Results 3,901-3,920 of 9,823 for speaker:Thomas Byrne

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2015: Second and Subsequent Stages (14 Jul 2015)

Thomas Byrne: Fianna Fáil is delighted to support this legislation. As the Minister of State has said, it is a technical Bill which relates merely to the appointment of Rear Admiral Mark Mellet as Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces. The Bill provides for a commissioned rank of Vice Admiral in the Naval Service to be equivalent to the rank of Lieutenant General which is the traditional rank held by...

Seanad: One-Parent Family Payment: Motion (15 Jul 2015)

Thomas Byrne: I was not expecting that, but I am happy to second the motion on this important issue, which has been the subject of a great deal of public debate in recent weeks and is causing severe anxiety, stress and worry among those who are affected by it. It is a fact that those who comprise one-parent families - mothers or fathers and their children - are generally among the poorest people in...

Seanad: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Second Stage (16 Jul 2015)

Thomas Byrne: Tá áthas orm bheith anseo le labhairt ar an mBille seo. Táim ag cur fáilte roimh an mBille freisin, maraon le gach duine eile, ach aontaím le go leor atá á rá. Ní aontaím le gach rud atá á rá aige ach aontaím le go leor atá á rá ag an Seanadóir Ó Clochartaigh. It is four years almost to the day...

Seanad: Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Jul 2015)

Thomas Byrne: Who is the Senator referring to?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Delays in the Registration of Nurses and Midwives: Discussion (16 Jul 2015)

Thomas Byrne: Not at all.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Delays in the Registration of Nurses and Midwives: Discussion (16 Jul 2015)

Thomas Byrne: I apologise for not being present at the start. I will have to blame traffic. However, I read the witnesses' document. Just to point out, "An Bord Altranais agus Cnáimhseachais na hÉireann" is spelled wrongly at the top, but that is a minor point. Like Senator Crown, I had serious concerns at the start of the year about the registration retention fee and how that issue was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Delays in the Registration of Nurses and Midwives: Discussion (16 Jul 2015)

Thomas Byrne: That is it. Senator Crown spoke about this at length.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Delays in the Registration of Nurses and Midwives: Discussion (16 Jul 2015)

Thomas Byrne: It is democracy. The alternative is fascism.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Delays in the Registration of Nurses and Midwives: Discussion (16 Jul 2015)

Thomas Byrne: Was the board a party to the Lansdowne Road agreement? Was political pressure put on it? The corollary of my second question is whether the Department is forcing the board down a particular route to reduce its income stream, resulting in it not being able to carry out its functions while being unable to replace that income. The Department seems to be forcing it on various issues, including...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Delays in the Registration of Nurses and Midwives: Discussion (16 Jul 2015)

Thomas Byrne: It is a minor point. It is a word I dislike. I do not know much about midwifery, but the word "cnáimhseachais" comes from the Irish word "cnámh", for bone, and there is a bad history behind that word and midwifery.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Delays in the Registration of Nurses and Midwives: Discussion (16 Jul 2015)

Thomas Byrne: The Minister told us he had no role in the retention fee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Delays in the Registration of Nurses and Midwives: Discussion (16 Jul 2015)

Thomas Byrne: I did not get an answer to the question I asked.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Delays in the Registration of Nurses and Midwives: Discussion (16 Jul 2015)

Thomas Byrne: I need to get an answer. I did not hear the answer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Delays in the Registration of Nurses and Midwives: Discussion (16 Jul 2015)

Thomas Byrne: Why did the witness not complain about how the system is being run? It is clear that the Government is telling the board not to raise money and is not giving it the money, but is then giving out to it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Delays in the Registration of Nurses and Midwives: Discussion (16 Jul 2015)

Thomas Byrne: I am an equal member of this committee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Delays in the Registration of Nurses and Midwives: Discussion (16 Jul 2015)

Thomas Byrne: The Chairman is collegial when he wants to be. He has shown-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Delays in the Registration of Nurses and Midwives: Discussion (16 Jul 2015)

Thomas Byrne: On the Lansdowne Road process, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform announced that the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland would not be increasing its retention fee until 2019. What was the role of the board in that? What on earth is role of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in that organisation? Is the board being told not to collect money? We have been told...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Delays in the Registration of Nurses and Midwives: Discussion (16 Jul 2015)

Thomas Byrne: Who took the decision, then? It is the board's decision to increase the fee, yet that decision seems to have been taken by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the Minister for Health in these negotiations. What else were they telling the board to do?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Delays in the Registration of Nurses and Midwives: Discussion (16 Jul 2015)

Thomas Byrne: Has the board made a decision to implement the Lansdowne Road agreement?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Delays in the Registration of Nurses and Midwives: Discussion (16 Jul 2015)

Thomas Byrne: Your board-----