Results 361-380 of 4,168 for speaker:Susan O'Keeffe

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Dec 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I am not sure if we are spending the last day of the world in the Seanad.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Dec 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: It may happen. If it is today, I will be glad to have spent the day in the Seanad with all of my colleagues. Like others, I wish Members, staff, the Cathaoirleach, the Leader and Whips a very happy Christmas and thank the Leader of the Labour Party group, Senator Bacik, for her efforts and hard work this year. Like other speakers, I would like to draw attention to some of the good done by...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Dec 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: Like Senator Comiskey, I welcome the fisheries deal. I am sure the Minister, Deputy Coveney, having been up all night, is having a well earned rest today. If not, he might manage to do so tomorrow. While there are still other difficulties in the fisheries area, it is important to pay tribute to the Marine Institute of Ireland, which in the context of the debate on the reduction in the...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Dec 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: The result of that was an increase in our prawn quota, which given the industry is worth approximately ¤40 million to the Irish economy was important. We should pay tribute to the institute, which is not often mentioned in fishery debates, for its contribution. The confirmation on all sides that there will be no loss of jobs in the fishing industry in Ireland is important. There will...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Dec 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: Senator Leyden has his Christmas tie on. He made the effort.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Implementation of Government Decision Following Expert Group Report into Matters Relating to A, B and C v. Ireland (10 Jan 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank the witnesses for their time. It seems they have effectively dismissed the Supreme Court judgment, both referendums, the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights, the expert group's findings, the master of the Rotunda and the bona fides of psychiatrists, and they appear to want to believe that the clarity we have is sufficient and that legislation is not required. Perhaps it is...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Jan 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I offer my condolences to the family of the late Minister of State, Shane Shane McEntee, and acknowledge the enormous courtesy, generosity and dedication he showed as a Minister of State and public representative. Senator Feargal Quinn spoke about the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. I have serious concerns about the failure to fill vacancies on the board of the authority. I ask the Leader...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Second Stage (23 Jan 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank the Minister of State for his attendance. He is championing this legislation which we all support. It is good to see a significant injection of enthusiasm and energy into that work. The taxi industry review group, chaired by the Minister of State, should also be thanked for its hard work in this matter. It could be said that everybody is an expert on the taxi industry because we...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Jan 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: In light of the continuing bad news about suicide I welcome in advance the working group on bullying set up by the Minister, Deputy Quinn, which I understand will report this afternoon. We have had debates on bullying already and I am sure the Minister would be pleased to come to the House after that working group has reported to allow us discuss its findings, the bigger picture in terms of...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Jan 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe for his bravery and professionalism during his life, for his great contribution to his community, for his love of football and his capacity to train young people, and for his significant contribution to the Garda Representative Association, GRA. He will be sadly missed. I offer my personal condolences and sympathies to his family, his children, his...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Jan 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: Senator O'Keeffe also paid tribute to the late Detective Garda Donohoe. She called on the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to come to the House in light of the withdrawal by Tesco from its contract with Silvercrest Foods. I can call on him to come to the House. Senator Mullins raised the appalling news of mass execution in Aleppo, Syria, and the concerns about the break up of...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Jan 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: Senator O'Keeffe also paid tribute to the late Detective Garda Donohoe. She called on the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to come to the House in light of the withdrawal by Tesco from its contract with Silvercrest Foods. I can call on him to come to the House. Senator Mullins raised the appalling news of mass execution in Aleppo, Syria, and the concerns about the break up of...

Seanad: Order of Business (31 Jan 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I ask the Leader to give an assurance that the debate with the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, which was unfortunately delayed yesterday, might be reinstated at a later stage. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, and in support of Senator Bacik's earlier comments, I am again requesting that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine attend the...

Seanad: The Gathering Ireland 2013: Statements (31 Jan 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: Senator Brennan is not half his age now.

Seanad: The Gathering Ireland 2013: Statements (31 Jan 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: Again?

Seanad: The Gathering Ireland 2013: Statements (31 Jan 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I welcome the Minister. I also welcome this opportunity to discuss a positive, spirit-lifting initiative that we can all support. It does not matter whether we are shoemakers or interested in our ancestries. Unfortunately, I cannot raise a story about shoes to match the others. The beauty of The Gathering is that it will be built as we go and as people discover new interests and where they...

Seanad: The Gathering Ireland 2013: Statements (31 Jan 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: It is ahead of it. It will allow the Senator that for the moment. My great uncle Tom Cooper took the idea underpinning The Gathering to heart many moons ago. He published his own brochures, took the ferry to England, travelled all around northern England and handed them out. That was in the days when there was no e-mail and very little technology. He organised for a bus to collect...

Seanad: The Gathering Ireland 2013: Statements (31 Jan 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: They will have it in Carlingford. The Minister will have to go to it but there will be no poitín for him while he is working. I might take a parochial leaf out of the Minister's book - he will have been invited to every country in Ireland by the time he leaves the House - and point out that in Sligo we will climb Ben Bulben and Knocknarea, play music in the Coleman Centre, have sea...

Seanad: The Gathering Ireland 2013: Statements (31 Jan 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: It was done yesterday.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Burger Content Investigations: Discussion (5 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I ask forgiveness if I do not scratch my head about some of what has happened. I am, however, puzzled as to why the Department was not notified earlier than January. I appreciate the need to ensure the tests were correct before the Food Safety Authority could announce publicly that a problem had arisen but I do not know why the Department would not at least be informally notified about the...