Results 3,301-3,320 of 5,534 for speaker:Maureen O'Sullivan

Technological Universities Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (27 Jan 2016)

Maureen O'Sullivan: I am speaking to amendments Nos. 13 to 16, inclusive, in particular, where mergers can go ahead without the agreement of the staff trade unions. We were discussing this last night. If there is reform in any sector, the staff are vital and must be on board for anything to succeed. One can see, even with the junior certificate reform, the need for engagement of the staff and the staff to...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legislative Programme (27 Jan 2016)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 26. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the status of legislation on community courts including progress to date and when she will introduce it; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3003/16]

Standing Orders: Motion (28 Jan 2016)

Maureen O'Sullivan: I was part of the Constitutional Convention which discussed Dáil reform. It was all about making the Dáil more accountable, more democratic and more efficient, so I have to ask if this proposal will do that. Is it going to be positive and progressive in the spirit in which it was discussed? Is what is being proposed really any different from the system we have? If a party or...

Technological Universities Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (28 Jan 2016)

Maureen O'Sullivan: I wish to make only a couple of points because we have discussed this on Committee Stage and yesterday with the Minister. If mergers, the technological universities principle and what is being proposed here are to work, the process will require the support of all the stakeholders. The staff are vital in this regard. Staff are extremely critical of the proposal, and there is a lot of...

Technological Universities Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (28 Jan 2016)

Maureen O'Sullivan: It strikes me as illogical. Surely the concerns of the staff have to be addressed now and not at a later date. If there had been all the engagement and discussion the Minister of State mentioned, surely it would have led to some kind of resolution that staff would have bought into. The staff fears still feature. Definitely, the staff do not feel confident that they will have an...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Redundancy Payments (28 Jan 2016)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 57. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection to report on the management of the redundancy scheme fund for the period 1967 to 2015, during which time it was known as the Redundancy Fund from 1967 to 1984 and the Redundancy and Employer’s Insolvency Fund from 1984 to 1991, after which the Redundancy and Employer’s Insolvency Fund merged with other funds within...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Redundancy Payments (28 Jan 2016)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 58. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection to report on the income, into the costs borne by, the year-end surplus or deficit of, and the cumulative reserve built up; and whether the cumulative reserves have been used for the purposes set out in the redundancy legislation from 1967 to date and the employer insolvency legislation from 1984 to date; under the redundancy...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Redundancy Payments (28 Jan 2016)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 59. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if the redundancy scheme fund has been managed at all times in a manner that is accountable, transparent and subject to independent third-party scrutiny; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3876/16]

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Redundancy Payments (28 Jan 2016)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 60. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if the operation of the redundancy scheme fund is a vital measure to provide mitigation, by way of rebates on the statutory payment made to employees for enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, as providers of employment, as revenue collectors for the Exchequer, as a vital component of the economy and as...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Redundancy Payments (28 Jan 2016)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 61. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her assessment of the redundancy scheme fund as a governance stabilising measure for the employment market, especially in the small and medium-sized enterprise sector here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3878/16]

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Redundancy Payments (28 Jan 2016)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 62. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she has acted effectively as the trustee for the stewardship of the redundancy scheme fund; if she has effectively and prudently managed the fund and its surpluses; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3879/16]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Tobacco Control Measures (28 Jan 2016)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 232. To ask the Minister for Health if further stakeholder engagement, particularly with the independently owned companies in the vape product sector, is planned as the transposition of the tobacco product directive progresses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3463/16]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Tobacco Control Measures (28 Jan 2016)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 234. To ask the Minister for Health to acknowledge the harmful nature of tobacco smoking, and to keep an open mind to Vape products, as a means to counter tobacco smoking; to acknowledge that Vape products are providing a non-carbon monoxide, non-tobacco and non-tar alternative to cigarette smoking, and therefore regulation should be carefully examined, and the scientific evidence of...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Tobacco Control Measures (28 Jan 2016)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 233. To ask the Minister for Health if members of the Health Information and Quality Authority report group examining the implication of vape products will be made public by his Department. [3464/16]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (28 Jan 2016)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 310. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will introduce standardised reading texts to determine the need for readers for leaving certificate examinations to ensure equality; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3489/16]

Other Questions: Disability Services Funding (2 Feb 2016)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 64. To ask the Minister for Health to address serious concerns regarding intellectual disability care given successive cuts to funding, staff and available care, given that an ageing population is impacting on intellectual disability care and that carers, such as parents, are often elderly and given the need for care for such persons. [3941/16]

Other Questions: Disability Services Funding (2 Feb 2016)

Maureen O'Sullivan: My question relates to cuts to both staff and services in the intellectual disability area. As we have an ageing population, it is impacting more severely on intellectual disability care. Where are we going with this?

Other Questions: Disability Services Funding (2 Feb 2016)

Maureen O'Sullivan: Like everybody else, I would welcome the increase in funding the Minister of State has mentioned. That is all very well on paper but, in the same way we are told about all this extra funding for housing, we are not seeing it in reality. The reality for people with an intellectual disability is that there are problems with their respite grants, along with a lack of respite places. Since...

Other Questions: Disability Services Funding (2 Feb 2016)

Maureen O'Sullivan: I want to highlight the example of a grandmother I met recently. There are many issues with addiction in the Dublin Central constituency. This grandmother, like so many others, took on the care of five grandchildren because their mother was an addict. They are all adults now but the youngest is 18, has Down’s syndrome and is autistic. The grandmother is waiting to go into hospital...

Other Questions: Vaccination Programme (2 Feb 2016)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 66. To ask the Minister for Health if he is aware of revelations made by a doctor (details supplied) to the World Health Organization, of the manipulation of data and the suppression of science, in order to maintain the illusion of the safety of the human papilloma virus vaccine, in the face of valid contradictory evidence and that the length of time for which Gardasil is effective is...