Results 3,001-3,020 of 4,608 for speaker:Joe O'Toole
- Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (25 Jun 2008)
Joe O'Toole: In tabling this amendment I want to ensure that no person shall be sent to jail as a consequence of any conviction for non-possession of a TV licence. We should have a long discussion on TV licences, although not now â Members can relax â because I do not know how this is done. I would like to know from the Minister how much we are paying for all the very entertaining advertisements...
- Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (25 Jun 2008)
Joe O'Toole: Can people go into the prison and check the position in that regard? People with no money are ending up in prison because they cannot afford to pay for the licence. I wonder if the inmates in prison with plasma screens have licences. That is a fair question and I would like to know the answer to it because the situation is ridiculous. Other countries have more sensible ways of collecting...
- Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (25 Jun 2008)
Joe O'Toole: I am sure the Minister will make me aware of that. This system is a nonsense. The Minister should accept this amendment. It makes no difference to him. There are better ways of dealing with the matter. In the other House this morning the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform said that approximately a dozen people were in prison for not paying fines. I do not know how many of...
- Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (25 Jun 2008)
Joe O'Toole: I refer the House to section 142(1) of the Bill which states: (1) Subject to the exceptions mentioned below, a person shall not keep or have in his or her possession anywhere in the territory of the State a television set save in so far as such keeping or possession is authorised by a television licence for the time being in force. I will repeat my question. Have the inmates of Portlaoise...
- Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (25 Jun 2008)
Joe O'Toole: These are their own sets; they do not belong to the prison authorities and that is my point.
- Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (25 Jun 2008)
Joe O'Toole: A person shall not keep or have in his possession a television set, save in so far as such keeping is authorised by a television licence.
- Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (25 Jun 2008)
Joe O'Toole: I thank the Minister of State.
- Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (25 Jun 2008)
Joe O'Toole: I feel in all honesty I must press the amendment.
- Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jun 2008)
Joe O'Toole: I raised yesterday the whole question of where the economy is going. I called on the Taoiseach to make a statement on the matter. I am glad he made a few points last night. They will be of some assistance as we try to do what needs to be done. I welcome his comments to the business leaders of Ireland, some of whom earn over â¬1 million a year. He suggested that the lectures they have...
- Seanad: Abbey Theatre: Statements (26 Jun 2008)
Joe O'Toole: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, to the House. It is appropriate to have these statements on the Abbey Theatre's move. I agree with the viewpoint that the Abbey would be better situated in the centre of Dublin, but I have great sympathy for the viewpoint of the Minister of State and his Department. I happen to know that when a site was selected in Parnell Square not that...
- Seanad: Abbey Theatre: Statements (26 Jun 2008)
Joe O'Toole: Those finances are substantial and sound, which is an accepted, acknowledged and audited fact. It is also recognised that the theatre is totally dependent on the State and the Arts Council, but its finances are in order. Where do we go next? I appreciate the points made by the Minister of State and I agree with him on the system of selecting the best design. I am fearful, however, that...
- Seanad: Abbey Theatre: Statements (26 Jun 2008)
Joe O'Toole: I discussed this matter with him on many occasions. The fact that he did not get his opportunity in the Abbey during those years was something that hurt him so often and for so long. As a number of speakers have suggested, the Abbey must be the place for new writing. We should support, acknowledge and appreciate what it has to do. While the Abbey Theatre is not there to make money, its...
- Seanad: Prison Development (Confirmation of Resolutions) Bill 2008: Second and Subsequent Stages (26 Jun 2008)
Joe O'Toole: I have already congratulated the Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, on his appointment and wish him well. I wish he had different business on hand today than that with which we are dealing. I declare an interest in that the proposed prison will effectively be in my back garden. My views are coloured as a consequence. I have often been asked about my view on the prison. It is very...
- Seanad: Prison Development (Confirmation of Resolutions) Bill 2008: Second and Subsequent Stages (26 Jun 2008)
Joe O'Toole: In the meantime, every document on the prison from the Government needs to have a name.
- Seanad: Prison Development (Confirmation of Resolutions) Bill 2008: Second and Subsequent Stages (26 Jun 2008)
Joe O'Toole: What about the height of the perimeter wall? The Minister of State said he would tell me why it will be 7.2 m.
- Seanad: Prison Development (Confirmation of Resolutions) Bill 2008: Second and Subsequent Stages (26 Jun 2008)
Joe O'Toole: Will the Minister of State tell me he does not know?
- Seanad: Order of Business (1 Jul 2008)
Joe O'Toole: On a radio show last Sunday morning I talked to a white Zimbabwean farmer â or Rhodesian farmer, as we would have referred to him previously â who employs 150 people. He spoke about the reign of terror at play there and about the abductions, kidnappings and beatings. He spoke freely and expressed his disappointment at the western world. He talked about Archbishop Tutu asking for...
- Seanad: Order of Business (1 Jul 2008)
Joe O'Toole: I wrote to the Minister for Foreign Affairs yesterday requesting that the Irish Government take urgent action to protect decent people who are challenging the repressive regime in Zimbabwe.
- Seanad: Order of Business (1 Jul 2008)
Joe O'Toole: I would like the House to support that point.
- Seanad: Order of Business (1 Jul 2008)
Joe O'Toole: I wish to raise another matter, which has been raised on two or three occasions previously, the question of the economy, competitiveness and wages. It is interesting to stress again a point I have made many times. The issue in question is not only about salaries, pay pauses and all that goes with that. What we set out to do was to ensure that people shared the wealth of this country. The...