Results 81-100 of 205 for long speaker:Martin Ferris

Topical Issue Debate: Missing Persons Issues (26 Sep 2012)

Martin Ferris: ...If funding could be found to ascertain whether the remains found can be linked with the people missing at sea, it would be appreciated. I appreciate that the fact the remains have been at sea for a long time makes it more difficult to prove scientifically whether they belong to missing persons but the Department should at least try to see if they can be linked to those who have been lost...

Topical Issue Debate: Missing Persons Issues (26 Sep 2012)

Martin Ferris: ...If funding could be found to ascertain whether the remains found can be linked with the people missing at sea, it would be appreciated. I appreciate that the fact the remains have been at sea for a long time makes it more difficult to prove scientifically whether they belong to missing persons but the Department should at least try to see if they can be linked to those who have been lost...

Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage (19 Sep 2012)

Martin Ferris: ...North, to closer and further co­operation across this area of concern and, indeed, the entire agricultural sector. There is a good working relationship between the Ministers, which is to be commended. Long may it continue. Regarding the prevention and detection of disease and the imposition of the necessary controls, the Bill proposes to endow authorised officers with the power to...

Child Care Services (10 Jul 2012)

Martin Ferris: ...24: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of social workers employed in the State in child services on 2 July 2012; the number of social workers in child services on long term sick leave, sabbatical and secondment to another Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33333/12]

Common Fisheries Policy: Statements (13 Jun 2012)

Martin Ferris: ...a great disservice since Ireland's accession to the EEC. I hope this move will be a step on the road to rectifying the current problem. The Irish fishing industry has been micro-managed for too long. This is an opportunity to give fishermen some form of democratic control over their future. The ban on the discarding of fish is also to be welcomed. EU rules mean that more than 1 million...

Private Members' Business. National Monuments: Motion (22 May 2012)

Martin Ferris: ...not happen is if the Minister acts as called on in our motion and ensures the full preservation of the buildings as a national monument. Once that occurs further steps can be taken to progress the longer term and broader idea of developing Moore Street and the surrounding area as an historical and cultural zone, with all the benefits I referred to earlier in terms of it becoming an...

British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly: Statements (17 May 2012)

Martin Ferris: ...St. Andrews and Hillsborough Agreements were brought forward and we are now living in a far better place. I must acknowledge the role played by the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly during the long period to which I refer. When one is living through events, it often seems they take a long time to transpire. When one looks at them through the prism of history, however, and in the...

British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly: Statements (17 May 2012)

Martin Ferris: ...towards bringing about an end to British control in the Six Counties with the consent of the people who live there. As already stated, when one is living through events they seem to take a very long time to transpire. When we look back, however, we can see that this has been quite a short period in our history. We have managed to bring 99.9% of the people to a place where it will be...

Written Answers — Health Service Staff: Health Service Staff (16 May 2012)

Martin Ferris: Question 31: To ask the Minister for Health if he will confirm that a FETAC level 5 qualification is not required for long-standing care staff including multi-task assistants and or carers on night duty in community hospitals or otherwise; the qualifications required for such staff; if such standards are applied consistently across the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter....

State Contracts (2 May 2012)

Martin Ferris: ...The wider point is that large lucrative contracts in several State companies have been awarded to firms overseas. I have no doubt that this will lead to significant job losses and the closure of long-standing Irish businesses dependant on these contracts. Does the Minister agree that there ought to be preferential treatment for Irish companies applying for these contracts? The current...

Written Answers — Human Rights Issues: Human Rights Issues (29 Mar 2012)

Martin Ferris: ...and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will call on the Moroccan Government to immediately repeal Article 475 in Morocco's penal code which allows a rapist to avoid prosecution and a long prison sentence by marrying his victim if she is a minor; and if he will also call for the passing of legislation in Morocco prohibiting violence against women. [17228/12]

Sale of State Assets: Statements (8 Mar 2012)

Martin Ferris: ...agreement that a third of those proceeds will go to reinvestment in the economy. What we now have in place of the original proposal to sell off €2 billion of valuable State assets built up over a long and hard period is a new proposal that €3 billion of assets will be sold and that €2 billion of the proceeds will go not towards any programme to create employment but into the black...

Turbary Rights: Motion (6 Mar 2012)

Martin Ferris: ...natural habitat. This motion stresses the need to balance conservation as laid down in directives with the traditional right of people to utilise local natural resources, as they have done for a long time without causing serious environmental damage. Key to all of this, and indeed other issues which are currently the cause of great concern in rural communities, is that faceless...

State Assets: Motion (28 Feb 2012)

Martin Ferris: ...the sale of State assets for bank debt reduction will not relieve the State's national debt; — further accepts that the sale of State assets is a short-term measure that will have detrimental long-term economic, social and environmental costs; — notes the potential economic, social and environmental benefits of commercial semi-State companies have not yet been fully realised; —...

Further Education and Training Sector (23 Feb 2012)

Martin Ferris: ...he must seek the views of all stakeholders and that this is the proper way to do it. However, he needs to put in place a system or structure, whereby the process can continue for only so long. At the end of that timeframe he needs to make it clear that he intends to put it all together.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2012)

Martin Ferris: Now comes the septic tank issue, which is of significant concern to people in rural Ireland. We want to get away from the Paddy the Plasterer politics that we endured in the House for a long time. The Minister has an opportunity. When he gets to his feet in five or ten minutes' time, he can tell us what he means by "no financial hardship". He can allay many of the concerns of those who...

Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Second Stage (13 Dec 2011)

Martin Ferris: ...money and he gives one the choice of burning down one's house and claiming the insurance money or stopping feeding the children. Like the IMF and Goldman Sachs, the Sopranos are not fussy as long as one pays them back. Page 21 of the updated stability programme states: "Of course policy is a matter for Government." That is total and absolute nonsense. The only matter which the Irish...

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (30 Nov 2011)

Martin Ferris: ...is true. However, as other speakers and I have pointed out, successive Governments of which all the main parties were members were content to ignore this matter. As a result, it was placed on the long finger for decades. Ordinary householders, many of whom are already struggling, will be asked to foot the Bill for those years of neglect. The Bill is another attack on rural dwellers and,...

Road Transport Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (24 Nov 2011)

Martin Ferris: ...they were involved in the conflict, they should not be discriminated against. The Minister has an opportunity to send a powerful message to people who have come out of prison after spending long periods there. Deputy Dessie Ellis spent 12 or 13 years in prison and I spent 13 years in prison, although I am no criminal. I was never involved in criminal activity. I know nobody who was in...

Road Transport Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (23 Nov 2011)

Martin Ferris: ...are people who were sentenced in the Diplock courts in the North and the other non-jury courts in the Twenty-six Counties. Under the special powers Act, those who were convicted received very long sentences and were released under the Good Friday Agreement on the recognition by both Governments that these were special category prisoners. In July I had the opportunity to go and speak in...