Results 41-60 of 94 for speaker:Ian Marshall

Seanad: Gambling Legislation: Motion (27 Feb 2019)

Ian Marshall: I am happy to support this motion. My fellow Senators have made many arguments and there is no point replicating or repeating them. We need to understand the problem to understand how we fix it. Experts used to think that addiction was dependence on a chemical. However, it is now defined as repeatedly pursuing a rewarding experience despite serious repercussions. This could be a drug but...

Seanad: Progress in Relation to Climate Change: Statements (14 Feb 2019)

Ian Marshall: I thank the Minister for coming before the House to present to us on this interesting topic. The work of the Oireachtas joint committee on climate change and the environment is certainly worthwhile, but there are grave concerns that sometimes the proportion of blame attributed in the work to agriculture and transport is perhaps unfair. I refer the House to a piece of work published this...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Feb 2019)

Ian Marshall: I take the opportunity to bring to the attention of the House the information received from the British Chambers of Commerce this morning. It represents 75,000 firms which employ over 6 million people. It is telling us that there has been a holding back of investment in business in the United Kingdom and a stockpiling of commodities and food. People are moving offices and relocating in...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Feb 2019)

Ian Marshall: As we all know, language is emotive and powerful and no more so than the comments made by Donald Tusk yesterday. Let us not forget that this inflammatory language has been used before and also reference was made to the comments by Ms Priti Patel, MP, to the effect that there will be food shortages in Ireland. Ms Patel's comments were completely derogatory and derisory. To put the matter in...

Seanad: Climate Action: Statements (24 Jan 2019)

Ian Marshall: I thank the Minister for his presentation. As everyone in this House knows, there is no silver bullet for this. We talk about wind energy, electrification of vehicles, biomass, solar photovoltaics, PV, and retrofitting of insulation. It is quite an endless list. The important point to recognise is the significance of the work of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Communications, Climate...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jan 2019)

Ian Marshall: Most of the questions have been answered. It is interesting because I come from a part of the country where the only safe topic for discussion is the weather. It is the one non-political issue about which someone can talk with a stranger. I would like to pick up on one point with the director general of RTÉ. I was interested when she said RTÉ had a 94% penetration rate, which...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jan 2019)

Ian Marshall: To pick up on Deputy Dooley's point, climate change is a reality, but the challenge is to make it a reality for the general public. Considering Met Éireann's positioning within RTÉ's scheduling, is there an opportunity to use sound bites to highlight the behavioural changes people could make that would make a difference? Rather than having a big advertising campaign, there would...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Examination of the Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly (Resumed) (19 Dec 2018)

Ian Marshall: I thank the witnesses for their interesting presentation. All of the questions have probably been asked but I would like clarity on one issue. With the advent of smart meters and smart grids, will it be possible for business-to-business transactions and trading? If one business is a producer of energy and another business is a consumer of energy, could they work together to maximise...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Examination of the Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly (Resumed) (19 Dec 2018)

Ian Marshall: Lord Deben has made continual references to science policy and its importance. His last point was very interesting. I listened to a BBC Radio 4 interview with a German farmer who was asked why wind turbines and wind generation were considered more successful in Germany than they were in the UK or Ireland. He made the point that when he looked out of his kitchen window, the turbine he saw...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Dec 2018)

Ian Marshall: I thank the witnesses for the presentation. A number of things spring to mind. At the outset, Professor Ó Gallachóir mentioned the collective responsibility we have. We have the legacy of a silo mentality on this problem. We have not worked across Departments and different areas of industry and business to adopt a holistic approach. Targets are ambitious. The fact that the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Dec 2018)

Ian Marshall: I thank Mr. Donnellan for his presentation which included a lot of useful information. As we all know, agriculture and transport are very often portrayed as the villains, but it is important to state at the outset of the discussion that agriculture and farming reacted to demand. Food demand stimulated growth in agriculture, to which farmers were only reacting. Senator Daly has alluded to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Dec 2018)

Ian Marshall: I will begin by referring to Deputy Stanley's comments. With regard to Northern Ireland and Protestants cutting hedges, I would like to make it clear that one's religion is probably not a sign of one's predisposition towards being environmentally responsible or irresponsible. It may be a reference to the fact that Protestants have a tendency to cut their hedges around the 12th fortnight. I...

Seanad: Brexit: Motion (22 Nov 2018)

Ian Marshall: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, for her statement. We are currently living through an unprecedented set of circumstances that has the potential to divide us more than unite us. It is important we take a brief moment to reflect on how we got here. This was something that was borne out of ideology and the debate became politically charged very early on. Last week we had the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Nov 2018)

Ian Marshall: I apologise for being slightly late to this meeting as earlier I had to attend a meeting in Belfast on the environment, climate change and agriculture, which are issues pertinent to this conversation. A managed transition is referenced a number of times in the documents presented by the company and it is critically important. We have a tendency in the agricultural sector to focus on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Nov 2018)

Ian Marshall: It was also stated that it is pretty hard to get people engaged in planting biomass. I have always found in engagements with agriculturalists and farmers that the words "forest" and "forestry" turn them off very quickly. Has much work been done on strategic planting, that is, not taking agricultural land out of production but taking some of the more marginal land such as the riparian strips...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Nov 2018)

Ian Marshall: Have products like hemp been considered in the biomass discussion, or some of the newer products? They are not new, to be honest, but they afford an opportunity to utilise proteins, oils, and soil bioremediation and decontamination as part of it. There are other benefits to those type of crops than being purely a cash crop.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Nov 2018)

Ian Marshall: My next question was pertinent at the weekend because there was a bit of discussion in the North about it. Some 100 years ago in the bogs of Ireland a huge opportunity was capitalised on with regard to sphagnum moss. It holds antiseptic properties and when the First World War was raging and there was a shortage of bandages and dressings, all of a sudden something was coming out of the bogs...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Nov 2018)

Ian Marshall: If I may come in again briefly, reference was made a number of times to anaerobic digestion, AD, which is getting particularly bad press at the moment, some of which is very unfair. The growth of AD is not being managed strategically or in an organised fashion. Could there be a role for some of the organisations and maybe Bord na Móna to manage strategic growth in that area or to look...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Nov 2018)

Ian Marshall: I thank the witnesses for their presentations. I would like some clarity on three points. First, there has been much reference to micro-generation. Having spoken to some of our counterparts in Europe and to businesses which are involved in micro-generation, namely, businesses with a high electricity demand and the ability to generate same, there is an appetite for an adjacent business to...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Nov 2018)

Ian Marshall: I take the opportunity to congratulate BASF on opening its financing platform in Dublin last week.  As it is a platform trading more than €10 million globally, it is a significant investment.  I especially congratulate Bastian Rietz, head of BASF Ireland financing platform, and Richard Carter, the company cluster head for the UK and Ireland.  This is a significant...