Results 48,481-48,500 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: Is the Bundestag an extraordinary situation?

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: It is too hard for me to understand.

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: Nobody suggested that every vote should be free.

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes-----

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: -----and I will interrupt the Minister as much as he interrupted me.

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I move amendment No. 5:In page 23, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following: “(5) Notwithstanding any rules referred to in this section, one quarter of the members of a committee shall constitute a sufficient number of committee members to deem a proposal to have been proposed by a committee.”.I will discuss amendments Nos. 5, 6 and 7. The amendments have two intents....

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: Right. As we are aware, no amendments ever get accepted on Report Stage anyway.

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: It has been true in the two and a half years I have been in the House. The point is a relevant one. I appreciate that the proposal might not be constitutional and that a referendum might be required. Several are planned. The point is a very important one. As the Minister is aware, this is common practice in many European parliaments. Seven European parliaments have in place a system...

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: It was not party political. The X case legislation is one of deep conscience.

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I was on parliamentary business in Turkey.

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: What does the Minister mean?

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I was representing the Oireachtas at the annual meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I was one of only two Members left when the Government called home its Deputies for a show of strength. It was a total waste of money.

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes. It seemed pretty silly to me.

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: This House cannot do the work Westminster does. Let us look at what happened when four Government Deputies said they could not vote with the Government on an issue of conscience. In Westminster they would not have lost the Whip. They would not have been thrown out. Deputy Mathews would not have got thrown off the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform. Last year in...

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I do not for a second suggest that there should be no Whip. Of course there must be a Whip to do the business of politics but not the way it is applied in this House. Therefore, these amendments are important because they say that even if one has a Cabinet controlling up to 60% of the Dáil, there are still enough Members of Dáil Éireann who can instigate a committee of...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Information and Communications Technology Issues (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: 163. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will reassure Dáil Éireann as to the security of the email systems in his Department subsequent to recent reports of US intelligence agencies accessing email and other digital content; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32537/13]

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Staff Training (2 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: 447. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the training frontline officials in her Department receive so as to recognise cases where long-term and short-term unemployed persons require access to mental health services; if there are any plans to upscale such training; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31649/13]

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Services Speeds (2 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: 487. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to the quality of broadband services in the EU report carried out for the European Commission by SamKnows Limited, which revealed that Irish broadband users receive only 84.7% of the advertised download speed and 72.5% of the advertised upload speed; if the situation has changed since the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Regulatory and Poverty Impact Assessments (2 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: 633. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide the regulatory impact analysis for the Health (Amendment) Bill 2013, and, if no such regulatory impact analysis has been conducted, the reason for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31484/13]