Results 421-440 of 22,424 for speaker:Finian McGrath
- Seanad: Imminent Closure of Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort: Statements (27 Nov 2019)
Finian McGrath: We should not criticise it at all.
- Seanad: Imminent Closure of Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort: Statements (27 Nov 2019)
Finian McGrath: I thank the Senators who spoke so passionately in today's debate. It is heartening to know that despite some of our differences, Senators share my commitment to progressing our disability services and meeting the needs of people with disabilities and their families. However, when one delves down to the core of the issue, one sees that a lot of the anger expressed today is directed at the...
- Seanad: Imminent Closure of Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort: Statements (27 Nov 2019)
Finian McGrath: Let me finish my point please. I want to deal with this particular issue. The Irish Wheelchair Association does not own the existing facility. It has a lease agreement with the Divine Word Missionaries order which expires in 2026. It would appear that Senator Mullen and others are asking that public money be provided so that major upgrade works can be carried out on the facility at an...
- Seanad: Imminent Closure of Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort: Statements (27 Nov 2019)
Finian McGrath: The Senator had his chance.
- Seanad: Imminent Closure of Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort: Statements (27 Nov 2019)
Finian McGrath: I will allow the Senator to respond when I am finished.
- Seanad: Imminent Closure of Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort: Statements (27 Nov 2019)
Finian McGrath: I want to get my points across-----
- Seanad: Imminent Closure of Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort: Statements (27 Nov 2019)
Finian McGrath: If the Senator has that information, good luck to him.
- Seanad: Imminent Closure of Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort: Statements (27 Nov 2019)
Finian McGrath: When I spoke to representatives of the Irish Wheelchair Association, I did not wash my hands of any issue. I put a lot of the points raised in the House today to them. I met Senator Hopkins, who did great work on this issue behind the scenes, as well as other public representatives from Roscommon. I proposed a pause and raised the issue of the treatment of staff. I am very concerned about...
- Seanad: Imminent Closure of Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort: Statements (27 Nov 2019)
Finian McGrath: Since-----
- Seanad: Imminent Closure of Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort: Statements (27 Nov 2019)
Finian McGrath: I expressed my views on 12 November, as I already said.
- Seanad: Imminent Closure of Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort: Statements (27 Nov 2019)
Finian McGrath: I have expressed my views publicly and am expressing them again today. Senator Noone-----
- Seanad: Imminent Closure of Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort: Statements (27 Nov 2019)
Finian McGrath: What I am saying is that I cannot tell a section 39 organisation what to do at its AGM.
- Seanad: Imminent Closure of Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort: Statements (27 Nov 2019)
Finian McGrath: I have no problem with the Senator making a point at the end but I am trying to respond to the debate as per Standing Orders. Senators Noone and Hopkins raised the issue of the pressures on staff and referred to their sadness. I understand that. I have been to Cuisle and know the people involved there. There is no anti-humanitarian view at work here.There was pressure on the IWA over the...
- Seanad: Imminent Closure of Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort: Statements (27 Nov 2019)
Finian McGrath: Senator Devine spoke about hotels and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. I mentioned 6,600 people who are getting respite services. I hope the Senators are prepared to listen to the voices of those who want to go to hotels. I hope they are.
- Seanad: Imminent Closure of Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort: Statements (27 Nov 2019)
Finian McGrath: Those people have a voice too and have to be heard. It is important to listen to the person with a disability on the issue. I mentioned only two or three cases. I know many families and others who like the hotel model. I want to deal with the misinformation given out about this in other quarters. This has been tried in Kilkenny and Galway and other places. The individual checks into the...
- Seanad: Imminent Closure of Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort: Statements (27 Nov 2019)
Finian McGrath: We are talking about changing a mindset in society towards people with disabilities. We want to give people choices in the modern Ireland.
- Seanad: Imminent Closure of Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort: Statements (27 Nov 2019)
Finian McGrath: We also want to listen to people who have different views in the whole disability sector. That is an important part of the broader debate. The IWA has an ethos of delivering services that respond to the needs of its members. I hope in this case that if it is not responding to the needs of its members, the Senators who have an association with it will highlight that.
- Seanad: Imminent Closure of Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort: Statements (27 Nov 2019)
Finian McGrath: That is Senator Leyden's point.
- Seanad: Imminent Closure of Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort: Statements (27 Nov 2019)
Finian McGrath: The new service will be located in accessible hotels. When I became Minister of State with responsibility for people with disabilities, I made three commitments. The first was to reform the disability services and this is part of that reform. The second was to invest in the services and the third, and most important, was to ensure that services were person-centred. I stand over my record.
- Seanad: Imminent Closure of Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort: Statements (27 Nov 2019)
Finian McGrath: I am saying choice in respite is part of the reform.