Results 8,881-8,900 of 9,832 for speaker:Thomas Byrne

Seanad: Hospital Accommodation (5 Oct 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I thank the Cathaoirleach and the Leader for forcing the Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, to come before the House. We welcome the Minister today but it is a shame that I, after 15 votes in this Chamber calling on him to present himself, had to threaten to walk out this morning if he did not.

Seanad: Hospital Accommodation (5 Oct 2011)

Thomas Byrne: That was not an unreasonable request; it was simply because he refused time and again to come to the House to talk about the issues of the day. His own colleagues were calling for this and we put the matter to a vote at least 15 times in this House. When I finally reached the end of my tether, I said I would withdraw from the House this evening if the Minister did not turn up. Other...

Seanad: Hospital Accommodation (5 Oct 2011)

Thomas Byrne: The Minister opposed all the reforms we put in place.

Seanad: Hospital Accommodation (5 Oct 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I thank the Minister for coming to the House. The Minister referred to years of mismanagement. The reality is the clinical director and the group general manager are, in practice, the same people in which he now has trust. They are the people I always had trust in when the Minister's party was undermining them personally on local radio interviews in recent years. Every time they made a...

Seanad: Presidential Elections: Motion (Resumed) (5 Oct 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I welcome the Minister, Deputy Hogan, to the House. Like the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan and Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, he is a frequent visitor to this House, for which he deserves praise in comparison with some of his more recalcitrant colleagues. Molaim Sinn Féin as an rún seo a ardú sa Seanad inniu. Tá áthas orm go bhfuil an rún seo á phlé againn,...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Oct 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise a health matter on the Adjournment but if the Minister for Health is not in the Chamber to respond, I will leave and will not take part in the debate. The Minister for Health avoids the Seanad and it has gone on too long. He opens hospitals for political purposes to give a leg-up to a bad candidate, as Senator Darragh O'Brien said. It is...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Oct 2011)

Thomas Byrne: The Leader would want to ensure the Minister for Health is here in the Chamber to respond to the Adjournment debate. He has never responded to an Adjournment debate in the Seanad and he has never been here on a health issue.

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Oct 2011)

Thomas Byrne: My question is to ensure the Minister for Health is in the Chamber today to respond to me on the Adjournment debate. We have made requests of the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Justice and Equality and they have attended and will do so again. I have no difficulty with them. I am giving notice that I will raise the question of NAMA tomorrow when the Minister for Finance is in the...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Oct 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I am calling for a specific debate. Vincent Browne has an excellent article today following a committee meeting in these Houses a number of weeks ago. NAMA appears to be letting developers off the hook for what they owe. I would never have supported the NAMA legislation if that was clear. It is not provided for within the NAMA legislation, in which the purpose of NAMA is to protect or...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Oct 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I am giving notice to the Leader, the Minister for Finance and NAMA that, as a taxpayer and as a legislator, I will seek legal advice on what NAMA is doing and whether it has the power to write off debts in the way it is doing. There is no debt write-off for ordinary people. This was not the function of NAMA and it better stand up and take notice of what people who supported and encouraged...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Oct 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I endorse the call of my colleague, Senator Darragh O'Brien, for a debate on the issue of barracks closures which goes beyond any issues of cost because the cost will increase when barracks begin closing down and staff are moved. The staff are the biggest cost and they are protected by the Croke Park agreement. I raise again the issue of health. It is not being taken seriously by the...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Oct 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Yes, he wants to take that responsibility, which I admire but-----

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Oct 2011)

Thomas Byrne: It is actually worse because if we look at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, in September 2010 a total of 331 patients spent time on trolleys. I accept that is too many. In September 2011, under the Minister's new board in the HSE to which he appointed all his own civil servants from his Department, and therefore he is effectively the boss, 842 patients were on trolleys. We have...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Oct 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I propose that an amendment be made to the Order of Business providing that the Minister for Health come into the Seanad today to discuss the serious crisis affecting the accident and emergency department of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Oct 2011)

Thomas Byrne: There is a vote on that after the Order of Business so we look forward to the Senator's support.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Oct 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Too late.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Oct 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Yes.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Sep 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Lifestyle choices for poor people.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Sep 2011)

Thomas Byrne: "Let them eat cake" is what Fine Gael and the Labour Party says to the poor people of Ireland.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Sep 2011)

Thomas Byrne: We are not voting for the magician Higgins.