Results 2,661-2,680 of 4,608 for speaker:Joe O'Toole

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Toole: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Toole: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Toole: However, his work was ignored. It is still sitting there.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Toole: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Committee Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Toole: I am completely opposed to the inclusion of local authorities in this section. They would be uncontrollable and that would give me cause for concern. I was prompted to ask this question by the first point raised by Senator White. I am uneasy about an exclusive list, which is what this section appears to contain. We appear to have taken a decision to collate aspects of common law, existing...

Seanad: Budget Statement 2008: Statements (Resumed). (5 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Toole: The Senator should see if the Government is still sitting in five years.

Seanad: Budget Statement 2008: Statements (Resumed). (5 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Toole: I propose to share time with Senator Doherty.

Seanad: Budget Statement 2008: Statements (Resumed). (5 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Toole: This budget is about broken promises. I do not have time to go into detail but I will focus on education, an issue in which I am closely involved. Reference was made on the Order of Business to the Estimate for education. The increase in the allocation for the Department of Education and Science is appallingly small.

Seanad: Budget Statement 2008: Statements (Resumed). (5 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Toole: The reality is one of broken promises. At the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis, we were promised that the Government would double the capitation grant for primary schools. We were assured on numerous occasions that the pupil-teacher ratio would be reduced. Neither of these objectives has been achieved and their implementation will not be possible given the resources allocated. I listened to the...

Seanad: Budget Statement 2008: Statements (Resumed). (5 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Toole: It will not be used to provide funding for the school I visited in Sligo last week. It will not address the difficulties experienced by the school in Ballina that I brought to the Minister's attention last week. The money is simply not there. I am not saying this is a poor budget. My point is that many issues have not been addressed. For instance, schools will continue to have to raise...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Toole: I support the point made by Senator Fitzgerald. I welcome that the Minister will take questions at the end of the debate on food and the merits of farmers' markets. That is a welcome development and we should show we can use it usefully without abusing it. On the issue I raised yesterday and which Senator Fitzgerald raised earlier, namely, the question of Íngrid Betancourt, we should take...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Toole: There is a vested interest on the other side of the House which——

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Toole: The difference on this occasion, in case anybody misunderstands my suggestion, is that this will be done with the will of Parliament as opposed to gunslingers going out there one after the other.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Toole: Members of both Houses received by post recently a book called Best of Irish Poetry 2007, from the Munster Literature Centre. I draw Members' attention to that because accompanying it was the startling information that literature is the only aspect of the arts which does not have a permanent home in Dublin city. There is one in Cork, in fairness to Cork County Council or Cork City Council,...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Toole: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Toole: I can tell the Senator there is no confusion on this side of the House.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Toole: And the FARC.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Toole: No wonder he said that because they started out up there.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Toole: The Senator has a vested interest in the FARC affair.

Seanad: Merits of Farmers' Markets: Statements (6 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Toole: Ba mhaith liom an Aire Stáit a fháiltiú go dtí an Teach arís. Gabhaim buíochas leis as ucht teacht anseo, mar go raibh mé ag lorg an díospóireacht seo le cúpla mí anuas. Tá mé thar a bheith sásta go bhfuil sé ar siúl. Tá sé ar intinn agam labhairt níos leithne ná na margaí iad fhéin. Labhróidh mé ar ábhair éagsúla a bhaineann le córas bia na tíre seo. I...