Results 161-180 of 2,017 for speaker:Paul Bradford

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Paul Bradford: The provisions in this legislation can be changed next week, next month or next year. That will remain the case unless we provide for a stronger and more binding constitutional provision. That is what we have to vote on.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Paul Bradford: I apologise that I was not here to hear the Minister's contribution on Second Stage but I have followed this morning's debate with interest. Senator Higgins brought her legal background to bear on the issue and expressed her satisfaction with the language used in the Bill. All we can ask from each other is honesty. I ask the Minister to confirm that it would be possible for a future...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Dec 2014)

Paul Bradford: Senators Zappone, MacSharry and Cullinane have made some interesting observations on the water debate. The Seanad must do its business, irrespective of what Ministers tell us we should do. We cannot and will not be browbeaten into taking any particular decision. Over 12 months ago the Irish people decided to keep Seanad Éireann, not to have a second axis of Government but to have an...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (11 Dec 2014)

Paul Bradford: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (11 Dec 2014)

Paul Bradford: And strikes.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2014)

Paul Bradford: I support the recommendation in the name of the Sinn Féin Senators. I also agree with what Senator Tom Sheahan has said. Year in year out the topic of the disabled drivers' regulations is an issue on which I have spoken. The greatest champion of change in the Oireachtas in this regard during my time is the Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan....

Seanad: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2014)

Paul Bradford: While it is a HSE scheme I presume the regulations come from the Department of Finance. The definition of "disabled" genuinely needs to be reviewed. This argument is presented year after year and has not been reviewed which is grossly unfair. From a constituency perspective all of us know too many individuals who are genuinely disabled and unable to drive and need assistance but do not...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2014)

Paul Bradford: I advise Senator Darragh O'Brien that there are Members of both Houses and of one political party who could advise us of how things work in North Korea and they are not in Sinn Féin.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2014)

Paul Bradford: I would like to hear the Minister of State's observations on USC. Has he adopted the same position as the one expressed by the Minister for Finance here some weeks ago or has his view evolved?

Seanad: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2014)

Paul Bradford: The broad scope of section 2 relates to the USC. We do not often have an opportunity to have the Minister of State, or his senior Minister, before us to talk about broad taxation policy. I tabled a matter on the Adjournment perhaps a month or so ago specifically on the USC. I was fortunate, given the way Adjournment debates generally happen, that the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan,...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2014)

Paul Bradford: I welcome the Minister of State. I support the recommendation presented by my two colleagues. I appreciate that the Minister of State is probably taking instructions from Beijing, but we hope at least that he will listen to our submission, and, if he cannot respond favourably today perhaps it is something that he and his officials can reflect upon. If I can meander slightly, the pensions...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2014)

Paul Bradford: I support the call from Senator Craughwell for a debate on the most recent episode of Seanad reform. It is now a very long-running saga. I say with no great pleasure but with absolute certainty that the Taoiseach has zero credibility in relation to any matter concerning the House. As part of an election whim in 2009, there was a back of an envelope proposal by the Taoiseach and one or two...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Dec 2014)

Paul Bradford: I support the previous interventions of Senators Crown and Mullen. Both have raised matters of profound importance. The purpose of politics and of the Houses of the Oireachtas is to discuss such matters in a timely fashion, not once the horse has bolted. I hope the Minister will be in a position to come before us sometime this afternoon by agreement. I also want to support the comments of...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Sporting Organisations (2 Dec 2014)

Paul Bradford: I welcome the Minister of State back to the House. He was present last week when we engaged in a substantive debate on sport in Ireland. I wish to return to one of the topics I raised with him on that occasion. I appreciate that the matter I am raising is wide-ranging in nature and that the Minister of State has no control over direct funding for League of Ireland soccer. However, as...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Nov 2014)

Paul Bradford: I welcome the intervention of Senator Jim D'Arcy on the housing programme announced yesterday. He introduced a note of caution and realism. While will certainly need to have the Minister of State attend to tease it out with him, I hope we have a housing strategy rather than a strategy for developers and the construction industry. We must reflect on the fact that they are not the one thing....

Seanad: Participation in Sport: Motion (26 Nov 2014)

Paul Bradford: Senator Mooney raises a valid point because, of course, that did happen and the English soccer manager apologised.

Seanad: Participation in Sport: Motion (26 Nov 2014)

Paul Bradford: I cannot speak for John Delaney. However, the Minister of State, as the person responsible for sport, through his Department invests very significant funding in Irish soccer, and long may that continue. He should make his strong displeasure known because I believe we need to have a message of reconciliation from all the sporting bodies on this island. Soccer, the greatest game in the world...

Seanad: Participation in Sport: Motion (26 Nov 2014)

Paul Bradford: To conclude, I support the motion. I know the Cathaoirleach is attempting to be helpful and I will try to kill two birds with the one stone. The other issue I would like the Minister of State to take up with Mr. Delaney and the FAI, and to be as robust as possible on, is the shocking state of League of Ireland football. I remember a time in the 1970s when 25,000 people were attending...

Seanad: Participation in Sport: Motion (26 Nov 2014)

Paul Bradford: I did not expect to be called so promptly so my thoughts are a bit unplanned. I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I certainly welcome the motion which is, obviously, fully supported by everybody. Any time the Minister of State comes before us to speak on sporting matters, I appreciate that he has a broad range of knowledge across the entire sporting sector. In particular, I...

Seanad: Water Sector Reforms: Statements (25 Nov 2014)

Paul Bradford: We cannot see it, it is okay.