Results 81-100 of 31,660 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Mar 2008)

Paschal Donohoe: I wish to request a number of debates. My first query relates to the status of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill which is on our programme for later in the month. I refer to a clause in that Bill which is causing a number of tenants leasing commercial properties to be forced out of those properties because the landlords are claiming the powers of the tenants under the proposed...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Mar 2008)

Paschal Donohoe: The groceries order reinforced that. If any supplier in this country, particularly a small domestic one, is asked by a large multinational retailer to pay for its product to be placed on the retailer's shelf, it is an utter indictment of what we have done with the groceries order. It is a very serious issue that will impact on domestic employment across a period when we will depend on it...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Mar 2008)

Paschal Donohoe: I want to reinforce the call that has been made for a debate on the implementation of that new legislation. I will conclude by making the point, which was previously made by the Leader, that domestic competitiveness will be probably the key point on which we must act in the future. As such, the groceries order deserved to be abolished. However, what is in its place is not working and we...

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Agency Workers) (12 Mar 2008)

Paschal Donohoe: I wish to quote from someone who knows a great deal more about these matters than I do. He wrote, "As awesomely productive as market capitalism has proved to be, its Achilles' heel is a growing perception that its rewards, increasingly skewed to the skilled, are not distributed justly." The writer of those words is Alan Greenspan, the recent chairman of the Federal Reserve. By the use of...

Seanad: Sustainable Residential Development: Motion (19 Mar 2008)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank my colleagues for their contributions to this discussion and support their comments. I welcome the Minister to the House. It is great to have a Minister here for debates on such important policy areas. There are two overall points I wish to emphasise. I support the comments of my colleague Senator Coffey on the need for the Minister to back up his clear good intentions with action...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Mar 2008)

Paschal Donohoe: I support Senator Fitzgerald's call for a debate on the economy. I would like the debate to focus in particular on the impact of the international banking sector on Ireland. In recent weeks, a major European bank, Comerzbank, announced a €450 million exposure to the sub-prime market. This week Morgan Stanley suffered a 42% drop in its earnings for the first quarter and this Monday the...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Mar 2008)

Paschal Donohoe: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Apr 2008)

Paschal Donohoe: Other colleagues have called for a debate on the escalation of crime and the Garda response to it. I support those calls. The response we frequently hear from the Government is that the necessary funding is in place and the needs of the Garda are being met to enable it provide an adequate and sufficient response to deal with this issue. However, a report published today from a body set up...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Second Stage (9 Apr 2008)

Paschal Donohoe: My colleague, Senator Regan, has outlined the general welcome our party gives to this Bill and to the wide variety of proposals and issues dealt with within. I wish to focus on three elements of the Bill, namely, Parts 4, 9 and 11, which deal with leases for commercial property, the operation of the current film censorship office, and the reference to parental leave and the ability to share...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs: Motion (9 Apr 2008)

Paschal Donohoe: I second the motion proposed by Senator Frances Fitzgerald. I find myself in an unusual position because the amendment from the Government more clearly illustrates the scale of the problem we are facing than the original motion tabled by my party. If one examines the range of measures and statements contained in the amendment, they demonstrate a level of disconnection from the reality of...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs: Motion (9 Apr 2008)

Paschal Donohoe: It is a disgrace that we have 70 families in this country who have been forced to go to the courts, 47 of whom did so to attempt to vindicate the rights of their autistic children. It is shameful that they had to go to court to secure the needs of their children. One such family lives quite near me and the desperation I see in their faces when I talk about the lengths to which they must go...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Apr 2008)

Paschal Donohoe: Again, in deference to the Cathaoirleach, I will focus on just one point, that is, the economy and the current rate of inflation, as referred to by Senator Regan. We find ourselves in a unique position in that the value of goods and services entering our economy is declining because of changes in the exchange rate, yet the inflation rate is increasing. This will set the background for the...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Apr 2008)

Paschal Donohoe: I support the calls made by my colleague, Senator Twomey, for a debate on the state of our economy, especially its manufacturing elements. In the past week, a number of events have highlighted the precarious position in which the country could find itself. For example, we are aware of the manufacturing job losses that could occur in the midlands, a matter a number of my colleagues will...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Apr 2008)

Paschal Donohoe: In recent months, we have spent much time in this House talking about two different points. The first is the serious problems we face in dealing with transport and congestion issues in the Dublin region. We have noted at great length the difficulty this is causing families, businesses and commuters in the area. A second point we have discussed at even greater length is the concern many...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Apr 2008)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes.

Seanad: Dublin Transport Authority Bill 2008: Second Stage (23 Apr 2008)

Paschal Donohoe: I welcome the Minister to the House to present this legislation to the Seanad. At the outset I will quote what was written about our city 104 years ago by James Joyce. He wrote: "I chose Dublin for the scene because that city to me seemed the centre of paralysis." When Joyce made that point, he had a particular form of paralysis in mind. More than a century later, we can see that other...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Apr 2008)

Paschal Donohoe: Senator Fitzgerald has pointed out that on many pressing economic and social matters the Oireachtas, and the Seanad in particular, is either silent or does not have the ability to discuss such issues. An important element in the background to this problem, which has been touched on many times in this Chamber, is that there have been huge increases in the amount of money spent on the delivery...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 May 2008)

Paschal Donohoe: I, too, want to raise the topic of the OECD report Senator White mentioned. I called for a debate on that last week because it was likely this would be a landmark report on the state of our public services. I wish to comment briefly on the state into which we have got ourselves. How has it happened that the concept of the user of a public service being the person around whom the service is...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 May 2008)

Paschal Donohoe: It describes the Government's decision on decentralisation as being inherently wrong for the long-term success of our public services and challenges strongly the decisions this Government is making on cancer services. One of the most reputed organisations on economics and the development of countries is stating that many of the major strategic decisions this Government has made on cancer...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 May 2008)

Paschal Donohoe: Does one have to be in Government to get a copy of a report and be invited to a reception?