Results 24,041-24,060 of 26,350 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Sugar Beet Industry (18 Oct 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: Me too.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Sugar Beet Industry (18 Oct 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: I thank the Minister for his commitment to this issue and I know he will be open to any further queries or ideas we may have on it. It is clear from his comprehensive response that not only does he fully understand but he fully appreciates the potential for jobs within this industry and for a reduction in costs. I thank him for taking the time out of his schedule today to come here; I know...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Sugar Beet Industry (18 Oct 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: They must take responsibility for it.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Sugar Beet Industry (18 Oct 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: Take responsibility for it.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Sugar Beet Industry (18 Oct 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: We will. Why will the Leader not take responsibility for the cuts?

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Sugar Beet Industry (18 Oct 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: Take responsibility for the cut.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Sugar Beet Industry (18 Oct 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: Why is the Government blaming the HSE for it when the Minister is-----

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Sugar Beet Industry (18 Oct 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: Absolutely no problem, as we continually do.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Sugar Beet Industry (18 Oct 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: The Fine Gael Party voted for the bank guarantee.

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Oct 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: I welcome the announcement by the Minister, Deputy Bruton, in regard to the partial loan guarantee scheme to the SME sector. It had been announced four times already but I am glad it is now in place. Any additional credit that can go to our SMEs is crucial. I would add one caveat in that the Government needs to watch very carefully what the banks do with this. While it has been announced...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Oct 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: I am not sure whether there is a problem in mentioning the Secretary General of the Department of Health, who is Mr. Ambrose McLoughlin, and-----

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Oct 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: I am going to defend them now.

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Oct 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: I am defending them against the Government using them as a shield. Let us be straight on this. We tabled amendments to the Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012 that proposed a new director general would be subject to the public appointments Act but the Government rejected that. The Minister hand-picked these two individuals. I listened to Government Deputies and Senators...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Oct 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: The buck stops with him. One cannot get away from that. The one solution is to reverse the cut. I do not think any of us, or any Member on the Government side, wants to see cuts that affect carers or people who are badly incapacitated, such as the people yesterday who made a great effort to come to protest outside Leinster House. The cut is being made for the sake of ¤8 million. If the...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Oct 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: -----or one of his Ministers of State ? I believe he is talking to both of them at the moment, which is good ? would come to the House today to tell us what is Government policy on home-care hours. Page 38 of the programme for Government states that not only would the Government retain existing home-care packages but it would increase them. The programme for Government was signed up to by...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Oct 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: He will not touch the people at the higher end of the scale in the health service, for whom he advocated long enough in his private capacity.

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Oct 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: He will not touch them but he will cut people who earn less than ¤10 an hour.

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Oct 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: Perhaps when Senator Bacik gets to her feet she will tell me if it is Labour Party policy to cut home-care hours and whether she, as the leader of the Labour Party group-----

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Oct 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: -----in the Seanad has asked the Minister, Deputy Reilly, to reverse the cuts to home-care hours.

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Oct 2012)

Darragh O'Brien: A total of 950,000 hours have been cut this year alone. It is an absolute disgrace.