2002)

Fergal Browne: I must give Fianna Fáil credit because it was a lot better than the Fine Gael slogan.

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (17 Dec 2002)

Fergal Browne: Perhaps the Minister might clarify some of the points I raised.

Seanad: Order of Business. (18 Dec 2002)

Fergal Browne: The problem lies with the management and not the money.

Seanad: Order of Business. (19 Dec 2002)

Fergal Browne: I have raised twice before the need for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to brief the House on the Good Friday Agreement, the release of prisoners, the funding that some prisoner groups receive and whether it is being used appropriately. In the light of the recently leaked document, it would be appropriate to have a debate early in the new year on these issues. The comments...

Seanad: Order of Business. (19 Dec 2002)

Fergal Browne: A reduction is proposed.

Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Jan 2003)

Fergal Browne: Will the Leader request the Minister for the Environment and Local Government to come before the House to explain why the allocation for non-national roads was based on 1996 census figures and not on the most up to date figures, thereby short-changing many local authorities?

Seanad: Order of Business. (4 Feb 2003)

Fergal Browne: Will the Leader ask the Minister for Education and Science to come before the House as a matter of urgency to discuss the review of the education network prepared by the Centre of Management and Organisation Development which recommends the closure of nine part-time education centres and three full-time centres? This will have a massive effect on some 3,900 schools, both primary and...

Seanad: Road Safety: Motion. (5 Feb 2003)

Fergal Browne: Unfortunately, I do not share the enthusiastic support for the Government's record on road safety. The road safety campaign failed in its original target of reducing the number of deaths on the roads by 20%. The penalty points system was introduced in the tenth month of the fifth year of the five year strategy, even though it had been promised years earlier. Why was it not introduced earlier...