Results 1-20 of 274 for long speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2016)

Sean Barrett: ..., full credit to him, was willing to take that amendment. In attendance in the Visitors Gallery for some of the debate on that legislation was Dr. Toddy Daly, son of Dr. Cyril Daly. The latter was a long-time advocate against corporal punishment. It was a wonderful moment when that provision was accepted. Parliament should be entitled to ask questions. I agree with the former Chief...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Banking Sector and Central Bank of Ireland: Discussion (26 Jan 2016)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Governor whom I have known for a long number of years. How would the counter-cyclical capital buffers work?

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Jan 2016)

Sean Barrett: ...that the building behind us will not be ready as promised. The prospect of cost overruns is always there where the Irish construction sector is concerned and we may be next for the treatment. How long is it intended to keep us out of this debating Chamber? Do we have guarantees that the projects will be completed on time?

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2016: Second Stage (19 Jan 2016)

Sean Barrett: ...them to the Minister because I knew he would respond in a positive way. We could, however, go further. The 20 km/h speed limit is an excellent start but on a housing estate, all public areas belong to the residents and motorists should enter with their permission. This would mean property rights being reversed. People are not prosecuted for playing football on the road anymore but we...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: ...goodwill messages to the Minister, who is very welcome on this day. Amendment No. 1 arises out of the debate we had the previous day. That debate was most useful and interesting, even if somewhat prolonged. We got through many of the issues the Minister faces in ensuring this vital part of the economy operates efficiently. It is in that context that amendment No. 1 is proposed. It...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: ...again to 47 million, which is 88% of peak tonnage. I agree with the Minister that the sector is almost back at peak tonnage. It is in that context that I propose the first of my amendments. We should deliberate long and hard as to which configuration of ports is best for the economy of this country. We can either put them into local authorities, which is feature of this legislation, we...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: ...functions of port companies are not areas in which I as Minister have any role." Will they do it without the Minister pushing? Will those necessary competitive gains, as documented very well in a very long report by the Competition Authority, be made? That is why I tabled the amendment. If the Minister thinks it enhances his control of the ports sector, would he wish to add improving...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: As long as they comply.

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: ...No. 29:In page 19, to delete lines 39 to 42. This deals with the accountability of the chairperson and chief executive to the local authority, which we support and have been talking about for a long time. In subsection (2) it is stated, "Neither the chairperson nor the chief executive of a transferred company referred to in subsection (1) shall be required to attend before the elected...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Bill 2015: Second Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: ..., as well as a public crime. People believe that when personal jewellery is scattered around the place or stolen, it is a real violation and it takes older people and those who live alone or in the country a long time to recover from such a traumatic experience. In the context of attempts to enforce drink driving legislation, I regret the ingenuity of the legal profession in defending...

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (11 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: ...that no place of detention shall henceforth be called or titled "St. Patrick's". The Department is doing away with this model and I fully support the Department in abolishing it. It has taken so long. The institution was based in Clonmel in 1946. Then in the 1950s it moved to a prison in Mountjoy. Now, it is finally being shut down with universal support. The name of St. Patrick was...

Seanad: Gradam an Uachtaráin Bill 2015: Second Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: ...citizenship awards. In 1998, the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution said that the honours system issue had been raised "in a desultory manner by governments since 1930". Various people have mentioned, along the line, that a system has always been pending. Michael Finucane suggested that there should be an Irish honours system when Christina Noble received an award from...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (8 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: ...was being fattened up. I regret that I did not take those comments more seriously at the time because the major beneficiary is now British Airways, which has acquired Aer Lingus for a song. We no longer have a national airline and British Airways now has a monopoly from Heathrow to every airport on the island of Ireland. The Minister of State made reference to unintended consequences...

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (2 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: ...Conghail. I did not know it was the Minister's first Bill, but it is a pretty good place to start and I wish her and the National Concert Hall every success. It is such a valuable institution. Along with the Iveagh Gardens which are behind it, it is a major cultural complex, which has been of inestimable value to the city of Dublin and to this country. Long may it prevail.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: This was inserted by way of amendment No. 52 on Committee Stage in the Seanad. I cannot find any reference to the monitor in that section either. It has been a long day and it may be that somebody else will find it. We do not define him or her and I do not think we can rely on section 42 as inserted by amendment No. 52 on Committee Stage. The monitor is not mentioned if I have read it...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (26 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: ...that most of what barristers do is contentious. We have a high cost legal system which the Minister is seeking to correct. We support her in that regard and the issue has been spoken about for a long time. I gather it is a Bar Council rule, but why, if people have degrees and qualifications, can we not talk to them without having a third party present, given that it seriously adds to...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (26 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: ...the same house. It does not make any sense to overcharge people so heavily, as we have been doing through the conveyancing monopoly, on the purchase of a house. Economists do not like it because this monopoly has gone on for so long. Most house purchasers do not like it much either. We want that to be reported on and not to have to wait for four years. We want reports on the...

Seanad: Emergency Department Waiting Times: Statements (26 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: ...Library and Research Service has updated, show there is a big budget, which is generous in comparison with OECD countries. It should always be more, but that reminds me of a definition I read a long time ago. The WHO definition of health was that one should feel perfectly splendid all the time. I am afraid that is not the real world and the Minister has scarce resources over many...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: ...the Taoiseach's sense of urgency when he spoke in New York and I hope that this will be the maximum time. As with the earlier amendment and the absence of quantification, this could be put on the long finger. I do not wish to press the amendment but the Minister of State has communicated to the House the urgency that surrounds this issue.

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2015)

Sean Barrett: ...which contains a clause like this then Members ought to be alerted to it. If advice is not written down it lets the permanent government off the hook far too lightly. It should have been reformed long before now.