Results 381-400 of 743 for speaker:Jim D'Arcy

Seanad: Junior Cycle Reform: Motion (18 Sep 2013)

Jim D'Arcy: Dorothy Macardle was a Dundalk girl of course. To quote Yeats:Did that play of mine send out Certain men the English shot?I am not suggesting for a moment that the proposers of the motion are in this category. Nevertheless, I believe, as my grandmother used to say, that forced prayer is no devotion. The most important thing about history as a subject in secondary schools is not whether it...

Seanad: Junior Cycle Reform: Motion (18 Sep 2013)

Jim D'Arcy: ----- and the quality of teaching and learning. Thankfully history as a subject in our schools at the moment has a reputation for excellent delivery and I have no doubt but that this will continue to be the case. I welcome the motion tabled by the Independent Senators. It offers a timely opportunity to debate a most important topic, namely, the teaching of history at junior cycle level....

Seanad: Junior Cycle Reform: Motion (18 Sep 2013)

Jim D'Arcy: I thank the Senator.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Sep 2013)

Jim D'Arcy: Senator Mullins has referred to mental health issues and I welcome the putting in place by Fine Gael of counselling services for Deputies and Senators who may be experiencing difficulties in their professional or personal lives in the wake of the tragic death last year of the Minister of State, Shane McEntee. This is a welcome development that should be extended to everyone in the Houses....

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Sep 2013)

Jim D'Arcy: I do not know what poster Senator Wilson was referring to, but if it is the one stating health cuts hurt the old, sick and handicapped, it-----

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Sep 2013)

Jim D'Arcy: Fianna Fáil put that one up. It hurt the old, sick and handicapped in a way in which they were never hurt before.

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Sep 2013)

Jim D'Arcy: The Senator is welcome to Haggardstown to view them. I cannot guarantee him he will get out of it but he is welcome to come up.

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Sep 2013)

Jim D'Arcy: I want to refer to the issue of cigarette smuggling. It may sound bizarre but a cigarette smuggling ring was thwarted this week only when al-Qaeda bombed a ship, the COSCO Asia, that was transporting illegal cigarettes bound for Dundalk. Investigators put a tracking device in the container containing illegal cigarettes and the container was tracked while heading up the M1 towards Dundalk....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: PEACE IV Programme: Discussion with Special EU Programmes Body (26 Sep 2013)

Jim D'Arcy: I welcome our guests from the Special EU Programmes Body. I had a great week at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Derry where the new Peace Bridge has become an iconic structure and has delivered great benefits to the city. I congratulate the Special EU Programmes Body on its role in that project. I hope a new bridge at Narrow Water will be just as iconic for the south Down and north Louth...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Oct 2013)

Jim D'Arcy: As regards the ASTI's rejection of the Haddington Road agreement, I appeal to the ASTI not to do anything that would be detrimental to the education of our children. There is no way forward for the ASTI at the moment concerning the Haddington Road agreement because if the Government reopened it for the ASTI, the floodgates would open. Nevertheless, teachers have been subject to a...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Oct 2013)

Jim D'Arcy: Ar dtús, ba mhaith liom fáilte mór a chur roimh cinneadh an Rialtais gan an PTR a ardú sna scoileanna, idir bunscoileanna agus meánscoileanna.

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Oct 2013)

Jim D'Arcy: Tá na scoileanna tuaithe ceart go leor. Níl na figiuirí sin chomh hard leis na scoileanna eile. Tá a fhios sin ag an Seanadóir.

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Oct 2013)

Jim D'Arcy: I welcome the fact that there is no change in the pupil-teacher ratio in schools. This is one of the big successes of this Government. It has been said, and it is true, that the number of pupils in small schools has increased. I am open to contradiction on this but I think the number of pupils in classes in small schools is still below the respective number in larger schools.

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Oct 2013)

Jim D'Arcy: Yes, but that is the point I was making and someone said it was not true. I do not like being accused of untruths. I also welcome the extension whereby the pupil-teacher ratio in fee paying schools, particularly our little Protestant schools, is not going up. A stop has been put to that, which is important. In the early years of this State there was a lack of trust among the Protestant...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Oct 2013)

Jim D'Arcy: I am sorry about that but I was interrupted. I would like the Leader to find out if that is the end now of the rises in pupil-teacher ratios in Protestant fee-paying schools.

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Oct 2013)

Jim D'Arcy: That is true.

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Oct 2013)

Jim D'Arcy: It is a topsy-turvy world indeed when we have Fianna Fáil stating the health service is a timebomb when Deputy Martin created the HSE.

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Oct 2013)

Jim D'Arcy: I recall him asking Charlie McCreevy - Champagne Charlie - for €1 billion for the health service but he was told to reform it. He never bothered and now the task falls to Deputy Reilly, who is working very hard to do so. Senator O'Brien mentioned the replacement of the one-parent family credit with the single person child care credit from 1 January next year. The unintended...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Oct 2013)

Jim D'Arcy: It is €2.5 billion.

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Oct 2013)

Jim D'Arcy: The Senator did not even listen to himself back then.