Results 2,121-2,140 of 4,608 for speaker:Joe O'Toole

Seanad: Local Government (Business Improvement Districts) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (29 Jun 2006)

Joe O'Toole: I think the Minister is trying to incite Senator Bannon.

Seanad: Local Government (Business Improvement Districts) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (29 Jun 2006)

Joe O'Toole: The Minister of State is really stretching it now.

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Jun 2006)

Joe O'Toole: I agree with the points made by Senator Brian Hayes on the decision of the US Supreme Court in Washington. This is a positive development and beneficial to decent American people who share the views of Senators on Iraq, the Middle East and al-Qaeda. However, I tuned into Fox News last night which was appalled.

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Jun 2006)

Joe O'Toole: The station carried a clip of the President of the United States stating that he was rushing to support two American Senators who will publish legislation to correct what the Supreme Court found wrong. Good luck to them if they can correct the Geneva Convention. I have received a number of communications from the former president of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland, Pat Cahill....

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Second Stage. (30 Jun 2006)

Joe O'Toole: I congratulate the Minister and his officials on a complex Bill. We have criticised the Minister for the past six months because the Bill has been growing like Topsy. Every time we looked around another ten pages had been added. It is more like a finance Bill but I hope it achieves what it set out to do. Though I have not read the Bill I have followed the debate in the Dáil and read parts of...

Seanad: Order of Business. (3 Jul 2006)

Joe O'Toole: I strongly support the argument put forward by Senator Brian Hayes in respect of credit cards. It is the view of some commentators throughout Europe that countries should introduce legislation to restrict the number of credit cards a person can hold and to require banks and other financial institutions to check on the number of credit cards held by a person before issuing a new one. In...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Joe O'Toole: Or a Fine Gael Member trying to defend his or her property.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Joe O'Toole: No.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Joe O'Toole: Was he a Fine Gael man?

Seanad: Order of Business. (4 Jul 2006)

Joe O'Toole: I was not aware of the Aer Lingus debate in the Dáil. I concur with the points raised by Senator Brian Hayes. People on all sides of the House hold all sorts of views. Senator Ross has called for a debate numerous times and looked for a business plan. Everybody has views on it, probably all different, and we are entitled to put them on the record. Last year when we discussed employment I...

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 Jul 2006)

Joe O'Toole: The request made by Senator Brian Hayes to have the issue of e-voting dealt with on an all-party basis is a very generous and reasonable one. This is an extraordinarily embarrassing situation for the Government and some of the Members of this House, who had no political interests in the issue, made the same request last year. The issue of An Taisce's response to applications for planning...

Seanad: Institutes of Technology Bill 2006: Second Stage. (5 Jul 2006)

Joe O'Toole: With the permission of the House, I wish to share the final five minutes of my time with my colleague, Senator Norris.

Seanad: Institutes of Technology Bill 2006: Second Stage. (5 Jul 2006)

Joe O'Toole: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I also welcome this legislation, for which I have often called. During our debate on the OECD report, I trenchantly spoke about some of its pluses and minuses. It is important that the issue of which I was most in favour has been addressed by the Bill and the issue to which I was most opposed in the OECD report has been ignored by the Government....

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Motion. (5 Jul 2006)

Joe O'Toole: Then why did the Senator table an amendment?

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Motion. (5 Jul 2006)

Joe O'Toole: And then bomb them.

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Motion. (5 Jul 2006)

Joe O'Toole: I was taken aback by Senator Mooney's speech. Listening to him talk about Hamas was resonant of the DUP talking about Sinn Féin. We know what Hamas is. The suggestion that somebody on this side of the House is in some way about to support or speak in favour of Hamas, or to imply such, does not become Senator Mooney. He knows us well enough to know we have gone well beyond that point in our...

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Motion. (5 Jul 2006)

Joe O'Toole: Through all my years of involvement with this issue, I have also had good relations with the Histadrut and the labour movement in Israel. I have always felt there had to be a two-state solution, which is my position today. I was disappointed when Hamas was elected. I felt the same as I did last year when the DUP was elected in the North. I said then as I say now that when the people speak,...

Seanad: Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy. (6 Jul 2006)

Joe O'Toole: It is normal on the Independent benches to ask a Member who served with the deceased to speak. Senator Ross is the only member of our group who served with Luke Belton but he has deferred to me in these circumstances, which I appreciate. I did not realise when I married my wife that I was marrying into the Belton family and that, from then on, weddings, funerals and all sorts of occasions...

Seanad: Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy. (6 Jul 2006)

Joe O'Toole: ——and the now eminent member of the Judiciary, Sean O'Leary, was voting against the Offences Against the State Bill, as brought forward by the Government of the time. I always recall that occasion. The Government won the vote but former Senator O'Leary lost the Whip for a while. However, they shook hands later. Luke had to work hard in business. The Belton name would always be seen as...

Seanad: Business of Seanad. (6 Jul 2006)

Joe O'Toole: I join the two previous speakers on behalf of the Independent group in recognising the people who work behind, and on, the scene in the House. I thank the Cathaoirleach for his courtesy at all times, and the Leas-Chathaoirleach and the various people who have taken the Chair at other times. The work of the Leader and those in her office, particularly Eamonn, has facilitated the smooth running...