Results 6,941-6,960 of 9,827 for speaker:Thomas Byrne

Seanad: Economic Growth and Job Creation: Statements (4 Mar 2014)

Thomas Byrne: The other candidates will not be happy with that.

Seanad: Economic Growth and Job Creation: Statements (4 Mar 2014)

Thomas Byrne: I thank the Minister for his statement to the House. It is crucially important that we have this debate and that we in the Opposition keep challenging the Government in respect of commitments that were made and progress on those commitments because I am certainly willing to acknowledge progress but I am not willing to join in backslapping and self-congratulation. The Government is in danger...

Seanad: Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy (4 Mar 2014)

Thomas Byrne: I sympathise with the family of former Senator and Deputy, Martin J. O'Toole. I did not know him too well but I met him in Leinster House on a number of occasions. I am one of the youngest Fianna Fáil Oireachtas Members, if not the youngest, but I remember his name when I was a teenager following politics when I should have been following other pursuits. I remember him as a nice and...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Water Quality Issues (25 Feb 2014)

Thomas Byrne: I am grateful to the Minister for his answer. The fact this emerging issue is being taken seriously by him and the head of the Commission for Energy Regulation, CER, is welcome. I am making no claims about the safety of hard water. It is perfectly safe. I am glad Meath is built on strong foundations but it has consequences. I, as well as other public representatives, will advise the...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Water Quality Issues (25 Feb 2014)

Thomas Byrne: Tá áthas orm deis a bheith agam labhairt ar an ábhar tábhachtach seo agus cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire freisin. I thank the Minister for coming to the House to discuss an issue which is significant in County Meath, particularly in those areas where hard water is a feature. Many of County Meath's residents who are new to the area are not used to hard water; we are...

Seanad: Community Courts: Motion (25 Feb 2014)

Thomas Byrne: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit agus roimh an rún seo ó Phairtí Fhine Gael. Is ábhar an-tábhachtach é an t-ábhar seo agus is ceart dúinn é a phlé sa Seanad. Tá súil agam go rachaidh an tionscnamh píolótach seo amach ó Bhaile Atha Cliath ar fud na tíre. Fianna Fáil is happy to welcome this...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Security and Surveillance Issues: Minister for Justice and Equality (19 Feb 2014)

Thomas Byrne: The reason I raise this point is that there is currently a High Court challenge by the Minister for Health against the Office of the Information Commissioner in regard to the Lourdes hospital sexual abuse inquiry. Nobody in the media seems to have spotted what is going on there. Some of the people who gave evidence to the retired High Court judge who oversaw that inquiry applied under...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Security and Surveillance Issues: Minister for Justice and Equality (19 Feb 2014)

Thomas Byrne: As we know, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission is statutorily independent in the performance of its functions. Today, however, the Minister has repeatedly questioned its decision-making. He referred to his heightened concern about the decisions it made in this matter. We have heard that the Taoiseach asked the GSOC to level with the Minister. The Minister said the decision...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Security and Surveillance Issues: Minister for Justice and Equality (19 Feb 2014)

Thomas Byrne: The Minister surely would stay schtum in the case of the Director of Public Prosecutions, for example.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Security and Surveillance Issues: Minister for Justice and Equality (19 Feb 2014)

Thomas Byrne: There are exceptions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Security and Surveillance Issues: Minister for Justice and Equality (19 Feb 2014)

Thomas Byrne: It is not obliged to do so where it considers it is not in the public interest.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Security and Surveillance Issues: Minister for Justice and Equality (19 Feb 2014)

Thomas Byrne: Will the Minister answer my question on the Lourdes hospital inquiry? When people who gave evidence to the retired judge last year requested the transcripts, the Department of Health refused on technical grounds. The matter is now in the High Court.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Security and Surveillance Issues: Minister for Justice and Equality (19 Feb 2014)

Thomas Byrne: That is correct.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Security and Surveillance Issues: Minister for Justice and Equality (19 Feb 2014)

Thomas Byrne: I apologise for my absence as there was a vote in the Seanad. The Minister has spent much of the meeting muddying the waters with all sorts of red herrings. The issue of Insomnia and Spar has been a complete red herring. He has dismissed the Wi-Fi issue when in fact GSOC explained in its briefing to the Minister that it was a concern. The tenor of the Minister's contribution has been to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Security and Surveillance Issues: Minister for Justice and Equality (19 Feb 2014)

Thomas Byrne: I explained that I was at a Seanad vote-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Security and Surveillance Issues: Minister for Justice and Equality (19 Feb 2014)

Thomas Byrne: The Minister is muddying the waters again.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Security and Surveillance Issues: Minister for Justice and Equality (19 Feb 2014)

Thomas Byrne: The point is that GSOC had genuine concerns.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Security and Surveillance Issues: Minister for Justice and Equality (19 Feb 2014)

Thomas Byrne: The Minister does not seem to have the same level of difficulty with that report-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Security and Surveillance Issues: Minister for Justice and Equality (19 Feb 2014)

Thomas Byrne: The issue about Insomnia and Spar was just added in to muddy the waters. GSOC said in its briefing to the Minister that it did not have a Wi-Fi network. The Minister described a Wi-Fi system but GSOC had a Wi-Fi device which was connecting into someone else's Wi-Fi network.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Security and Surveillance Issues: Minister for Justice and Equality (19 Feb 2014)

Thomas Byrne: The Minister has been referring to the Wi-Fi system. GSOC was concerned as a result. The Minister said that because it emanated from Spar or Insomnia, there were no concerns, but in my view this does not change the situation. I refer to the precedent for the inquiry. The last similar inquiry was the Lourdes hospital inquiry into sexual abuse chaired by a retired High Court judge. Is that...