Results 241-260 of 4,168 for speaker:Susan O'Keeffe

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy: Motion (4 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I welcome the Minister. He has been busy up to now and he will be even busier in the coming months. I welcome the comments from the Fianna Fáil Senators to the effect that while they wish to raise certain matters, there is no particular division among us and that we are all singing from the same hymn sheet. It always strikes me as extraordinary that the CAP negotiations appear almost as a...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Emigration Statistics (4 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: The Deputy should ask a clear question.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Respite Care Services (4 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Alex White, on his first time in the Seanad as a Minister of State.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Review of Food Harvest 2020 Strategy: Discussion (9 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: If the second presentation is more detailed, then perhaps we might intervene at that stage.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Review of Food Harvest 2020 Strategy: Discussion (9 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank the witnesses for their presentations. On the issue of mandatory country of origin labelling, I had understood that all along we were hoping to have a premium for Irish produce and I wonder where that has fallen out of that argument. Perhaps I was not listening or it was not made sufficiently clear but I do not understand how it does not help the Irish dairy sector. On the matter...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Review of Food Harvest 2020 Strategy: Discussion (9 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: It depends on whether or not there are two amendments. Mr. Barry's answers will be on the record and we can pursue them.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Review of Food Harvest 2020 Strategy: Discussion (9 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I apologise to Mr. Healy for having to step out and miss his presentation. When he talked about the beef sector he did not talk about inputs. I do not know whether that is relevant. I know how hard it is to try to decide which parts to discuss, but in the interests of setting the record straight about what is happening in the industry, it might be useful to shed some light on that. My...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Review of Food Harvest 2020 Strategy: Discussion (9 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: A fair question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2011: Discussion with the Ombudsman (10 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: Based on the Ombudsman's comments on the annual report she is decrying four issues, which are: fairness for people who applied to schemes which have been abolished and who got caught in the system; the notion of achieving savings by stealth and people not knowing this; the notion of discretion being used and changed; and the introduction of a prioritisation system which is either formal or...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2011: Discussion with the Ombudsman (10 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: Non-flathulach.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2011: Discussion with the Ombudsman (10 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: To sum up, the Ombudsman is in a half-way house. She is neither terribly positive nor dreadfully negative at this point, as it is too soon to say. While draft principles might be necessary, she probably has an opinion as to how they will play out.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2011: Discussion with the Ombudsman (10 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I would welcome the committee's engagement on those principles.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2011: Discussion with the Ombudsman (10 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: Would a debate on the guidelines be of any assistance in their drafting? We could invite the Departments to debate the issues.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received: P00027/12, P00030/12 and P00032/12 (10 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I take it the petitioner knows the petition is still with us.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received: P00027/12, P00030/12 and P00032/12 (10 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I second those comments and thank the people behind the scenes who are doing the hard work. It is extremely difficult to get to the bottom of some of these matters. They appear simple but when they start unravelling, the process can get very complicated. It is imperative that we have more assistance or we risk hitting a wall in perhaps two months. Returned correspondence will come on top...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Review of Food Harvest 2020 Strategy: Discussion (Resumed) with Irish Dairy Board and Bord Bia (16 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank the delegates for their presentation and continued work. They say in their summary that the board is on target to deliver on its commitments. Are they on target to delivering on them, regardless of what is mentioned in the previous box in which it is stated it needs various things to be done? Mr. Buckley mentioned the provision of support for investment in processing. Is that a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Review of Food Harvest 2020 Strategy: Discussion (Resumed) with Irish Dairy Board and Bord Bia (16 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I appreciate there were a lot of questions but I would like to come back to Mr. Buckley briefly. In regard to that last question, given what we wanted to tease out with him was how to arrive at the challenges and commitments of Food Harvest 2020, I would like to hear a bit more. If he is saying the Irish Dairy Board is on target to deliver but there is actually a big "but", maybe we should...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Review of Food Harvest 2020 Strategy: Discussion (Resumed) with Irish Dairy Board and Bord Bia (16 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: Is Mr. Condon saying that his situation is contingent on their investment?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Review of Food Harvest 2020 Strategy: Discussion (Resumed) with Irish Dairy Board and Bord Bia (16 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: What percentage of the Irish Dairy Board’s unbelievable turnover does the company spend on research and development?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Review of Food Harvest 2020 Strategy: Discussion (Resumed) with Irish Dairy Board and Bord Bia (16 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: Could Mr. O’Flynn indicate what is spent on market research?