Mansergh, Dr MartinWednesday, 11 February 2004 |
Seanad Eireann Debate
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Order of Business.
Question put: “That the Order of Business be agreed to.”
Voted Yes 
Immigration Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages.
Question put.
Voted Yes
Immigration Bill 2004: Motion for Earlier Signature.
Question put.
Voted Yes
Electronic Voting: Statements.
I would like to share one minute with Senator Ross.
This is a major and important step, and of course it should be critically analysed and discussed, but I regret the partisan approach being taken by the Opposition parties. It seems that the objective ...
All of us have gone through an election. Would any one of us have had a chance to manipulate the officials who conducted our count to get the result that we wanted? That sort of accusation is unworthy...
You are doing your best to try to undermine confidence.
Yes. The Minister answered the point and said that, in an election petition, the system can print a ballot paper with each vote cast and mix them, thus enabling a manual count to be conducted. That se...
Regional Development: Motion.
I move: That Seanad Éireann—— —recognises that each and every region must have, and must be encouraged to have, a role in sustaining our national prosperity and progress and believes that balanced reg...
The decentralisation programme, announced in December's budget, was tremendously welcome in towns across Ireland. It gave a great morale boost in my home town of Tipperary. I have never seen the peopl...
Senator Higgins may have a different view on that. Deputy Rabbitte rubbished decentralisation.
The Senator was not here when I outlined what Deputy Rabbitte said. I will, therefore, repeat it. He said it was a daft idea which would not work and that it would be immensely expensive.
I was disappointed that he rubbished it. People will want to know what the attitude of an alternative Government is to decentralisation. Is it the rubbishing attitude of Deputy Rabbitte?
What is the attitude of the Fine Gael Party to Deputy Rabbitte? I heard someone say it was the worst interview he had given since he became party leader. We must remember that Fine Gael and Labour hav...
They cancelled it in 1981 and 1982. The only party which has implemented a decentralisation programme is Fianna Fáil. The Labour Party has to prove its ——
There is a big question mark because the people will want to know the Labour Party's intentions. Was Deputy Rabbitte's statement serious or was it electioneering? The Labour Party must clarify its att...
Is the Senator not excitable himself?
Hear, hear.
There is the IFSC.
No, 200 staff members are going to Tipperary.
Rubbish.
Is that what multi-annual budgets are about?
What about the Central Statistics Office in Cork?
The Senator certainly did not persuade them.
They will probably come from other regional headquarters.
The Senator should study it more closely.
And in other towns.
I do not believe it.
I believe it is the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
I welcome the positive note on which this debate is ending. I believe that practically all the Opposition Senators are in favour of the principle and want to see the practice of decentralisation. Sena...
I hope that she and Senator McCarthy will influence him to take a more positive approach.
Those of us who believe in decentralisation want to see it happen and carried through regardless of changes in Government in the future. We must redistribute growth and wealth in this country. The lat...
The pressures on Dublin are becoming intolerable and we must do something about the lopsided growth. The point was made that we were not paying enough attention to regional distribution. We have done ...
——by Senator MacSharry's father as a cost-cutting measure. In other words, it would reduce the cost of running the public service rather than increasing it so I would not be overly worried about that ...
Senator Ulick Burke mentioned that there was no planning or consultation. There were hundreds of submissions from almost every town in Ireland and if that is not consultation——
The Minister said he received 680 proposals. That is plenty of consultation. People are only too eager to be consulted. In social partnership terms, the principle of decentralisation has been broadly ...
The problem is the same as that which came up in the debate about electronic voting earlier: people are afraid of change. They are rather conservative. This is one of the most radical measures underta...
Amendment put.
Voted No
Civil Registration Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed).
I welcome the Bill, which is important and enlightened legislation. In the future it will certainly help ordinary citizens who will no longer have to seek out, for certain bureaucratic purposes, birth...
Did the Senator say the 12th century?
Also, whether to include the parents.
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