Results 4,761-4,780 of 12,590 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality; and Defence: Motion [Private Members] (1 Apr 2014)

Willie O'Dea: The history books tell us that Joan of Arc was influenced by voices. The only voice to which the Minister, Deputy Shatter, ever listens is his own.

Confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality; and Defence: Motion [Private Members] (1 Apr 2014)

Willie O'Dea: He does not do humility either. He cannot even fake that. Having refused for six months to apologise for the slurs on the characters of two honourable men, which he deliberately cast across the floor of this House and repeated elsewhere, an apology was dragged out of him by his colleagues in Government of both parties, who made it clear to him that he apologise or else. Reluctantly, the...

Confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality; and Defence: Motion [Private Members] (1 Apr 2014)

Willie O'Dea: I sat here while the Minister was delivering those words. He delivered them with all the enthusiasm of Munster supporters cheering on Leinster in a Heineken Cup final. I know that my colleagues on this side of the House intend to appeal to the almost absent Labour Party - the only member of that party here is a former member of Democratic Left - to do the decent thing.

Confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality; and Defence: Motion [Private Members] (1 Apr 2014)

Willie O'Dea: I do not wish to dissuade them but I do not intend to hold my breath either.

Confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality; and Defence: Motion [Private Members] (1 Apr 2014)

Willie O'Dea: I cannot help feeling like the Greek philosopher Diogenes, who, when found begging alms from a statue said that he was practising disappointment.

Confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality; and Defence: Motion [Private Members] (1 Apr 2014)

Willie O'Dea: I recall the febrile atmosphere of December 1993 and the ferocious head hunters arriving in the Taoiseach's office saying they would be satisfied with nothing less than a head. They had no intention of leaving the building without a head and did not particularly care whose head it was.

Confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality; and Defence: Motion [Private Members] (1 Apr 2014)

Willie O'Dea: It is sad to see the ferocious head hunters of 1993 have been reduced to the chinless wonders of 2014.

Confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality; and Defence: Motion [Private Members] (1 Apr 2014)

Willie O'Dea: The Labour Party tells us it must be satisfied in relation to the timelines. When stripped down, this means that it does not matter what the Minister, Deputy Shatter, did or did not do once he did so or did not do so within the timelines mentioned. For example, the Minister has told us that it took four months from the time the Attorney General received the information for it to be reported...

Confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality; and Defence: Motion [Private Members] (1 Apr 2014)

Willie O'Dea: What a pathetic position for a once proud party.

Confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality; and Defence: Motion [Private Members] (1 Apr 2014)

Willie O'Dea: Deputy Byrne's party has all the credibility of Oscar Pistorius's defence.

Confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality; and Defence: Motion [Private Members] (1 Apr 2014)

Willie O'Dea: In the miasma of fog, spin, obfuscation, misrepresentation and innuendo two things are clear. First, the administration of justice in this country has been reduced to a shambles. Second, the man who presided over that process is not the man to turn the tide. That is a fact. I have nothing personal against the Minister, Deputy Shatter. The best thing he can do-----

Confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality; and Defence: Motion [Private Members] (1 Apr 2014)

Willie O'Dea: -----for his party, the Government and for the people, to whom all of us here are supposed to be beholden, is, having exhausted all other possibilities, do the right thing and hand in his seal of office. Frankly, he is finished as Minister for Justice and Equality. He is holed below the water line. He has lost all confidence and trust and can never do anything to restore it.

Confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality; and Defence: Motion [Private Members] (1 Apr 2014)

Willie O'Dea: There is a village somewhere looking for an idiot.

Confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality; and Defence: Motion [Private Members] (1 Apr 2014)

Willie O'Dea: I do not wish to travel over ground which has been comprehensively covered by my colleagues. Last Wednesday, after two weeks of uncharacteristic silence during which he studiously avoided the media, the Minister addressed the House on two occasions. He devoted a great deal of his first speech to lavishing praise on the former Garda Commissioner, the very man he had colluded with the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions Levy (1 Apr 2014)

Willie O'Dea: 230. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the amount of pension levy paid by public service pensioners who retired up to 29 February 2012 due to the impact of the public service pension reduction under the following bands for 2013: €12,000 - €24,000, €24,000 - €60,000, €60,000 - €100,000, €100,000 upwards; the amount paid each...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Contracts (1 Apr 2014)

Willie O'Dea: 298. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to G4S's security operations in Israel; if she has any concerns regarding the company's activities in Israel; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that G4S has submitted a bid for the JobPath contract; if she will outline the criteria for this contract; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15275/14]

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pensions Reform (27 Mar 2014)

Willie O'Dea: 114. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the level of demand to date for amortising bonds used to underwrite sovereign annuities; her views on the operation of sovereign annuities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14647/14]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Social Welfare Entitlements for Self-Employed: ISME, SEA and SFA (26 Mar 2014)

Willie O'Dea: I have a quick calculation based on the actuarial review of the Social Insurance Fund. The current cost to the taxpayer of extending the scheme to illness benefit and jobseeker's benefit without paying any extra contribution would be €175 million.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Social Welfare Entitlements for Self-Employed: ISME, SEA and SFA (26 Mar 2014)

Willie O'Dea: I am obviously very sympathetic toward Deputy Butler’s point of view but if he says we should increase the contribution by a quarter of 1%, rather than 1.5%, it means the State will be out by €155 million per annum for as long as that arrangement is in place. Perhaps it would be a good idea to invite the Minister for Finance to come to our next meeting. We could discuss this...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Social Welfare Entitlements for Self-Employed: ISME, SEA and SFA (26 Mar 2014)

Willie O'Dea: I would say only half the population is covered. That includes all civil servants, etc. There would be a very small percentage.