Results 23,701-23,720 of 24,376 for speaker:Jerry Buttimer

Seanad: Schools Building Projects: Motion (23 Apr 2008)

Jerry Buttimer: I wish to share time with Senator Fitzgerald. The motion before us is timely. The Minister gave us a flowery speech with lots of waffle and rhetoric.

Seanad: Schools Building Projects: Motion (23 Apr 2008)

Jerry Buttimer: I restate the arguments of Senators O'Toole and Boyle. This motion is not about finance or resourcing but about categorisation and about people knowing where they are on the schools building programme.

Seanad: Schools Building Projects: Motion (23 Apr 2008)

Jerry Buttimer: The motion is about providing answers to school principals, staff, parents and pupils. If the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy Haughey, does nothing else tonight but relays that simple message to the Minister, we will have got somewhere. If Senator Boyle can use his influence in Government, which he professes to have, then he will have done a great day's...

Seanad: Schools Building Projects: Motion (23 Apr 2008)

Jerry Buttimer: It does, thanks to the teachers. The Senator is dead right. We get flowery rhetoric but no delivery and no accountability. The time has come to deliver on the schools building programme and to be honest with schools and boards of management. They should be told when their waiting time begins and ends.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Apr 2008)

Jerry Buttimer: We got no answers. We just got rhetoric.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Apr 2008)

Jerry Buttimer: We had no chance to ask questions. We were only allowed to ask one question.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Apr 2008)

Jerry Buttimer: While I agree with Senator Mary White regarding the Leader's innovation, yesterday's question and answer session with the Minister for Health and Children was tokenism and a farce. It was a brief session with Members only allowed one question. None of Senator White's questions was answered. An urgent debate on health issues is required because there is no accountability in the health...

Seanad: Patient Safety: Statements (22 Apr 2008)

Jerry Buttimer: The Senators on the Government side stayed quiet on the Order of Business.

Seanad: Patient Safety: Statements (Resumed) (22 Apr 2008)

Jerry Buttimer: Another new one.

Seanad: Patient Safety: Statements (Resumed) (22 Apr 2008)

Jerry Buttimer: It is more management.

Seanad: Patient Safety: Statements (Resumed) (22 Apr 2008)

Jerry Buttimer: It is more management.

Seanad: Patient Safety: Statements (Resumed) (22 Apr 2008)

Jerry Buttimer: Correct.

Seanad: Patient Safety: Statements (Resumed) (22 Apr 2008)

Jerry Buttimer: We do not have that.

Seanad: Patient Safety: Statements (Resumed) (22 Apr 2008)

Jerry Buttimer: There is.

Seanad: Patient Safety: Statements (22 Apr 2008)

Jerry Buttimer: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Patient Safety: Statements (22 Apr 2008)

Jerry Buttimer: In the Acting Chairman's eloquent remarks he said we should accentuate the positive. Let us do this. The Minister, Deputy Harney, has had great success. She has billions of euro at her disposal, a committed staff and frontline services run by excellent people who work around the clock on our behalf. However, these people feel let down. They are worried and frustrated but, more...

Seanad: Patient Safety: Statements (22 Apr 2008)

Jerry Buttimer: ——to be held to account as they are equally as guilty as the Minister, Deputy Harney. The Fitzgerald report on the HSE paints a poor picture. In 2004 the Minister, Deputy Harney, said that it was "a-once-in-a-generation event ... our generation's chance to put patients first in the design of the management of health services". Who will accept responsibility? The former Minister for...

Seanad: National Skills Strategy: Statements (22 Apr 2008)

Jerry Buttimer: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. This is an important debate because the national skills strategy is of paramount importance to the nation, not just for the short or medium term but also for future generations. As the Minister of State said, our competitiveness is at stake and it is essential we succeed in upskilling the workforce. The Opposition side of the House supports the...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Apr 2008)

Jerry Buttimer: I congratulate Senator Cannon on his election and I wish him well in his endeavours. I echo the calls of Senators Fitzgerald and Regan on the Leader to clarify the record to show that we in Fine Gael are extremely pro-active with regard to the Lisbon treaty. I have been canvassing door to door for the past two weeks with Colm Burke, MEP. As Senator Norris stated, there is a great chance the...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Apr 2008)

Jerry Buttimer: Senator Boyle should read that script when in Opposition.