Results 7,481-7,500 of 9,832 for speaker:Thomas Byrne

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (18 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: That is a sensible alteration. The Garda should not be part of this and the role of the Commissioner should not be interfered with. Gardaí are regularly redeployed. I disagree fundamentally with the Minister that the Bill is technical. It is radical and goes way beyond what it is currently set out in the public service agreements. It should be treated as such. I am surprised that I...

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (18 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I wonder if the unions have explained it to their members and whether those members know what is going through the Oireachtas.

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (18 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I protest that ruling vigorously, as well as the whole operation of the rule about something being a charge on the Exchequer. A new definition is being introduced in law on basic pay which does not exist anywhere else. The idea that I cannot propose an amendment to it is crazy. There is no intention to cost the State money.

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (18 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I move amendment No. 10: In page 6, line 48, after "day" to insert the following:"after having first given notice within every relevant public service body and having sought suitable candidates for redeployment and having first considered, in accordance with section 57D, whether to designate any such candidate who seeks redeployment".We may have to withdraw the amendment and raise the matter...

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (18 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: Neither are we, in fairness.

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (18 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: Nobody disputes the need for redeployment or suggests that people who are doing nothing should be left in place. Nobody is saying that should continue. We support redeployment. My amendment seeks merely to provide for what has been agreed in the Haddington Road agreement, which states on page 12 that the Department should identify the number of posts at each relevant grade that are surplus...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: We are here a year after the Minister introduced changes to the one-parent family payment. There is some element of a climb-down in this Bill, which shows that people who object to this Government are not always wrong and that sometimes they can be right and have a point. In so far as the Minister's proposals go, I welcome them. I welcome changes regarding the retained firemen. I regret...

Seanad: Hospital Services: Statements (13 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I have asked questions to which I seek answers.

Seanad: Hospital Services: Statements (13 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: A Chathoirligh, I was nice to the Minister and complimented him on his briefing of Members. Even though I asked him nicely, he has not answered the question in respect of Navan hospital.

Seanad: Hospital Services: Statements (13 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as teacht isteach go dtí an seomra seo inniú. I have a few queries on hospital services. It is good that the Minister is here and it follows on from the briefing that took place in Buswells Hotel when he announced the situation regarding the grouping of hospitals. In the north east we have major concerns. They start from the individual...

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: On that point, while a period of six days between Second Stage and Committee Stage is an improvement on previous legislation in respect of the time provided between Stages, the programme for Government contains a commitment to have one week between legislative Stages. Last year, the House took all Stages of various Bills on the same day, which is a disgraceful and, as the Government Chief...

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I urge the Government to assume a role in this matter and stick to the commitment made in the programme for Government.

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: Forget the overtime; I was talking about night shift.

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: It has not softened his cough.

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: The Fianna Fáil group would like to support this Bill but, today, we will be reserving our position on it. In this regard, I will be putting a few queries to the Minister. As the party that helped negotiate the original Croke Park deal, Fianna Fáil is prepared to play its part in and support the reform of the public sector to ensure it is more flexible, while valuing its work and...

Seanad: Early Child Care Education Standards: Statements (30 May 2013)

Thomas Byrne: Will the Bill come before the House before the recess?

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Thomas Byrne: On a point of order, a Chathaoirligh, níl go leor daoine anseo le héisteacht leis an méid atá le rá againn ar ábhar chomh tábhachtach le reachtaíocht a ghearrfaidh pá na mílte Státseirbhísigh. Dá bhrí sin, tá mé ag iarraidh córam a ghlaoch sa Teach seo anois.

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Thomas Byrne: That is self praise.

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Thomas Byrne: With all of the praise and self-praise in which the Minister's speech is steeped, one would be forgiven for thinking Croke Park II was just a bad nightmare in the dreams of public servants, and that the proposals which the Government put forward, which were to divide union against union and to target those workers who work shift work and weekends, were all a nightmare, a dream that did not...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Thomas Byrne: We have the unedifying spectacle of a Minister coming in to extoll the benefits of the previous Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act in 2009 and 2010 when he viciously and vociferously opposed it on purely populist grounds at the time. We in Fianna Fáil acknowledge that the public pay bill must be tackled but we believe it should be done in the fairest possible way....