Results 1–20 of 800 for speaker:Baroness O'Cathain

Political Progress in Northern Ireland (22 Nov 1999)

Baroness O'Cathain: My Lords, I welcome the Statement wholeheartedly and certainly believe that the Secretary of State was right to say that it represents a number of important small steps rather than a great leap forward. We hope and pray that it will succeed. However, I ask the Minister for a point of clarification. In the Statement, the Secretary of State says that: "If there is default"-- I know that we...

Address in Reply to Her Majesty's Most Gracious Speech (23 Nov 1999)

Baroness O'Cathain: My Lords, it is truly a great pleasure to thank the noble Lord, Lord Gavron, for an excellent maiden speech, although in view of his comments about having received his congratulations previously on his non-maiden speech I am somewhat worried about doing so! I am not at all surprised by the quality and content of his speech, opening the eyes of all of us to the idea of business incubators. I...

Care Standards Bill [H.L.] (10 Jan 2000)

Baroness O'Cathain: I note the comments of the noble Baroness, Lady Masham. I have some experience of the issue and support every single word she said. There are serious problems. For example, when I asked one carer who was sent into my home about her training, she said, "I used to work in an electronics factory. I happened to pass by the care agency last Saturday and the people there said, 'There's a lovely job...

Remploy (27 Jan 2000)

Baroness O'Cathain: My Lords, while I agree absolutely with the Minister and the noble Lord, Lord Ashley, that it is important that Remploy should continue, because it is extremely important for disabled people, the replies that the Minister gave contradicted one another. In one reply he said that there was not a demand for the products while in another he talked about the new chairman and his mission statement....

Newly Qualified Drivers (17 Feb 2000)

Baroness O'Cathain: My Lords, will the Minister consider another angle relating to my noble friend's Question; namely, if P and R-plates were used, perhaps the rest of us would give the drivers displaying them more room and not carve them up? I am not saying that I personally carve them up, but a good deal of carving up goes on in the roads. My noble friend's proposal might reduce road rage and create more...

Internet Access Pricing (23 Feb 2000)

Baroness O'Cathain: asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether the intervention by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on pricing of access to the Internet constituted market abuse under the terms of Clause 109 of the Financial Services and Markets Bill.

Internet Access Pricing (23 Feb 2000)

Baroness O'Cathain: My Lords, I thank the Minister for his Answer but beg to disagree with him. The statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in an interview with the Financial Times on 16th February caused much confusion in the market and resulted in a 7 per cent (£5 billion) drop in the value of British Telecom shares. Does the Minister agree that that must be categorised as "misleading" and that,...

Nicotine Replacement Therapy ( 7 Mar 2000)

Baroness O'Cathain: My Lords, in view of the Minister's admission, does he agree that many of those who do not smoke do not realise that it is an addiction? Yet some people have been known to say that heroin and cocaine addiction are easier to crack--perhaps that is not the right word; to overcome--than nicotine addiction. Bearing in mind that this is a serious position and too often it is said that smoking is a...

Dairy Industry (14 Mar 2000)

Baroness O'Cathain: My Lords, I agree that there are an awful lot of problems in the dairy sector. Could not the Minister use whatever charm and influence she has on the Chancellor of the Exchequer? Unless we find a way of paying these agricultural compensatory amounts to the dairy farmers, we shall have an even more serious problem than we have at the moment. We are told constantly how brilliantly the economy...

Financial Services and Markets Bill (16 Mar 2000)

Baroness O'Cathain: I feel quite confused after the intervention of my noble friend Lord Stewartby. On the one hand, he said that the chairman and chief executive were as one and that--to put it in my own words--in normal corporate parlance, this was the way it was and it was extremely difficult for them to be separate. On the other hand, he said that the chairman was the person who had to monitor the role of...

Financial Services and Markets Bill (16 Mar 2000)

Baroness O'Cathain: Those of us who have experience of operating at a fairly high level in corporate governance would find the situation extraordinary. The FSA is now in a strange position. It is actually operating although it has not been given the power to operate. That has been agreed to try to ensure that there is a safeguard for investors and that there is financial regulation. The reality is that the FSA...

Financial Services and Markets Bill (16 Mar 2000)

Baroness O'Cathain: I thank the noble Lord for giving way. That is not the sole reason for having two posts. He knows that perfectly well. He is just trying to goad me, as is his normal role. Perhaps I can add, as an aside, that I happen to serve in an organisation of which he is chairman, and he does not act as a psychiatrist; he acts as an autocrat. I know that he will take that in the best possible way. The...

Financial Services and Markets Bill (16 Mar 2000)

Baroness O'Cathain: I can see the reason for the remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Borrie. However, the reality would be a rather tortuous procedure. Would it not be better for all complaints to go to the investigator in the first place rather than having them looked at by the authority and passed to the investigator? It seems that there should be two bites of the cherry. In the interests of complaints being dealt...

Financial Services and Markets Bill (16 Mar 2000)

Baroness O'Cathain: Perhaps I may pursue the matter. If someone makes a complaint about the Financial Services Authority, it might be easier for that person to go through an independent investigator. I take the point that if it was a silly complaint, the authority could say, "Sorry, there has been a misunderstanding. This is the way it should be done". However, I believe the complainant would have more...

Financial Services and Markets Bill (16 Mar 2000)

Baroness O'Cathain: I am utterly confused by the contribution of my noble friend. I thought that the Committee was considering the first group of amendments. We have not yet reached the later group. I strongly support Amendment No. 33, except that I have a slight concern about one of its proposals. If we proceeded along these lines, the general public would have greater confidence in the transparency of the...

Financial Services and Markets Bill (16 Mar 2000)

Baroness O'Cathain: What would happen if the Treasury did not want to include such information and decided to obfuscate? The Treasury has occasionally obfuscated. I know that we are living in times of transparent government, but there could come a time when it might say, "We don't want those costs put in because they were pretty horrific".

Financial Services and Markets Bill (16 Mar 2000)

Baroness O'Cathain: While I agree with the Minister that the word "desirable" probably opens up a problem, the phrase "purpose which is necessary for carrying out its functions" is a neater way of saying "incidental purpose". I think that there are stronger parameters in it. That would cover the point which my noble friend Lord Jenkin made. Perception is all. People who are regulated feel very strongly that they...

Financial Services and Markets Bill (20 Mar 2000)

Baroness O'Cathain: I wonder whether the noble Lord, Lord Barnett, realised what he actually said. He said that he believed that there was some merit in the Comptroller and Auditor General being involved, but that he would object to that being put on the face of the Bill. There is a case for limiting the powers of the Treasury. Everyone seems to go terribly tippy-toed every time the word "Treasury" is mentioned,...

Financial Services and Markets Bill (21 Mar 2000)

Baroness O'Cathain: I am now very confused about all this. I suppose that that is not surprising. There is one thing about which I am extremely confused. It took me many years in this House to learn what a Henry VIII clause was. Now, I shall have to learn what a "Diego Maradona clause" is, and a "Stanley Matthews clause"--and the last one is the "cricket ball through the conservatory window clause". I really do...

Abnormal Loads: Escorts (28 Mar 2000)

Baroness O'Cathain: My Lords, if this issue is so complex, could the Minister not answer his noble friend simply on the point of whether contractors should pay for the policing of such loads? The Minister's noble friend has asked a simple question which could receive a simple answer.


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