Results 21-34 of 34 for 5 million speaker:David Norris

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2009)

David Norris: ...'Toole said, I do not agree that the matter of quantum may not be as relevant as it might appear to be. It is extremely relevant when a group of people inside the discredited banks believe that €500,000 is not enough income for a year in a period when we are cancelling the Christmas bonus, introducing prescription charges for people on medical cards and have a strike next Tuesday. It...

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

David Norris: It is absolutely outrageous. The whole thing is a spin. On "Prime Time" on 5 May, in response to a question from Mr. Justin Kilcullen, the Minister of State said we were protecting short-term emergency humanitarian aid because that was where our focus was. We want to save lives, but we are saving lives with our programme in any event. Yet when the researchers contacted the Minister of...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 May 2009)

David Norris: .... The Minister should be involved in this case. In the general context of the two previous items, I raise the extraordinary situation concerning the cut in overseas aid. On RTE's "Primetime" on 5 May, the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Power, a very decent man, stated that "we are protecting short-term emergency and humanitarian aid because that is where our focus is. We want to save...

Seanad: Registration Fees (3 Mar 2009)

David Norris: ...to pharmacy students and, in particular, the sophister students. I raised an issue regarding their situation in the previous session. It concerns the increase of their registration fee to €1,500. The fee seems extraordinarily high and the deadline for payment is also rather harsh. I anticipate the Minister of State's response. He will start by saying that the money is spent on...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Feb 2009)

David Norris: Everybody receives a tax break on pensions. The Government set the levy at 3%, 6% and 10% depending on the rates of taxation. The actual rate is therefore 2%, 5% and 6% because the people on the highest salaries receive the largest tax breaks. That is a difference of €215 million.

Seanad: Hunger Task Force Report: Statements (7 Oct 2008)

David Norris: ...of the famine. One of the striking images in Dublin is the famine memorial near the Custom House. In my own family, even though there were fairly substantial people on my mother's side — in 1845 they had very considerable land holdings in County Laois — after the famine they were reduced to a few hundred acres. An entire generation was wiped out because they refused to take rents...

Seanad: Cluster Munitions: Motion (6 Mar 2008)

David Norris: ...its early introduction in the Oireachtas; and urges the Government — (4) to support research, publication and awareness raising initiatives on this subject nationally and internationally; (5) to ensure that the draft legislation provides not just for the prohibition of use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions but also to make provision for assistance to victims of...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Bill 2007: Second Stage (13 Feb 2008)

David Norris: ...all over the world. In a recent horrifying case in India a doctor was caught who had been involved in 800 such cases. The trafficking of persons generates £8 billion annually. Somewhere between 500,000 and 5 million people are involved. The Minister of State cites 800,000 but no one knows the actual figure. One of the most significant elements of the Bill is the provision of...

Seanad: Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2007: Committee Stage. (3 Oct 2007)

David Norris: ...word "may" means the Government is not going to do anything — the track record suggests this is the case — then there will be nothing for the board to oversee. That also affects amendment No. 5. Amendment No. 5 is about the disbursal of moneys from the scheme. It is an attempt to follow what I am informed is best European practice in terms of the disbursal of moneys and it ensures...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Feb 2007)

David Norris: ...the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs before the House to explain the rapid response corps? It may be a worthy initiative but I am somewhat concerned that we are spending €5 million of taxpayers' money on recruiting for the UN. Irish agencies such as Concern and GOAL already work in the same area and I would hate to think they are to be undercut. Let us put these...

Seanad: Energy Policy: Motion (25 Oct 2006)

David Norris: ...a large number of energy inefficient houses on to the market. This is to the detriment of the customers and our obligations. We have mentioned the Kyoto Protocol. We have already had to buy €185 million of carbon credits. If this matter is not properly addressed, it is estimated we could pay up to €5 billion in a few years' time. That is a big bill for the taxpayer. The general...

Seanad: Road Network: Motion. (8 Feb 2006)

David Norris: ...the people and it is arrogant and unrepentant. The demeanour of its representatives before committees of the Oireachtas is appalling. They simply dismissed us. All the time we hear about €10 million here and €5 million there and what it could be used for in our hospitals. Has NTR no conscience? What about the application to which the taxpayers' money could be put if they did not have...

Seanad: Rights of Migrant Workers: Statements. (13 Apr 2005)

David Norris: ...abroad recently, I listened to the BBC World Service. It did not make me feel proud when I heard the case of Ms Salvacion Orge, the Filipina hired to work as beautician on Irish Ferries and paid 75 cent an hour. When she had the temerity to do an interview with RTE television, she was sacked. How is that for freedom of speech? Are we proud of this? Thank God for the trade unions and her...

Seanad: Privacy and Defamation: Statements. (9 Feb 2005)

David Norris: ...It manufactured completely false stories about Elton John and published them with the result that its circulation increased. That probably allowed it to cover the cost of the libel case and the £1 million sterling fine imposed. I am not xenophobic. While my father was English and I could hardly be described as being anti-British or anti-English, there is no doubt that this country now has...