Results 261-280 of 4,168 for speaker:Susan O'Keeffe

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 it something the board has discussed, spent any money on or considered, apart from as small talk among themselves? Has research been carried out to suggest that it is a big stretch?

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 it not something the Irish Dairy Board would want to protect, given that meat is not the business of the board? That was never the case and no one asked the board to become involved in it. Is it a case of protection or-----

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 the board use that as a vehicle to push the Irish product in with other products?

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 our guests for their continued efforts and the presentation they have made to the joint committee. I appreciate that it was only possible for them to provide a condensed amount of information on the activities in which Bord Bia was involved. In the context of the sustainability charter, are our guests satisfied that the targets they have set are appropriate? Do they expect these...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I join others in asking the Leader for a debate on prisons, in light of the report on St. Patrick's Institution and ask, in particular, that it be a debate about young people and about how we treat them and take care of them when they break the law. Do we treat them, as it appears from the statement by the Ombudsman for Children, as people who have broken the law, or as people who need...

Seanad: Alcohol Consumption: Statements (Resumed) (17 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I propose, given the Minister of State is coming back, that Senator Moran might have her time back. I would be happy to wait until the Minister of State returns.

Seanad: Alcohol Consumption: Statements (Resumed) (17 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Alex White, for being present and in particular for his pledge to bring a concrete set of proposals to Government in the near future. That is very welcome. I also welcome the work done by the steering group, in particular the work done by the former Minister of State, Deputy Shortall. In his summary the Minister of State said that ambivalence is now...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received: P00029/12, P00033/12, P00038/12 and P00053/12 (17 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: This petition is on an interesting area, the idea of open access to publicly-funded research. Perhaps in the first instance it would be useful to establish which Minister is responsible for this matter and consult him or her on the position in the European Union on the Pathways to Irish Research project mentioned by the petitioner before the committee has any role to play in it because it is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received: P00029/12, P00033/12, P00038/12 and P00053/12 (17 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has stated that it is his intention to extend the Ombudsman's remit to all public bodies. The Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2008 was before the Seanad today and it will come to this committee. Perhaps it would be appropriate to have that discussion in this committee as it applies specifically to this petition. It is something that would have been...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received: P00029/12, P00033/12, P00038/12 and P00053/12 (17 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: Perhaps the petitioner should discuss it with his own local representatives and the various bodies involved. This committee recognises the importance of the issue but our remit makes it difficult to approach it given that it affects a wide range of policy levels. Mr. Cuddihy might pursue the matter through the other avenues available to him.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received: P00029/12, P00033/12, P00038/12 and P00053/12 (17 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I also support the proposal to refer the petition to the Minister for Social Protection to ask about her intention regarding this matter. In a way it almost harks back to the idea that women were expected to be tied to the kitchen sink and, thus, credit was never given for the work done. The dates listed by the petitioner are 1980 to 1993, which is shocking, as that means we are not going...

Seanad: Junior Certificate Reform and the Literacy and Numeracy Strategy: Statements (23 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: The Minister is welcomed every time someone rises, but it is all true. I am sorry that Senator Reilly is not present, but I was reminded of a panel at which we both spoke during the general election. Someone tweeted about her age and suggested that she stay home and do her homework. I defended her afterwards. Regardless of her age, she was entitled to be there, etc. Perhaps I should...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Management IT Systems: Discussion (23 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank the witnesses for their presentations, which were interesting. We could have sat and listened for longer. Mr. Coughlan talked about genomic evaluations for farmers and his desire to ensure the continuation of the small-scale farmer and the traditional farm. Could these changes have the opposite effect? In being so organised and technologically savvy, do we run the risk of emerging...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Management IT Systems: Discussion (23 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: With the permission of the Chair, I wish to clarify what I meant. Given the information is available and it is such a good tool, what I am asking is not whether smaller farmers have access but whether it is the case that larger farmers can exploit it better, derive greater benefit from it and can therefore grow, and whether this inadvertently is driving the creation of large farms.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Management IT Systems: Discussion (23 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: Is the smaller farmer still more vulnerable? Given that the ICBF has achieved so much in terms of productivity and one cannot stop investment in technology, what can the federation do for the smaller farmer, notwithstanding the niche benefit of giving him or her extra information?

Seanad: National Dementia Strategy: Motion (24 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I move: That Seanad Éireann:acknowledges the Government?s commitment to the introduction of capacity legislation in line with the UN convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the progress in relation to that legislation; reiterates the importance of the right of those people with disabilities not to have their decision-making skills interfered with or reduced; notes the...

Seanad: National Dementia Strategy: Motion (24 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Perry, for replacing the Minister of State, Deputy Alex White. I thank my colleagues in the Labour Party for all of the work that has been done to table the motion today and I thank Senator Landy for seconding it. I also thank all of my colleagues in the Seanad. As a Senator has rightly expressed, it is political but not party political. The way...

Seanad: Social Protection: Statements (Resumed) (24 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: That concludes the statements on social protection. When it is proposed to sit again?

Seanad: National Dementia Strategy: Motion (24 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I move: That Seanad Éireann:acknowledges the Government?s commitment to the introduction of capacity legislation in line with the UN convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the progress in relation to that legislation; reiterates the importance of the right of those people with disabilities not to have their decision-making skills interfered with or reduced; notes the...

Seanad: National Dementia Strategy: Motion (24 Oct 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Perry, for replacing the Minister of State, Deputy Alex White. I thank my colleagues in the Labour Party for all of the work that has been done to table the motion today and I thank Senator Landy for seconding it. I also thank all of my colleagues in the Seanad. As a Senator has rightly expressed, it is political but not party political. The way...