Results 361-380 of 1,966 for speaker:Mary Henry

Seanad: Order of Business. (15 Oct 2003)

Mary Henry: I feel quite sure that Senator Mansergh was working towards peace on this island in all he tried to do. There is no question about that in anybody's mind.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Committee Stage. (15 Oct 2003)

Mary Henry: Amendments Nos. 4 to 6, inclusive, 8, 11 and 13 are related and may be discussed together. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters. - Disabled Drivers and Passengers Tax Concessions. (15 Oct 2003)

Mary Henry: The last time I raised the issue of the need to reassess the medical criteria under which people are assessed for the disabled drivers' and passengers' tax concessions regulations was on 23 June 1999. The then Minister of State, Deputy Cullen, told me an interdepartmental review was being undertaken which would report shortly. Nearly five years later there is no sign of the review. I could...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters. - Disabled Drivers and Passengers Tax Concessions. (15 Oct 2003)

Mary Henry: I do not think the workings of the review group are complex at all. This is a disgrace and I am absolutely horrified. Professor Niamh Brennan complained because she has been waiting since April for the Department of Health and Children to do something about a report she produced. Can the Minister of State imagine how I am going to go back to people who have been waiting for over five years?...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters. - Disabled Drivers and Passengers Tax Concessions. (15 Oct 2003)

Mary Henry: It is a very serious problem for the appeals board because it cannot be seen to be bending the rules, so the medical criteria have got to change.

Seanad: Order of Business. - OECD Education Report: Statements. (16 Oct 2003)

Mary Henry: I thank Senator Hayes for sharing his time with me. I support everything Senator Minihan said earlier about the need for us to put effort into scientific education. Perhaps we are being a little complacent about scientific and mathematical literacy levels in Ireland and I would like them to increase. A very good feature of the education system is the very low drop-out rate at degree level....

Seanad: Order of Business. (22 Oct 2003)

Mary Henry: I support everything Senator Brian Hayes has said about Northern Ireland. I agree to the Order of Business. We will soon have a debate on the Hanly report. I commend the content of the order concerning Simpson's Hospital to other small hospitals around the country. It is good to see the board of a hospital deciding to change the modus under which it operates if change if required. Many...

Seanad: National Task Force on Medical Staffing: Statements. (22 Oct 2003)

Mary Henry: I welcome the Minister to the House and while I welcome the report, I regret it has been so belated. At the end of his speech, the Minister said we must now proceed to implementation. To implement even the EU directive on NCHD working hours before next August will be extremely difficult. It is not true to say we must have EU directives to drive us to do anything that would obviously be for...

Seanad: National Task Force on Medical Staffing: Statements. (22 Oct 2003)

Mary Henry: I know, but the Minister's proposal will cost a fortune. Will radiographers stay in this country if it takes six years to train when it only takes four years to train in England? It is the same for physiotherapists. In addition, the Hanly report also rightly points out how long it takes here to train to become a specialist. The Minister for Education and Science's proposals would add on...

Seanad: National Task Force on Medical Staffing: Statements. (22 Oct 2003)

Mary Henry: The elimination, let us say, of St. Colmcille's. That is a very difficult situation because St. Vincent's has a very small casualty department, although it is the only one I have been in for years where the waiting time was not excessively long, unlike the Mater, Beaumont, and so on. That will be more difficult to address. Huge investment must be made in the pre-hospital emergency services so...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship and Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (22 Oct 2003)

Mary Henry: It is an honour to second Senator Quinn's proposal. Irish passports are extraordinarily valuable documents, as any of us who have travelled abroad know. It is no wonder the review body that looked into the sale of passports received so many adverse comments from the public who was shocked at the way the scheme was administered, perhaps inadvertently. When we go abroad with an Irish passport...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship and Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (22 Oct 2003)

Mary Henry: I am sure we will have this argument again. When we were poor they could stay but now that we are rich, they cannot. They must go home.

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Oct 2003)

Mary Henry: Ireland has strict laws relating to the detention of persons who are accused of crimes but, unfortunately, this is not the case everywhere. The issue of the detention of people in Guantanamo Bay has been raised previously. It is totally in contravention of international law and people are also being held in Iraq in a similar manner. A freeman of the City of Dublin, Aung San Suu Kyi, is also...

Seanad: Humanitarian Issues in Post-War Iraq: Statements. (4 Nov 2003)

Mary Henry: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and compliment him on his speech. He and his officials have applied intelligence to the situation because there is no good in being sentimental about it. We are all deeply upset. It is like the joke where a man is asked for directions and he answers that he would not start from here. None of us would have started from here in trying to help Iraq...

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 Nov 2003)

Mary Henry: I also support the call for debate on stem cell research. We have encouraged the biotechnology industry to come and invest heavily in Ireland. Therefore, we must be sure what will be promoted here. It may not be research being done here that causes a problem but the techniques which are brought in for production in the factories.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters. - Architectural Heritage. (11 Nov 2003)

Mary Henry: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. Some decades ago I was on holiday in Bolgheri, on the west coast of Italy. One evening we were talking to some of the locals, who told us they had just averted a national catastrophe. Naturally, we were eager to hear about this. They pointed to a lovely avenue of cypresses going up into the hills. The Minister may know the splendid...

Seanad: Courts and Court Officers (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second and Subsequent Stages. - National Drugs Strategy: Motion. (12 Nov 2003)

Mary Henry: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I wish to concentrate on that part of the motion calling for a reversal of what it terms "the savage cutbacks" in community employment and jobs initiative schemes and which have reduced the capacity of the voluntary and community sector. Sometimes I wonder if the right hand of the Government knows what the left hand is doing, as there seems to be...

Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Nov 2003)

Mary Henry: I am confused with a lot of people but I have never been confused with Senator Joe O'Toole.

Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Nov 2003)

Mary Henry: I support Senator Brian Hayes's call for a debate on stem cell research. As the Leader knows, I have been asking for this for quite some time. Indeed, I called for it on the Marian Finucane show some weeks ago.

Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Nov 2003)

Mary Henry: I will not mention her again even though she is apparently having trouble with her ratings.